First, division is fomented and differences are emphasized and played upon to create mistrust and infuse hate and discord. Divide, label, and sow strife between groups: Us v. Them

Symbols are used to deepen divisions and signal who belongs and who is outcast. Malign certain symbols and create negative or violent associations with them while promoting positive, even joyous associations with others.

Create a system of discrimination and segregation. Apartheid is an example of such a system, with the target group(s) prohibited from sharing the same space, enjoying the same rights, or accessing the same resources. Their actions, movement, and speech is extremely limited.

Deny the humanity of the target group. Refer to them as “sub-human” or “animals,” especially referencing common nuisances such as “cockroaches” and diseases like “cancer.” Frame them as categorically different, having an inherent deficit, especially of behavior or cognition. Stage acts of depravity and associate them with it or blame them for it.

Genocide requires an organized and systematic form of oppression and dehumanization. Thus, genocide can only be carried out by a state or powerful state-like entity. A concerted effort between security apparatus, media propaganda, financial sponsorship, and military and martial assets must be leveraged to commit genocide. Often, militias and other “non-state” actors are promoted by the state to carry out this agenda.

Polarization is the end-stage of classification and symbolization. It solidifies the earlier steps toward strife into a sense of irreparable division. Often, laws are enacted to concretize the polarization, ostracize the target group, and even erect physical barriers of separation.

The 7th stage is preparing for the ultimate crime. All the other stages have made the final act possible. Now, they amass military power, target the victims publicly and directly, and commit acts of savagery and clear injustice with little shock or resistance.

Persecution is the second stage of preparation, eliminating the target group in other ways besides extermination. This includes forced mass expulsions, creating unlivable conditions by restricting the means of survival, destroying and confiscating property, and mass internment and incarceration.

The final stage in the act of genocide is extermination. The mass murder of an entire group: men, women, and children. The term “extermination” is used intentionally: the purpose is total eradication. Any survivors are fragmented so thoroughly they cannot form a cohesive group. This is the final realization of genocide.

Though genocide itself is already underway, the 10th stage is critical to its continuation and repetition. Denial is an ongoing process, during all stages of genocide, to deny victims justice, shield the perpetrators from accountability, and allow the crime to be repeated. Because genocide is a state-level crime, without accountability and justice the perpetrators not only go unpunished, they may be rewarded with greater power and impunity.

Following the Nazi playbook