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It\u2019s hard to overestimate the role of Raphael Lemkin in calling the world\u2019s attention to the crime of genocide.\xa0 But for decades his name languished, as scholars and the broader public devoted their time and attention to other people and other things.\n\nIn the past few years, this has changed.\xa0 We now have a greater understanding of Lemkin\u2019s role in pushing the UN to write and pass the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.\xa0 Moreover, researchers have a newfound appreciation for the depth and insights of his research.\xa0 Genocide scholars talk about their field experiencing a \u2018return to Lemkin\u2019\n\nIt seems an appropriate time, then, to reexamine Lemkin\u2019s ideas and career. We\u2019re doing so in a special, two-part series of interviews with scholars who have edited and published Lemkin\u2019s writings.\xa0 Earlier this month, I posted an interview with Steve Jacobs, who carefully edited and annotated an edition of Lemkin\u2019s writings about the history and nature of genocide, simply titled Lemkin on Genocide.\n\nThis time, I talked with Donna-Lee Frieze, who has meticulously edited Lemkin\u2019s unpublished autobiography Totally Unofficial: The Autobiography of Raphael Lemkin\xa0(Yale University Press, 2013).\xa0 The book gives us a new appreciation for Lemkin\u2019s work.\xa0 It offers us a deeper insight into who he was and how\xa0he fit\xa0into his times.\xa0 And it shows\xa0how his experiences shaped his lifelong crusade to create an framework within international law that would protect persecuted\xa0ethnic and religious groups.\n\nOne brief note about the sound.\xa0 We taped this interview in what was late winter in Wichita.\xa0 Bizarrely enough, New York that day was evidently much warmer than Wichita.\xa0 Donna accordingly taped this interview sitting next to an open window.\xa0 Occasionally, you can hear the passing traffic in the background.\xa0 If you\u2019re not in New York, consider this local color.\xa0 If you are,\xa0feel free to brag that spring comes early in your town.\xa0 You don\u2019t get that chance often.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/genocide-studies