In times of perilous transition we often tell ourselves change is not possible or events are out of control and there is nothing we can do. In such times it helps to look to history for inspiration and as an aid to help us navigate the chaos. The story of two ordinary individuals—Raphael Lemkin and Hersch Lauterpacht—shows how two men, deeply concerned with the needs of their time, separately made a conscious choice to bring about positive change and persevered until they succeeded against all the odds. Their deep commitment to justice, courage, creativity and dogged perseverance led to the creation of two international crimes: genocide and crimes against humanity. And it was their work, respectively, that laid the foundation for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Lauterpacht) and the crafting of the Genocide Treaty (Lemkin)