Holocaust: a huge word made small

History • June 2010 • Views: 310

The Holocaust was a horrific atrocity and watershed event in human history. The meaning of the word is being distorted and demeaned in political rhetoric and casual comparisons.

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2 comments

Bob Levin Tue, Jun 29, 2010 2:58:39pm

I agree, but we haven't done the best job of teaching about what happened, even understanding it ourselves. Consequently, by holding it as a Jewish event, it doesn't encompass tragedies that have equaled or surpassed this. When we really get it, 'never again' will mean 'never again' for all human beings.

Samson Sat, Jul 3, 2010 10:06:45pm

Great op-ed piece, but as usual, the LA Times comments are full of Israel bashing and Jew-hatred. What is it with these people? This comment, for example, doesn't even pretend to address the content of the column:

"greyworld at 7:08 AM June 30, 2010
The mossad's actions have made me a hater of israel and anyone who supports it, including all US media, the CIA, the GOP, and all major corporate interests. I am not a racist by nature but the vile despicable actions of the subhuman 'secret agencies' of the world have made me one. I pray for the quick and speedy death of israel so that the rest of the world may live in peace."

The Holocaust was unique not because of the number of individuals murdered (e.g., there were far more Russians killed during WWII), or because the motivation was racism or prejudice (it usually is), but that it represented an attempt to eradicate an entire people throughout the world. The word genocide was invented to describe this.

Have worse things happened? Are the atrocities that have happened before or since better or worse? Are other mass murders merely massacres rather than genocide? Is the death of 20 million Russians worse than the death of 6 million Jews? Are the mass murders that have occurred in Cambodia or Darfur or anywhere else less important or more important, less unique, more unique? Is it racist or selfish or just wrong to think any of these things?

I don't have the answers to any of these questions and will leave their discussion to some other time. There is little to be gained from such an exercise - we are talking about the circles of Hell, not some beauty contest. The one thing that seems constant is that, no matter what, Jew haters such as Mr. Greyworld quoted above pray for the death of Israel (and, yes, by extension, the Jews). The planet is full of them, they post their poison freely on every newspaper and every blog throughout the world, and they continue to support the extermination of the Jews as if nothing had happened.

So, Bob Levin, perhaps you are having trouble understanding what happened, but
for the rest of us its meaning is all too clear. Yes, Bob Levin, the Holocaust was a "Jewish event". Perhaps it was just one horrible event among many past and present, perhaps not. And yes, this should never happen to anyone. But don't make the mistake of thinking that the Holocaust wasn't meant for the Jews, because it was. You can universalize it or contextualize it all you want, but it was meant for the Jews. And as long as the world is full of individuals like Mr. Greyworld, it still is.

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