Holocaust trivialization is the metaphorical (or otherwise comparative) use of the word Holocaust. Numerous authors argue that such uses trivialize the meaning of the Holocaust, and many consider them offensive. In the words of Holocaust survivor and memoirist Elie Wiesel,
I cannot use [the word 'Holocaust'] anymore. First, because there are no words, and also because it has become so trivialized that I cannot use it anymore. Whatever mishap occurs now, they call it 'holocaust'. I have seen it myself in television in the country in which I live. A commentator describing the defeat of a sports team, somewhere, called it a 'holocaust'. I have read in a very prestigious newspaper published in California, a description of the murder of six people, and the author called it a holocaust. So, I have no words anymore.
Manfred Gerstenfeld identifies trivialization and universalization of the Holocaust as one of eleven forms of Holocaust distortion. Holocaust trivialization involves the application of language that is specific to describing the Holocaust to events and purposes that are unrelated to it.
Examples of the use of the word "Holocaust" in a metaphorical, non-specific or anachronistic manner, include expressions such as "Gaza Holocaust" or "Sikh Holocaust". In the past, the meaning of the word "pogrom" has undergone a similar semantic widening in usage, from being applied specifically to Jewish history in Tsarist Russia to a generic term for mass persecution, irrespective of time and place.
Video Holocaust trivialization
Individuals
The Anti-Defamation League has accused Gilad Atzmon of trivializing and distorting the Holocaust specifically in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ADL states that, among other abuses, Atzmon invoked the word Shoah to describe Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
David Stannard argued in 1996 that attempts to eliminate Holocaust comparisons belittle other events of comparable magnitude.
Maps Holocaust trivialization
Organizations
The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs condemned the United Church for trivializing the Holocaust. According to the Center, the United Church published a document in which they placed a statement decrying the "loss of dignity" on the part of the Palestinians, attributed to Israel, promptly after a similar statement acknowledging "the denial of human dignity to Jews" in the Holocaust.
See also
- Holocaust (disambiguation)
- Holocaust of Kalavryta
- Holocaust of Kandanos
- Native American Holocaust
- Romani Holocaust
- Silent Holocaust
- Holocaust of Viannos
- Is the Holocaust Unique?
- The Holocaust Industry
References
Further reading
- Holocaust Trivialization by Manfred Gerstenfeld, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
- The Holocaust in Historical Context by Steven T. Katz
- A Name for Extermination by Anna-Vera Sullam Calimani; Accessed 23/09/07 through JSTOR
- A blanket ban on Holocaust denial would be a serious mistake, by Timothy Garton Ash of The Guardian
- Michael Shafir, "Between Denial and 'Comparative Trivialization' - Holocaust Negationism in Post-Communist East Central Europe," Hebrew University, Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, Acta - Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism, no. 19 (Jerusalem, 2002), p. 23.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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