Cheapening the Holocaust - Words Matter

The Holocaust.  Those two words still currently have meaning.  The words bring to mind, for most individuals anyway, a horror so grotesque as to defy adequate words.  A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, what about a short video (04:44)?

Marvin Hier, writing in the Los Angeles Times considers the subject of The Holocaust, and thinks that is being cheapened by its utilization in political discourse.  I think he is on the mark.

...There are many injustices and manifestations of evil in our world, even in our own country, the greatest of democracies. Standing up to them is not only our right but our obligation. But that obligation does not include distorting and demeaning the word that has come to stand for the great evil that was the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was a total eclipse of humanity. It was not about going to the back of the line or eating in a different part of the restaurant or being escorted to the border without recourse. The Holocaust had one purpose: the total annihilation and extinction of a race.

Hier’s piece is titled Holocaust: a huge word made small.

Via Peg, at what if?, who notes the following.

The enormity of the crimes of the Holocaust was such that if you were to try to call out 2,000 of the names every day of the 6 million who perished, it would take more than eight years to complete the task. That’s what a holocaust is.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/30 at 10:17 AM

  1. OK, we shouldn’t be indulging in Godwinisms, just as we shouldn’t FALSELY shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater. But when can we consider the theater on fire? When a line of thinking can clearly lead to a holocaust, do we call it what it is, even though action has not yet been implemented? When did people start using the word “genocide” in connection with Hitler, and was it soon enough?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  07/01  at  11:53 AM

  2. When a line of thinking can clearly lead to a holocaust, do we call it what it is, even though action has not yet been implemented?

    Jeffrey,

    To answer your question, Yes.

    If you utilize the word holocaust, based on my knowledge of your character through your written Word, I would not necessarily be concerned with the word holocaust being misapplied.

    When that word comes dribbling out of the mouth of some politician, though, I would immediately question the validity of its application.

    Posted by John Venlet  on  07/01  at  01:31 PM

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