Holocaust trivialization

Holocaust trivialization is the use of the word Holocaust in a way that decreases the perceived size or importance of the Holocaust: the genocide of at least 6,000,000 European Jews during World War II.

More specifically, Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA), observed Holocaust trivialization as

[A] tool for some ideologically [...] motivated activists to metaphorically compare phenomena they oppose to the industrial-scale destruction of the Jews [. ...] exaggerate the evil nature of a phenomenon they condemn.^[1]

Originally, the word used to mean a (religious) sacrifice that is burnt completely to ash, but gained a new meaning something along the lines of "the large-scale destruction of a group of humans or animals" at some point during the late 19th century. For example, in 1915 the Armenian Genocide was described as a holocaust by many people of the time.^[2]

These usages are seen as offensive by many authors and scholars,^[3] Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel has said that the word has become too trivialized, using examples like news networks talking about the defeat of a sports team, or the murder of six people, and calling it a holocaust.^[4]

Holocaust inversion

Antisemitic poster spotted at an allegedly anti-war rally in San Francisco on February 16, 2003, which incorporated both the motifs of "happy merchant Jews" and "Zio-Nazis". The slur *ZIONIST PIGS*^[5]was also used.

Antisemitic graffiti in Madrid, 2003, equating the Star of David with the dollar and Nazi swastika.

Nowadays, the most common form of Holocaust trivialization is the Holocaust inversion, featuring the false comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany.^[6]^[7] It is antisemitic under the definition of antisemitism^[8] of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).^[9]^[8]

It is considered by some as akin to Holocaust denial because it erases the Jewish historical victimhood and whitewashes the worst genocide ever happened so far.^[10] The World Jewish Congress notes that Holocaust inversion can take the form of^[11]

portraying Jews as Nazis
comparing Israeli prime ministers to Hitler and portraying the Star of David as equal to the swastika
making false images of Anne Frank wearing a keffiyeh^[12]
comparing the Nakba to the Holocaust
comparing the Gaza Strip to Jewish ghettos during the Holocaust

French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy deemed Holocaust inversion a devious form of incitement to antisemitic violence,

[...] a mass movement demanding the deaths of Jews will be unlikely to yell "Money Jews" or "They Killed Christ." [...] for people to feel once again [...] the right to burn all the synagogues [...] attack boys wearing yarmulkes [...] an entirely new discourse way of justifying it must emerge.^[13]

Yossi Klein Halevi, the author of The New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbour, considered the comparison a variant of an old dehumanizing image of Jews:

The deepest source of anti-Israel animus^[14] is the symbolization of the Jew as embodiment^[15] The satanic Jew has been replaced by the satanic Jewish state. [...] The end of the post-Holocaust era is expressed most starkly in the inversion of the Holocaust.^[16]

Related pages

References

↑ Gerstenfeld, Manfred (April 9, 2008). "Holocaust Trivialization". Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). Retrieved October 31, 2024.
↑ Suny, Ronald Grigor (2015). "They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else": A History of the Armenian Genocide. Princeton University Press. pp. xxi, 347, 369. ISBN 978-1-4008-6558-1.
↑ "Antisemitism and Hate in Canada". League for Human Rights of Canada. March 2000. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
↑ Cohen, Asher; Gelber, Joav; Wardi, Charlotte, eds. (1988). Comprehending the Holocaust: Historical and Literary Research. Bern: Peter Lang. p. 13. ISBN 978-3-63-140428-7. Retrieved 2 December 2020 – via Google Books.
↑ A modified variant of the medieval European antisemitic slur Jewish pigs, later popularized by Martin Luther in the 16th century.
↑ Major "Anti-Semitic Motifs in Arab Cartoons" Archived 17 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. An Interview with Joël Kotek. Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism. No. 21. 1 June 2004
↑ Gerstenfeld, Manfred (1 November 2005). "The Twenty-first-century Total War Against Israel and the Jews". Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism (38). Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1
"Working Definition Of Antisemitism". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism:
- Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.
- Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.
- Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.
- Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).
- Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.
- Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
- Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
- Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
- Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.
- Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.
- Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.
↑ An authoritative intergovernmental organization on the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust.
↑ "Holocaust Inversion and contemporary antisemitism". Fathom Journal.
↑ "Antisemitism defined: Why drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to the Nazis is antisemitic". World Jewish Congress.
↑ A headdress worn by Arab men, consisting of a square of fabric fastened by a band round the crown of the head. Oxford Languages.
↑
- Marcus, Kenneth L. (30 August 2010). Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49119-8.
- "Denying the deniers: Q & A with Deborah Lipstadt". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- "It's Time to Take Bernard-Henri Lévy Seriously". Foreign Policy. 9 April 2021.
↑ Hostility or ill feeling. Oxford Languages.
↑ A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. of evil. Oxford Languages.
↑ Yossi Klein Halevi (October 10, 2024). "The End of the Post-Holocaust Era". Jewish Journal. Retrieved October 14, 2024. Oct. 7 shattered Israelis' faith that the state would protect them and shook American Jewry's sense of full social acceptance – but there is a way forward.

[1] Gerstenfeld, Manfred (April 9, 2008). "Holocaust Trivialization". Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA). Retrieved October 31, 2024.

[2] Suny, Ronald Grigor (2015). "They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else": A History of the Armenian Genocide. Princeton University Press. pp. xxi, 347, 369. ISBN 978-1-4008-6558-1.

[3] "Antisemitism and Hate in Canada". League for Human Rights of Canada. March 2000. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 December 2020.

[4] Cohen, Asher; Gelber, Joav; Wardi, Charlotte, eds. (1988). Comprehending the Holocaust: Historical and Literary Research. Bern: Peter Lang. p. 13. ISBN 978-3-63-140428-7. Retrieved 2 December 2020 – via Google Books.

[5] A modified variant of the medieval European antisemitic slur Jewish pigs, later popularized by Martin Luther in the 16th century.

[6] Major "Anti-Semitic Motifs in Arab Cartoons" Archived 17 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine. An Interview with Joël Kotek. Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism. No. 21. 1 June 2004

[7] Gerstenfeld, Manfred (1 November 2005). "The Twenty-first-century Total War Against Israel and the Jews". Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism (38). Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2024.

[IHRA-8] 8.0 ^8.1 "Working Definition Of Antisemitism". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism:

Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.

Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).

Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

[9] Calling for, aiding, or justifying the killing or harming of Jews in the name of a radical ideology or an extremist view of religion.

[10] Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective — such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

[11] Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group, or even for acts committed by non-Jews.

[12] Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).

[13] Accusing the Jews as a people, or Israel as a state, of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.

[14] Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

[15] Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

[16] Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.

[17] Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

[18] Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

[19] Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

[9] An authoritative intergovernmental organization on the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust.

[10] "Holocaust Inversion and contemporary antisemitism". Fathom Journal.

[11] "Antisemitism defined: Why drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to the Nazis is antisemitic". World Jewish Congress.

[12] A headdress worn by Arab men, consisting of a square of fabric fastened by a band round the crown of the head. Oxford Languages.

[13] 
Marcus, Kenneth L. (30 August 2010). Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49119-8.

"Denying the deniers: Q & A with Deborah Lipstadt". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

"It's Time to Take Bernard-Henri Lévy Seriously". Foreign Policy. 9 April 2021.

[25] Marcus, Kenneth L. (30 August 2010). Jewish Identity and Civil Rights in America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-49119-8.

[26] "Denying the deniers: Q & A with Deborah Lipstadt". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

[27] "It's Time to Take Bernard-Henri Lévy Seriously". Foreign Policy. 9 April 2021.

[14] Hostility or ill feeling. Oxford Languages.

[15] A tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. of evil. Oxford Languages.

[16] Yossi Klein Halevi (October 10, 2024). "The End of the Post-Holocaust Era". Jewish Journal. Retrieved October 14, 2024. Oct. 7 shattered Israelis' faith that the state would protect them and shook American Jewry's sense of full social acceptance – but there is a way forward.

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