the term Holocaust is sometimes used to include the murder and persecution of non-Jewish groups, such as the Romani and Soviet POWs.
And I disagree, because it’s not sometimes. It’s most of the time.
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany
History.com: The Holocaust was the state-sponsored persecution and mass murder of millions of European Jews, Romani people, the intellectually disabled, political dissidents and homosexuals by the German Nazi
See, I think it’s really irresponsible to do as Rowling does and make the Holocaust solely about Jewish people and not the other groups.
First, the etymological argument. Holocaust means whole-burning. Not Jew-burning. It’s not called the Loudaicaust, is it? Indeed, according to Wikipedia, people used to say “The Jewish holocaust” up until special importance was assigned to the Jewish persecution and people began to conflate the two.
Second and more importantly, the ethical argument. When we assign special importance to the persecution of Jewish people, we forget the historical oppression of other groups. Which is exactly what Hitler, Rowling, and Netanyahu want us to forget. All three are aligned as fascists who want to tear down history and forget the suffering of those they deem subhuman. Anti-semitism does not exist in a vacuum. It always operates as part of a broader ideology we call fascism. The ideology of all three of these people. The Holocaust is what the fascists did. They did it to many different people. Never forget.
And finally, you moved the goalposts. When you cited Jewish News UK, your position was that she didn’t deny the persecution of trans people, because that’s what Jewish News said. You’ve already lost the argument, and now you’re trying to save face for Rowling by quibbling over technicalities.
And I agree with you, Holocaust shouldn’t just mean the Jewish victims. I’m not a Jewish exceptionalist. But it is largely what it means today, and Rowling still has not denied the genocide of other persecuted groups. Only the raid of The Institute of Sexology and trans people being the first victims, which still doesn’t count.
Anti-semitism does not exist in a vacuum. It always operates as part of a broader ideology we call fascism.
I would go as far as to say that antisemitism just doesn’t exist today (mandatory Norman Finkelstein, who is Jewish himself and whose parents are Holocaust survivors). It is in no way a mainstream political current. What is far more threatening today is Jewish supremacism and exceptionalism. That is what’s causing the Gaza genocide right now. Modern fascists are not antisemites, they’re the opposite.
(…)your position was that she didn’t deny the persecution of trans people(…)
That’s not what I said. She probably does, it still doesn’t count. Even if she did deny that trans people were killed (which as far as I can see she hasn’t) and we used a more encompassing definition of the Holocaust, that just makes her a Holocaust revisionist, not a denier.
The Wikipedia also says
And I disagree, because it’s not sometimes. It’s most of the time.
Encyclopedia Brittanica: Holocaust, the systematic state-sponsored killing of six million Jewish men, women, and children and millions of others by Nazi Germany
History.com: The Holocaust was the state-sponsored persecution and mass murder of millions of European Jews, Romani people, the intellectually disabled, political dissidents and homosexuals by the German Nazi
See, I think it’s really irresponsible to do as Rowling does and make the Holocaust solely about Jewish people and not the other groups.
First, the etymological argument. Holocaust means whole-burning. Not Jew-burning. It’s not called the Loudaicaust, is it? Indeed, according to Wikipedia, people used to say “The Jewish holocaust” up until special importance was assigned to the Jewish persecution and people began to conflate the two.
Second and more importantly, the ethical argument. When we assign special importance to the persecution of Jewish people, we forget the historical oppression of other groups. Which is exactly what Hitler, Rowling, and Netanyahu want us to forget. All three are aligned as fascists who want to tear down history and forget the suffering of those they deem subhuman. Anti-semitism does not exist in a vacuum. It always operates as part of a broader ideology we call fascism. The ideology of all three of these people. The Holocaust is what the fascists did. They did it to many different people. Never forget.
And finally, you moved the goalposts. When you cited Jewish News UK, your position was that she didn’t deny the persecution of trans people, because that’s what Jewish News said. You’ve already lost the argument, and now you’re trying to save face for Rowling by quibbling over technicalities.
You mean history.com as in the History Channel?
And I agree with you, Holocaust shouldn’t just mean the Jewish victims. I’m not a Jewish exceptionalist. But it is largely what it means today, and Rowling still has not denied the genocide of other persecuted groups. Only the raid of The Institute of Sexology and trans people being the first victims, which still doesn’t count.
I would go as far as to say that antisemitism just doesn’t exist today (mandatory Norman Finkelstein, who is Jewish himself and whose parents are Holocaust survivors). It is in no way a mainstream political current. What is far more threatening today is Jewish supremacism and exceptionalism. That is what’s causing the Gaza genocide right now. Modern fascists are not antisemites, they’re the opposite.
That’s not what I said. She probably does, it still doesn’t count. Even if she did deny that trans people were killed (which as far as I can see she hasn’t) and we used a more encompassing definition of the Holocaust, that just makes her a Holocaust revisionist, not a denier.