Remarkable article on the word, "Holocaust". I have always had an interest in the concept of Genocide or as I would rather call it Democide. The basic questions is why such an act would occur in a "civilized" world. Check it out...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/the-word-holocaust-history-and-meaning_n_1229043.html?ref=genocide
I think the idea of the holocaust wasn't to necessarily say burnt offering but in fact to show the hardships of the people who suffered during. Maybe to the nazis who tried to "make the world a better place" to them holocaust could be considered an offering to God in ways of using the Jews in order to better themselves persay. But, in actuality the holocaust has been associated with this incident for quite some time so for us to say it represents all minorities wouldn't make sense. When I hear the holocaust I think about how much suffering was going on and how much pain those involved were suffering. The word itself just brings grief and agony to most people. So, I think to change the name would change the meaning of that horrific incident.
ReplyDeleteI think we should not change the meaning of the word ...if it is reminds people of grief and agony then maybe that will prevent history from repeating itself. I was friends of a concentration camp survivor for many years and he carried his Nazi ID tattoo with him to his grave. I remember the last time I had him talk about his experiences in one of my classes there was a student who asked why he continued to keep his tattoo ID which was stamped on his arm by the Nazis. He replied...."I keep this on my arm because the moment I erase it...meaning will be lost which allows history to repeat itself. Never Forget!" History does have a tendency to repeat itself when we rewrite and change meaning to the point where people forget. Even this discourse paints the picture of "NEVER FORGET"! Food for thought!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteAs I began reading this article, I thought "What God would really want to sacrifice a life?" And then I read the last line...."I wouldn't want to know the God who sacrificed these people," Berenbaum said. I can't agree with him more.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, hearing the word "Holocaust", I always thought of it as a negative word, but not toward the Jewish, but rather toward Hitler and his goons. I can't fathom the intensity of the hate that the Nazi's had toward the Jewish. It always saddens me to remember the separation of families, unimaginable cruelty and carnage that was inflicted upon the Jewish people; but yet, EVERYONE alive today should be reminded of what happened and the fact that God had nothing to do with it. It was the work of a crazed dictater and all those brainwashed by him.
When I read the quote Greg posted about his friend, it gave me the chills. Sad but true, history does repeat itself. I think that him keeping his tatto also allowed him to remember those horriable days he lived, maybe making him somewhat stronger. Im not going to lie but when I hear the word HOLOCAUST the first thing that comes to my mind is HITLER & ANNE FRANK. I believe that it was like in the 2nd or 3rd grade that we were introduced to the "Holocaust", the whole Nazi deal, Anne Franks dairy, only that it was sugar coated to us (due to our age) but the meaning was still the same. I dont see why they would want to change the meaning of the word, this is almost scary, could it open the door to something like this every happening again? who knows.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a good question Greg! Why such an act would occur in a civilized world? Its definitely a twist when looking at genocide that’s taken place in places like Sudan, Rwanda, and Bosnia. These societies in comparison to this one in particular is almost night and day in terms of resources and necessities that are available. With that being said, subsistence isn’t the core reason for this to of occurred in this “civilized” society. I think it has levels to the reason this happens. One reason could be because of the way that people portray other people and what they perceive them to be that can make a tragic event like democide occur anywhere. Another reason can be its possible that this is how some people reacts to difference. As human beings we are all of the same biological classification however it is undeniable that each individual is uniquely different form another no matter the blood line, race, gender, or religious similarities. Hints the name INDIVIDUAL! Some people in the world are so use to ordinary and tradition that when something different comes around that doesn’t fit their template; the immediate reaction is anger, hate, and marginalization. This goes worldwide for everybody! Last reason since this is government assisted mass killing, I believe that some sort of monetary gain like oil, money, or land is ultimately the root cause for a government to stoop down to a level of foul play and partake in such heinous crimes.
ReplyDeleteThe question is: are we still comfortable with the word "Holocaust"? I noticed in Dr. Gullion's comment on the article, he says that he prefers the word "democide," which in part means murder of people, such as by genocide, by a government--a better word for holocaust to be sure. The author is saying that "Holocaust" has been taken to imply only the Jewish destruction in World War II at the exclusion of all other catastrophes such as the Armenian murders by the Ottomans, Russians starved by Stalin, and the list goes on, suggesting that these events don't deserve such an expressive description. It is really easy in this day to quibble over every little thing that might affect some group in a negatively perceived way, or, in this case, an omissive way. The word does, however, have a deep meaning all over the world. It is a reminder of how evil humans can be under specific circumstances. Scholars and intellectuals could study the word and break it down to more specific words we could use for the Jewish catastrophe. For myself, I am aware of Stalin's atrocities, Apartheid in South Africa, the Roman cruelties, and other terrible events, and am not the least upset that they are not called Holocaust I, II, III, . . . . The world I know puts no guilt on the Jews for the atrocities inflicted upon them by the Nazis, and most of us use the word, even though the word is somewhat inaccurate, as a common understanding of those horrors.
ReplyDeleteI believe that perhaps we should change the name from Holocaust. Holocaust is the name given to the ordeal by everyone but the people who went through it. The label we give to it means less than the label suvivors give to it. I belive there is a stronger meaning when a suvivor calls it the "Shoah" or "der letster khurbn", than an American or anyone else giving it a name that is very general and happens throughout the world. I feel a hebrew name would draw more of a connection to whom these horrible things happened to. The U.S winning WWII protected our freedom, but more importantly it WON the freedoms for others. They say the victors write the history books. There is not a discrepancy in what happened and what is said to have happened. It's just that our perspective of what happened in the concentration camps and death camps are different than who were in there. So they should be able to write their first hand experiance of history, and call it what they want to.
ReplyDeleteWhen first hearing about the Holocaust as a kid and the horrific and cruel stories of the brutal acts the Nazis commited to the minorities I used to imagine and picture what these poor and defenseless people had to go through. The idea that Nazis actually thought they were trying to make the world "a better place" by "offering" Jews and minorities to better the world blows my mind. I don't think the actual word Holocaust is used to shortly describe this time and cut off its meaning but when I hear the world Holocaust I think about the gruesome details that happened in those times and the pain and sufferings that will always be remembered.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear the word Holocaust, I think about the Nazis. I never heard the word and thought as the genocide as a burnt offering. The word Holocaust is such a negative word to so many people. I believe many people also think of the Nazis when hearing the word Holocaust. I also agree that democide is a better word to describe this. I don’t think the word should be changed at all because I believe it opens a whole other door.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered where the word holocaust comes from and it’s kind of disturbing that we need to have these words to describe the events that occurred. I didn’t know about the other genocides that had occurred like the massacre of the Armenians by the Ottomans. I feel that one of the main causes for the Holocaust was the fear that Adolf Hitler had because of the Jewish and he felt insecure so he felt the need to get rid of them. It’s also interesting to know that holocaust translates as offering to God in Jewish, but that its used to refer to events so tragic.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe it when it talks about a God sacraficing his people.. I am a Christian and while im not trying to place my views on any one I always grew up learning that God sacraficed himself for his people not the other way around... Going through school the Holocaust always intreaged me for the meer fact that i can not bring my self to understand how any one could kill so many people and then be able to sleep soundly at night... While I understand the motive that Hitler had to purify (i dont agree at all) i don't understand how he could target jews when his mom had some jewish in her therefore he had jewish in him..The Holocaust was one of the most inhumane times in the History of the world and in my opinion should never happen because we are all the same no matter are race religion or the color of our eys and hair... if that is the case my mom and sister and dad would have died leaving two of my sisters to live do to they have blue eyes and blond hair...i think this is wrong and the whole event is tragic...
ReplyDeleteThe article “Holocaust means Burnt Offering" is very informative about the meaning behind the word Holocaust. It’s sad that people take out the time to debate the mean of a when there is far better issues to solve for instants poverty, unemployment, and homeless in the world. People have their banners in to remember like having days of International Holocaust Remembrance Day or Holocaust Remembrance Day depending on where one lives. What about other genocides victims that happen during our history do we just forget about them.
ReplyDeleteIn 1990’s in Rwanda, the Hutus tried to destroy all Tutsis. Also in the 1990’s in former Yugoslavia under Tito’s iron fisted rule from 1944-1980 were the Serbs vented their hatted in the form of ethnic cleansing just another word for genocide. Let just hit close to home were the United States call Native Americans “savages” by label other human beings as inferior, less than human. The US officials and white settlers killed the Native Americans in order to take their resources. Let’s not forget about humans sold like a commodity in the US and the many that were killed doing transport, escaping their confinements are just refusing to conform to slavery that lasted over 100 years in U.S. In my opinion all who is murdered in any genocide or ethnic cleansing deserve to be remembered as fragile lights cut out at their pick by hatred, intolerance and bigotry.
The Holocaust, always an interesting thing to discuss. How did Hitler get millions of people to believe that Jews were bad people and that the race needed to become extinct? Crazy to wrap your mind around. Hitler was a tremendous leader, although I completely disagree with his philosophy. I disagree with the article when it states they were an offering to God. Someone said it earlier, but God sent Jesus to die for us not the other way around. I do not know Hitler's faith or beliefs but if I had to guess, I would guess he was not a Christian. When I hear the word Holocaust, I think of all the families who were innocently tortured. I think of all the people in the cold, with no socks, no shoes, no clothes. I think of all the children getting separated from their families never to be seen again. I think about all of the people in the gas chambers. The Holocaust is such a disgusting event in our history. Hitler was a punk! Wish we could have captured the coward, I dont know what I would have liked to see happen to him, other then maybe give him the treatment in which he treated the Jews, maybe a combination of both. It just boggles my mind how any of his soldiers respected him? The guy was a coward, he took his own life.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about the Holocaust when I was younger, I always thought it was a horrible thing to talk about. Why would we be talking about such a horrible thing? But now I realize that we do not only just talk about it because of what happened but we talk about it to remember the people who were involved in the holocaust. I do not think we should change the name because the name already represents the people and if we changed it then no one would know what their talking about, everyone would still refer to it as the "Holocaust". I do not necessarily like the meaning of the word, but it just is to late to change it.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up and when people talk about World War Two the first thing that always comes to my mind is the Holocaust. You begin to think about everything we have been taught in schools, you cant even begin to imagine what these poor innocent people went through. I think the word Holocaust holds such a strong meaning and tie with the atrocities that took place in Germany. I think changing the word nowadays would not hold as strong meaning for the rest of society than Holocaust.I think it is very smart to teach history and the events that took place and even more important the events that led to the Holocaust, so history never has a chance to repeat it self.
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