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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMy family was murdered in Auschwitz. Holocaust metaphors are a cruel distortion
Since time immemorial, authors have utilised metaphors as powerful literary devices, recognising their capacity to convey vivid imagery and evoke strong emotions. Sadly, Holocaust metaphors are all too common today. We have seen some people casually using Holocaust terminology to denounce anyone or any policy with which they disagree. Holocaust metaphors cover a broad spectrum of divisive political and social issues, including everything from people speaking out against Covid health mandates to protesting against abortion.
Since the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7th, and the ensuing response by Israel, there has been a marked increase in people using the memory of the Holocaust to make a political point. The conflict has elicited a strong emotional response for many, and we live in a democratic society that values the right to have robust and open debates over such sensitive issues. However, it is important to be vigilant that the language used in these debates does not serve to fuel hatred. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance cites Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis as an example of contemporary antisemitism.
Such comparisons diminish the gravity of the Holocaust; they are not only insensitive, offensive, and hurtful, but even worse are inaccurate and often dangerously distorting of the history. But when people like me a Holocaust survivor point out that the Holocaust should not be used for shock value, we are sometimes advised to be less sensitive and that we should get over it. This implies that we are overreacting. Really? It is easy to accuse the victim of being overly sensitive when you have never experienced injustice firsthand. How can we not be sensitive given the crime perpetrated against us? Lest we forget, European Jewry came close to annihilation.
Let me tell you about my experiences: I was just 12 years old when my entire family was deported from our hometown in Hungary to Auschwitz. There, the Nazis murdered my parents and seven siblings. I survived by pretending to be 16 which meant my life was spared for slave labour. Later when I reached the true age of 13, I marked my Bar Mitzvah alone, behind barbed wire. I endured unimaginable hardship before being liberated by American forces in 1945. For many years after the Holocaust, I never spoke to anyone about my experiences; I was simply unable to find the words to convey the depth of my suffering. For me the Holocaust is not history; it is my life story, a very personal pain.
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yardwork
(63,683 posts)AllaN01Bear
(22,806 posts)the idiots say nothing happened . but ppl in new york could show u their star of david and or number descendants and the person like this know something has happened or their relatives know something has happened . pox and snork to the idiots .
Behind the Aegis
(54,780 posts)Some people, it seems, need some type of proof that simply doesn't exist.
Haveadream
(1,630 posts)Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis as an example of contemporary antisemitism.
WarGamer
(14,861 posts)The ADL has historically asked people to stop using "Nazi" adjectives talking about contemporary politics.
Real NAZIS arrange a group of hundreds of thugs to meet in the town square in Latvia as a handful of 2.5 ton trucks deliver hundreds of shovels, axes and hoes to the men. You see, the NAZIS didn't trust the local Latvian NAZI sympathizers with firearms to hunt down Jews so they gave them farm implements and they ran around killing Jews for the next weeks... eventually over 70,000 Latvian Jews were dead... most at the hands of other Latvians.
That's what NAZIS do.