Jack Jedwab: Reducing the Holocaust to yet another story of colonialism distorts history |
Recognizing the historical specificity of the Shoah does not diminish the significance of other genocides
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we honour the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and mark the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Eight decades later, the challenge of passing on the lessons of the Holocaust is ever more daunting, with the danger being less its outright denial than its distortion or revision — efforts to minimize or reframe the systematic murder of six million Jews. Recent surveys reveal an alarming number of young people in North America believe the Holocaust has been exaggerated, a reflection not so much of disbelief that it happened, but of the subtle erosion of the truth.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
One of the most consequential forms of historical revision appears in those academic and pedagogical settings where the Holocaust is framed primarily through the lens of imperialism and colonialism. In such accounts, Jews and other victims are presented as part of an undifferentiated mass, with their suffering attributed less to the Nazis’ deliberate “final solution” than to yet another historic manifestation of European power and........