Uniqueness In The Holocaust

The word “unique” is defined as being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else. One of the argumentative issues surrounding the analysis of the Holocaust is the question of uniqueness. The depictions of the Holocaust through the media categorizes the Holocaust as the utmost gruesome act of mass murder, while others view the Holocaust as a genocide no different from any other genocide. There have been countless horrific acts of terror and injustice committed throughout history. However, the Holocaust is a unique not based on the magnitude of size or level of gruesomeness, but the ideology and systematic methods behind the devastation separate it from other genocides. The act of mass murder, genocide or holocaust, both are motivated by destruction and chaos and should not happen again in history.

The term “genocide‟ was coined during the Second World War by a lawyer, Raphael Lemkin to mean the deliberate destruction of national groups on the basis of their collective identity. Lemkin’s purpose was to use this term to bring about a framework of international law to prevent and punish “a crime without a name‟. In this, Lemkin was successful in 1948 when the new United Nations had been persuaded to draft the UN Convention on Genocide. The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide provides a definition for genocide developed into 5 descriptive elements. In this, acts constitute genocide if they are committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group, causing physical and/or mental harm to the targeted group, creating conditions of the group impossible for survival, prevention of births, and kidnapping of...

... middle of paper ...

...but will also want to take revenge”(Bauer 120). Though many see the approach of Nazi Germany to be secular and not supported by the Catholic or Protestant values at the time, the anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism still existed in these groups. Martin Luther, a Protestant leader, states, “Now just behold these miserable, blind, and senseless people ... their blindness and arrogance are as solid as an iron mountain”(Luther 1). The Holocaust developed from a seed planted already in society of Anti-Semitism, thus present a unique aspect the Holocaust.

Though the Holocaust is considered genocide and presents the qualities no different from any other genocide, it still presents unique qualities. The differences are not based on the number of deaths or how destructive the event, but the ideological and systematic approach to the Holocaust separates it from other genocides.