Holocaust (disambiguation)
The term holocaust means a loss of many lives, especially by fire. Used alone, as in "The Holocaust", it invariably refers to the Holocaust of Jews, Poles and other minorities during World War II (the terms Jewish Holocaust and Gypsy Holocaust can also be used more specifically, though both "holocausts" occurred at the same time and place). In the past half-century, however, the term "holocaust" has undergone a subtle shift in meaning to include what has traditionally (and more correctly) been called "genocide". It has also begun to be used to describe events which have affected a large group of people, but where suffering rather than death was the main outcome. The expression "Silicone Holocaust" is one such. Because the term "Holocaust" is so closely tied in contemporary times to the Jewish experience at the hands of the Nazis, though, use of it in other contexts may be seen by some as controversial or even offensive.
Moreover, certain events described here are held as fact by one side and rejected out of hand as absolute fabrication by the other. This article rigorously attempts to avoid taking sides. The information here has been drawn from a number of sources and an effort to present a balanced representation has been attempted.
Many racial or cultural groups have used the term to describe events which have occurred in their own history. Please note that while many of these events (the Black Holocaust and the Ukrainian Holocaust, for instance) are well-documented and have extensive citations, this is not so for some. This following list is chronological, though some events are not marked by clear beginnings or endings. Please note that it is far from complete; there are individuals and groups who would have events listed here that are not, others would have events listed here removed.
- The term Hindu Holocaust (~600 CE - present) is used by some to describe the almost continuous periods during which foreign armies have occupied India, beginning with the conquering of Sindh by Muhammad-bin-Qasim in 711 CE and continuing to this day with ongoing hostilities between India and Pakistan primarily over Kashmir. The cost in over 1400 years of intermittent conflict has been in the many millions of lives.
- The term Black Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of numerous Africans on slave ships bound for the New World (mid 17th century - mid 20th century). Also known as the Maafa, it is estimated that the death toll was in excess of ten million. Some users of this term see it as extending into the latter part of the 20th century.
- The term Aboriginal Holocaust has been used to describe the treatment of indigenous people in Australia by the European colonists and their descendents. Between the time of the arrival of the first white convicts (1788) and the late 1960s at least several hundred thousand aboriginals were murdered outright, sometimes for sport (enough to virtually eliminate them as a race); later, their children were removed from their ancestral homes and placed in residential schools, and family members were separated from other family members. Physical and sexual abuse were common.
- The term Native American Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the treatment by European settlers and soldiers of Native Americans, particularly in the form of massacres. Between the arrival of the first Europeans in the late 1400s and the most recent violent standoffs of the 20th century, some 112 million Native Americans are said to have perished.
- The term Canadian Holocaust is much more rarely used to describe the comparable treatment of indigenous people in Canada. While there were many fewer violent encounters between natives and whites north of the Canadian border than south, there remained a concerted effort by the government and the church to separate children from their culture by placing them in residential schools. These schools are now being recognised as places of physical, sexual, and emotional brutality. More than 10 000 children died, primarily from disease.
- The term Irish Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of at least a million Irish during the Great Irish Famine (1845 - 1850) when, over four successive growing seasons, the potato crop failed, and Irish farmers had neither food to eat or money to purchase any. The drought drove the great Irish exodus to North America that same decade.
- The term Armenian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the Armenian Genocide in the early 20th century, in which some one and a half million Armenians were killed by forces of the Young Turk Party. There is evidence that the motivation was primarily religious; Sultan Abdul Hamid, a Moslem, decreed that all Christians in the Ottoman Empire, who were primarily Armenian, should be put to death. Hence this event is also sometimes known as the Christian Holocaust, and local populations of Greek, Syrian, and Nestorian Christians were also killed.
- The term Ukrainian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the deaths of over seven million Ukrainians by starvation during the period of Soviet collectivization (1932 - 1933). Josef Stalin, in his desire to see collectivization succeed, ordered the middle-class landowners liquidated. These "kulaks" soon came to include anyone who opposed the Soviet policies in Ukraine. He also prohibited the importation of food into Ukraine, though relented briefly at the behest of the Red Cross.
- The term Palestinian Holocaust is sometimes used to describe the treatment of Palestinians during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict The Palestinian Red Cross reports 2780 deaths since the beginning of the Intifadah; far fewer Israeli Jews have died in this same conflict.
- The extermination of Jews and other minorities during World War 2 is covered in the article Holocaust.
The term is also used to denote non-historic events like a possible nuclear holocaust - the deaths in a global nuclear war and the ensuing nuclear winter. Furthermore, activist groups sometimes compare their causes to holocausts -- an environmentalist, for example, may speak of a "holocaust of old-growth forests" and an anti-abortion activist may speak of a "holocaust of babies". Though the movement is not currently as active as it was, the silicone holocaust was an issue of grave concern for many women who suffered extreme reactions to silicone breast implants. Though there are no confirmed cases of death resulting directly from implant complications, thousands of women have suffered grievous and lifelong disfigurement and impairment.
