Is The Holocaust Unique?

Question 1

When was the uniqueness argument a trend from?

Answer 1

1970s

Question 2

What could arguing it was unique stem back to?

Answer 2

A feeling of moral obligation to the victims

Question 3

What is the paradox about uniqueness?

Answer 3

Uniqueness is universal because everything is unique

Question 4

Why did Steven Katz argue the Holocaust was unique?

Answer 4

Because the Nazis aimed to kill every Jew on the planet and because ideology was such an important factor

Question 5

Where does the uniqueness of the Holocaust lie?

Answer 5

In the Final Solution

Question 6

What was not enough for the Nazis?

Answer 6

Driving the Jews out of the Third Reich and degrading the

Question 7

What was the Nazis’ goal?

Answer 7

The total eradication of the Jewish race

Question 8

The Holocaust caused the creation of Israel, why might this lead to the uniqueness argument?

Answer 8

No other genocide led to the creation of a new state; to justify Israel’s existence

Question 9

How did Elie Wiesel see the Holocaust?

Answer 9

In an almost mystical way and as something that could not be explained

Question 10

What did Saul Friedländer argue about the Holocaust?

Answer 10

That there was an opaqueness at the core, something that could not be understood

Question 11

How could technology be used to help the uniqueness argument?

Answer 11

The gas chambers represented a new level of technology being used for genocide

Question 12

How do the lists of Jews make the Holocaust unique?

Answer 12

The lists of Jews to be deported and gassed are an example of German attempts at total efficiency

Question 13

What happened to the Jews once they had been gassed?

Answer 13

It was not the end of the process and the indignity - their body parts, possessions and property were all used in a kind of Holocaust economy

Question 14

How do the SS make the Holocaust unique?

Answer 14

It is the only genocide for which a specific organisation was set up to carry out the killing process

Question 15

How do the Einsatzgruppen killings make the Holocaust less unique?

Answer 15

Because they were like colonial killings

Question 16

What evidence is there that ideology was the driving factor for the genocide?

Answer 16

The killings continued even after it was clear that the war had been lost

Question 17

Were the Jews a real threat to the German war effort?

Answer 17

No, not in the way the Tutsi and Armenians could be perceived to be

Question 18

What was the Historikerstreit?

Answer 18

The historians’ debate in 1980s West Germany

Question 19

Where did the Historikerstreit take place?

Answer 19

In the national press

Question 20

Who was the Historikerstreit largely between?

Answer 20

Ernst Knölte and Jurgen Habermass

Question 21

What did Knölte argue?

Answer 21

That the Holocaust should be compared to Communist crimes to show it was a retaliation

Question 22

What was Habermass’ response to Knölte?

Answer 22

He thought that the uniqueness of the Holocaust needed to be maintained

Question 23

Who uses the uniqueness argument now?

Answer 23

Zionists and conservatives to justify the existence of Israel

Question 24

What does a comparison of the Holocaust need to do?

Answer 24

Needs to add something to the understanding of what happened

Question 25

Who did the Rwandan genocide target?

Answer 25

Anyone who did not support the regime through the veil of race

Question 26

What similarities are there between the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust?

Answer 26

Both grouped their victims together before killing them

Question 27

Why might the comparison between the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust be unhelpful?

Answer 27

Because it would be comparing 1930/1940s Europe with 1990s Africa

Question 28

Why is the comparison between the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust helpful?

Answer 28

It could show theoretical reasons people might carry out genocides

Question 29

Which case is most similar to the Holocaust?

Answer 29

The Rwandan Genocide

Question 30

When did the Rwandan Genocide start?

Answer 30

7th April 1994

Question 31

How long did the Rwandan genocide last?

Answer 31

Approximately 100 days

Question 32

How many died in the Rwandan genocide?

Answer 32

Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people

Question 33

How did the genocide affect Rwanda?

Answer 33

It completely ruined the economy

Question 34

What did Kurt Jonassohn argue about the Armenian genocida?

Answer 34

That it was the first modern, ideologically motivated genocide

Question 35

How could Armenians be accepted into Turkish society?

Answer 35

By adopting their religion and language

Question 36

What were most Armenians?

Answer 36

Defenceless peasants

Question 37

How many Armenians were killed in 1895?

Answer 37

100,000-200,000

Question 38

When did the Armenian genocide begin?

Answer 38

In April 1915

Question 39

How did the Armenian genocide begin?

Answer 39

Armenian political, religious, educational and intellectual leaders from Constantinople were deported and murdered

Question 40

What happened to the Armenians in May 1915?

Answer 40

They were deported from war centres to the deserts of Syria and Mesopotamia where they were murdered

Question 41

What do Turkey claim about the genocide?

Answer 41

That it was a civil war and people on both sides died

Question 42

What similarities are there between the Armenians and the Jews?

Answer 42

They were both historically separate groups

Question 43

What circumstances in the Ottoman Empire made the genocide possible?

Answer 43

The demise of a stable government; state supported radical ideology; economic difficulties

Question 44

How does the Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide lead to comparisons with the Holocaust?

Answer 44

Comparisons are made to gain attention for the Armenian genocide

Question 45

Why were rural Armenians targeted more than urban ones?

Answer 45

Because the Turks were trying to destroy Armenian communities rather than Armenians as a race

Question 46

How was the Ukrainian famine a genocide?

Answer 46

The famine was created rather than being natural and Stalin could have sent aid but chose not to.

Question 47

How was the Ukrainian famine similar to the Holocaust?

Answer 47

The intelligentsia were murdered first

Question 48

How was the Ukrainian famine different from the Holocaust?

Answer 48

Stalin wanted to subjugate the Ukrainians not destroy them entirely

Question 49

What did Steven Katz call Stalin's desire to subjugate the Ukrainians?

Answer 49

Internal colonialism

Question 50

How was there a genocide of the Native Americans?

Answer 50

1,500,000 Native Americans died over 115 years

Question 51

How did most Native Americans die?

Answer 51

The primary cause of death was disease brought over by the Europeans; direct murder counted for a very small proportion of the deaths

Question 52

What did missionaries try to do to the Native Americans?

Answer 52

They tried to integrate them into the society of the colonies not eradicate them

Question 53

Could the Indian Reservations the Native Americans were forced into be compared to the ghettos?

Answer 53

No because the Native Americans had the means to survive on the reservations, the Jews could not survive indefinitely in the ghettos

Question 54

Who was the uniqueness argument prominent among?

Answer 54

Israeli and Jewish American historians