Is It Ever Appropriate To Compare Modern Crises To The Holocaust?

Image by Forward Montage

By The Scribe June 19, 2018

In the United States, we’re currently facing a crisis: Trump’s latest policy move has resulted in thousands of children being separated from their families and kept in large cages. While it’s undeniable that the situation is terrible, there’s a debate in the Jewish community about whether or not it’s appropriate to compare the atrocities in any way to the Holocaust.

The Anti-Defamation League released a video in which children hidden during the Holocaust share just how terrible family separation policies are:

WATCH: Children separated from their parents during the Holocaust speak out about the trauma it has caused. How can anyone defend such inhumane policies? https://t.co/YjxQzAQ2s8 #FamiliesBelongTogether pic.twitter.com/QqavaIcZai

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— ADL (@ADL_National) June 19, 2018

And Forward columnist Elad Nehorai says we have bigger things to worry about than the appropriate use of the term:

As a Jew, I find it much more offensive that some of my fellow Jews are more upset about Holocaust comparisons than about the actual atrocities happening in our country.

— Elad Nehorai (@PopChassid) June 18, 2018

But there are some who find the comparisons to the Holocaust offensive, or just a bad idea:

One of the many reasons Holocaust analogies are a bad idea is that they let the bigots turn the debate into one over whether the analogy is correct, when the policies are in fact evil *regardless* of whether they are anything like the Holocaust. https://t.co/tfh78gcnfv

— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 19, 2018

What do you think?

Is it ever appropriate to compare modern crises to the Holocaust?

— The Forward (@jdforward) June 19, 2018

Have more to say? Email us.

Musings and findings from the editors of Scribe, the Forward’s curated contributor network.

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