Digital Library
The Ongoing Major Distortion of the Holocaust
Topic:
Antisemitism & Antizionism
Principal Investigators:
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
Study Date:
2018
Source:
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA)
Key Findings:
The number of Holocaust abuse incidents have gone up immensely in the past few years. By utilizing various present day examples of Holocaust distortion, the author points out that because of the evolving nature of our world and the presence of social media, the categories that were previously used to define Holocaust distortion can no longer fully encompass it.
The information to categorize and study the state of Holocaust distortion as it stands nowadays is incomplete as new types of abuse have emerged. Without a proper framework to oversee this, many trends of Holocaust distortion will go unnoticed, especially as survivors grow older. The author suggests that universities, research centers, and memorial institutions can and should play a pivotal role in the dissolution of this distortion.
Methodology:
This op-ed utilizes the author’s 2009 book, “The Abuse of Holocaust Memory: Distortions and Responses” as a framework for present day analysis of Holocaust abuse.
The author presents examples of Holocaust abuse in the present day, using 8 main categories as a blueprint: “justification of the Holocaust or promoting a new one, Holocaust denial or its minimization, deflection or whitewashing of guilt, Holocaust de-Judaization in part through its universalization, Holocaust equivalence, Holocaust inversion, Holocaust trivialization, and obliterating Holocaust memory.”