Is the Holocaust Unique?
Subtitle: Perspectives on Comparative Genocide
Contributors: Alan S. Rosenbaum (Editor); Israel W. Charny (Introduction)
Edition: New Ed edition
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: July 1997
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 222
ISBN-13: 9780813326429
Subjects: The Holocaust; Holocaust; Historiography; Political Science; History - General History; History: World; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Genocide; General
First sentence: 'Is the Holocaust unique?
Description: Evaluating the Jewish Holocaust is by no means a simple matter, and one of the most controversial questions for academics is whether there have been any historical parallels for it. Have Armenians, Gypsies, American Indians, or others undergone a comparable genocide? In this fiercely controversial volume, distinguished scholars offer new discussions of this question. Presenting a wide range of strongly held views, they provide no easy consensus.

Some critics contend that if the Holocaust is seen as fundamentally different in kind from other genocides or mass deaths, the suffering of other persecuted groups will be diminished. Others argue that denying the uniqueness of the Holocaust will trivialize it.

Alan Rosenbaum's introduction provides a much-needed context for readers to come to terms with this multidimensional dispute, to help them understand why it has recently intensified, and to enable them to appreciate what universal lessons might be gleaned from studying the Holocaust.