History And Meaning Of The Word ‘Holocaust': Are We Still Comfortable With This Term? | The Huffington Post History And Meaning Of The Word ‘Holocaust': Are We Still Comfortable With This Term? 01/27/2012 07:22 am ET | Updated Mar 28, 2012 290 Josh Fleet Former Associate Editor, HuffPost Religion What's in a name? When it comes to remembering the millions of victims of the Nazi quest to "purify" Germany during World War II, names are often all that remain . So why do we call the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews and millions of others "The Holocaust"? This usage came about gradually. The lower-case "holocaust" has described the violent deaths of large groups of people probably since the 18th century, according the Oxford English Dictionary. Before World War II, the word was used by Winston Churchill and others to refer to the genocide of Armenians during World War I. In 1933, "holocaust" was first associated with the Nazis after a major book burning. And after Word War II, the " Final Solution " was often called a holocaust.

By the 1960s, according to the Jewish Magazine , it became common to refer to the Nazi genocide of Jews as "The Holocaust." The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes three events that led to this shift: the English translation of Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, which mentions the "Nazi holocaust"; the translated publications of Yad Vashem , the "world center for Holocaust research, education, documentation and commemoration" in Jerusalem; and English newspaper coverage of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann . But what does "holocaust" mean? “The word is not clearly defined,” said Marshall J. Breger, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America and Vice Chairman of the Jewish Policy Center , who has organized educational interfaith trips to Auschwitz . Does it refer only to the Jewish victims of the Nazis? Are other victims of the Nazis included? What about the Ukrainians starved by Stalin ? Or the Armenians murdered by the Ottomans? Does the Holocaust not include them, too? In other words, who owns the word and the memory it contains?

“The only problem I have with the word," Breger said, "is that it’s a cause for fighting, not a cause for clarifying.” " Holocaust " comes from the the Greek word holokauston, itself a translation of the Hebrew olah, meaning "completely burnt offering to God," implying that Jews and other "undesirables" murdered during World War II were a sacrifice to God. While Shoah, the Hebrew word for "catastrophe," is the preferred name -- Yad Vashem now advocates using Shoah to refer to the near destruction of European Jewry and the word is used throughout Israel -- Jews have not entirely avoided the sacrificial moniker. Itzik Gottesman, Associate Editor of Forverts, the Yiddish version of the Jewish Daily Forward , said in an e-mail that the Yiddish word for the Holocaust is Khurbn, coming from a Hebrew word that refers to the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem. This was the word used by survivors of the Nazi project, who often referred to their ordeal as der letster khurbn, the "most recent destruction." The Nazi genocide, in this context, is but the latest in a string of epic catastrophes.

There was a definite religious connotation for survivors, said Michael Berenbaum , director of the Sigi Ziering Center for the Study of the Holocaust and Ethics at the American Jewish University . As they knew, Jewish sages taught that the underlying spiritual reason for this destruction was the baseless hatred of one Jew for another. In this context, the word "holocaust" implies some measure of guilt. At this point, the word is too entrenched in popular vocabulary to change, he said. Now, "Holocaust" is used to refer generally to Nazi atrocities during World War II. In 2006, the United Nations instituted an International Day of Commemoration , declaring, "the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one-third of the Jewish people along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice." Still, the magnitude and uniqueness of this catastrophic event in Jewish history transcends the meaning of words and defies understanding. Yes, many of Nazi's victims were consumed wholly by flame. But was this some sort of divine retribution for the sins of a nation? "I wouldn't want to know the God who sacrificed these people," Berenbaum said.

The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust , observed on Friday (Jan. 27), the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau , is dedicated this year to remembering the children who perished at the hands of the Nazis. all-also-on-huffpost Holocaust - definition of holocaust by The Free Dictionary Holocaust - definition of holocaust by The Free Dictionary 1. Great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire. 2. a. Holocaust The genocide of European Jews and other groups by the Nazis during World War II: "Israel emerged from the Holocaust and is defined in relation to that catastrophe" (Emanuel Litvinoff). b. A massive slaughter: "an important document in the so-far sketchy annals of the Cambodian holocaust" (Rod Nordland). 3. A sacrificial offering that is consumed entirely by flames.

[Middle English, burnt offering, from Old French holocauste, from Latin holocaustum, from Greek holokauston, from neuter of holokaustos, burnt whole : holo-, holo- + kaustos, burnt (from kaiein, to burn).] hol′o·caus′tal, hol′o·caus′tic adj. Usage Note: Holocaust has a secure place in the language when it refers to the massive destruction of humans by other humans. In our 1987 survey 99 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the use of holocaust in the phrase nuclear holocaust. Sixty percent accepted the sentence As many as two million people may have died in the holocaust that followed the Khmer Rouge takeover in Cambodia. But because of its associations with genocide, people may object to extended applications of holocaust. The percentage of the Panel's acceptance drops sharply when people use the word to refer to death brought about by natural causes. In our 1999 survey 47 percent approved the sentence In East Africa five years of drought have brought about a holocaust in which millions have died.

Just 16 percent approved The press gives little coverage to the holocaust of malaria that goes on, year after year, in tropical countries, where there is no mention of widespread mortality. The Panel has little enthusiasm for more figurative usages of holocaust. In 1999, only 7 percent accepted Numerous small investors lost their stakes in the holocaust that followed the precipitous drop in stocks. This suggests that these extended uses of the word may be viewed as overblown or in poor taste. Word History: Totality of destruction has been central to the meaning of holocaust since it first appeared in Middle English in the 1300s, used in reference to the biblical sacrifice in which a male animal was wholly burnt on the altar in worship of God. Holocaust comes from Greek holokauston, "that which is completely burnt," which was a translation of Hebrew 'ōlâ (literally "that which goes up," that is, in smoke). In this sense of "burnt sacrifice," holocaust is still used in some versions of the Bible.

In the 1600s, the meaning of holocaust broadened to "something totally consumed by fire," and the word eventually was applied to fires of extreme destructiveness. In the 1900s, holocaust took on a variety of figurative meanings, summarizing the effects of war, rioting, storms, epidemic diseases, and even economic failures. Most of these usages arose after World War II, but it is unclear whether they permitted or resulted from the use of holocaust in reference to the mass murder of European Jews and others by the Nazis. This application of the word occurred as early as 1942, but the phrase the Holocaust did not become established until the late 1950s. Here it parallels and may have been influenced by another Hebrew word, šô'â, "catastrophe" (in English, Shoah). In the Bible šô'â has a range of meanings including "personal ruin or devastation" and "a wasteland or desert." Šô'â was first used to refer to the Nazi slaughter of Jews in 1939, but the phrase haš-šô'â, "the catastrophe," became established only after World War II.

Holocaust has also been used to translate ḥurbān, "destruction," another Hebrew word used as a name for the genocide of Jews by the Nazis. holocaust n 1. great destruction or loss of life or the source of such destruction, esp fire 2. (Historical Terms) (usually capital) Also called: the Churban or the Shoah the mass murder of Jews and members of many other ethnic, social, and political groups in continental Europe between 1940 and 1945 by the Nazi regime 3. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a rare word for burnt offering [C13: from Late Latin holocaustum whole burnt offering, from Greek holokauston, from holo- + kaustos, from kaiein to burn] ˌholoˈcaustal, ˌholoˈcaustic adj holocaust (ˈholəkoːst) noun great destruction, usually by fire, especially of people's lives.

slagting مُحْرَقَه، كارثَه، إبادة كامِلَه унищожение holocausto vyhlazení die Massenvernichtung holocaust; masseudryddelse ολοκαύτωμα holocausto suur häving, holokaust همه سوزی tuho holocauste שואה महाविनाश opci pokolj, opce razaranje holokauszt malapetaka brennifórn; fjöldamorð, þjóðarmorð olocausto 大虐殺 대참사 masinis sunaikinimas/sudeginimas holokausts, masveida iznīcināšana kehancuran vernietiging katastrofebrann zagłada سوځیدل holocausto holocaust массовое уничтожение (людей) úplné zničenie (ohňom), holokaust veliko razdejanje; holokavst holokaust förödelse, katastrof, förhärjande brand ความหายน

ะ mahvolma, tamamen yok olma (常指大火造成的)大浩劫, 大屠殺 знищення; масове винищення آگ وغیرہ سے زبردست تباہی sự tàn sát 大毁灭，大屠杀 the Holocaust the annihilation of six million Jews during the second world war.

Joodse volksmoord الكارثَة اليهوديَّه холокост Holocausto holocaust der Holocaust Holocaust το Ολοκαύτωμα Holocausto holokaust کشتار یهودیان توسط آلمان ها juutalaisten joukkomurha toisessa maailmansodassa l'Holocauste “הַשׁוֹאָה” दूसरे विश्वयुद्ध के दौरान यहूदियों का कत्ले आम Holokaust, genocid nad Židovima u Drugom svjetskom ratu a holokauszt pemusnahan, pembakaran Olocausto （ナチによる）ユダヤ人大虐殺 나치에 의한 유태인 대학살 holokaustas holokausts Holocaust holocaust holocaust , folkemord holokaust د یهودیانو وژنه د المانیانو په واسطه холок

ост holocaust pokol Židov Holokaust Förintelsen การทำลายจนสิ้น kıyım , ırk kıyımı 納粹對猶太人的大屠殺 Холокост دوسری عالمی جنگ کے دوران ساٹھ لاکھ یہودیوں کا قتل عام cuộc tàn sát người Do Thái 大屠杀（指纳粹对犹太人的种族灭绝） The Holocaust - Yad Vashem The Holocaust New Beginnings The Holocaust: Definition and Preliminary Discussion The Holocaust, as presented in this resource center, is defined as the sum total of all anti-Jewish actions carried out by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945: from stripping the German Jews of their legal and economic status in the 1930s`; segregating and starvation in the various occupied countries; the murder of close to six million Jews in Europe.

The Holocaust is part of a broader aggregate of acts of oppression and murder of various ethnic and political groups in Europe by the Nazis. Nevertheless, it has special significance due to the exceptional attitude with which its perpetrators – the Nazis – regarded their Jewish victims. In the Nazi terminology the Jews were referred to as “world Jewry,” a term unparalleled with respect to any other ethnic, ideological, or social group. The Nazis’ proclaimed goal was the eradication of European Jewry. The biblical word Shoah (which has been used to mean “destruction” since the Middle Ages) became the standard Hebrew term for the murder of European Jewry as early as the early 1940s. The word Holocaust, which came into use in the 1950s as the corresponding term, originally meant a sacrifice burnt entirely on the altar. The selection of these two words with religious origins reflects recognition of the unprecedented nature and magnitude of the events. Many understand Holocaust as a general term for the crimes and horrors perpetrated by the Nazis; others go even farther and use it to encompass other acts of mass murder as well.

Consequently, we consider it important to use the Hebrew word Shoah with regard to the murder of and persecution of European Jewry in other languages as well. Various interpretations of these historical events have given rise to several other terms with different shades of meaning: destruction (used in Raul Hilberg’s book), catastrophe (in use mainly in the research literature in Soviet Russia), and khurbn (destruction) and gezerot tash–tashah (the decrees of 1939–1945( (Used in ultra-orthodox communities). 33 Facts You Should Know About the Holocaust Below you will find a list of 33 important Holocaust facts. What Does Holocaust Mean? The Holocaust began in 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945 when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers. The term "Holocaust," originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire," refers to the Nazi's persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people. The Hebrew word "Shoah," which means "devastation, ruin, or waste," is also used for this genocide.

In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted Gypsies , homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the disabled for persecution. Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor or murdered. The term "Nazi" is an acronym for "Nationalsozialistishe Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" ("National Socialist German Worker's Party"). The Nazis used the term "the Final Solution" to refer to their plan to murder the Jewish people. The Big Numbers It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust. Six million of these were Jews. continue reading below our video The Lasting Effects of WWII on Europe The Nazis killed approximately two-thirds of all Jews living in Europe. An estimated 1.1 million children were murdered in the Holocaust. Persecution Begins On April 1, 1933, the Nazis instigated their first action against German Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish-run businesses. The Nuremberg Laws , issued on September 15, 1935, began to exclude Jews from public life. The Nuremberg Laws included a law that stripped German Jews of their citizenship and a law that prohibited marriages and extramarital sex between Jews and Germans.

The Nuremberg Laws set the legal precedent for further anti-Jewish legislation. Nazis then issued additional anti-Jews laws over the next several years. For example, some of these laws excluded Jews from places like parks, fired them from civil service jobs (i.e. government jobs), made Jews register their property, and prevented Jewish doctors from working on anyone other than Jewish patients. During the night of November 9-10, 1938, Nazis incited a pogrom against Jews in Austria and Germany in what has been termed, " Kristallnacht " ("Night of Broken Glass"). This night of violence included the pillaging and burning of synagogues, breaking the windows of Jewish-owned businesses, the looting of these stores, and many Jews were physically attacked. Also, approximately 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. After World War II started in 1939, the Nazis began ordering Jews to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing so that Jews could be easily recognized and targeted. Ghettos After the beginning of World War II, Nazis began ordering all Jews to live within certain, very specific, areas of big cities, called ghettos.

Jews were forced out of their homes and moved into smaller apartments, often shared with other families. Some ghettos started out as "open," which meant that Jews could leave the area during the daytime but often had to be back within the ghetto by a curfew. Later, all ghettos became "closed," which meant that Jews were trapped within the confines of the ghetto and not allowed to leave. A few of the major ghettos were located in the cities of Bialystok, Kovno, Lodz , Minsk, Riga, Vilna, and Warsaw . The largest ghetto was in Warsaw , with its highest population reaching 445,000 in March 1941. In most ghettos, Nazis ordered the Jews to establish a Judenrat (a Jewish council) to both administer Nazi demands and to regulate the internal life of the ghetto. Nazis would then order deportations from the ghettos. In some of the large ghettos, 1,000 people per day were loaded up in trains and sent to either a concentration camp or a death camp. To get them to cooperate, the Nazis told the Jews they were being transported to another place for labor.

When the Nazis decided to kill the remaining Jews in a ghetto, they would "liquidate" a ghetto by boarding the last Jews in the ghetto on trains. When the Nazis attempted to liquidate the Warsaw Ghetto on April 13, 1943, the remaining Jews fought back in what has become known as the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Jewish resistance fighters held out against the entire Nazi regime for 28 days -- longer than many European countries had been able to withstand Nazi conquest. Concentration and Extermination Camps Although many people refer to all Nazi camps as "concentration camps," there were actually a number of different kinds of camps, including concentration camps, extermination camps, labor camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and transit camps. ( Map ) One of the first concentration camps was Dachau, which opened on March 20, 1933. From 1933 until 1938, most of the prisoners in the concentration camps were political prisoners (i.e. people who spoke or acted in some way against Hitler or the Nazis) and people the Nazis labeled as "asocial." After Kristallnacht in 1938, the persecution of Jews became more organized.

This led to the exponential increase in the number of Jews sent to concentration camps. Life within Nazi concentration camps was horrible. Prisoners were forced to do hard physical labor and yet given tiny rations. Prisoners slept three or more people per crowded wooden bunk (no mattress or pillow). Torture within the concentration camps was common and deaths were frequent. At a number of Nazi concentration camps, Nazi doctors conducted medical experiments on prisoners against their will. While concentration camps were meant to work and starve prisoners to death, extermination camps (also known as death camps) were built for the sole purpose of killing large groups of people quickly and efficiently. The Nazis built six extermination camps: Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor , Treblinka , Auschwitz , and Majdanek . (Auschwitz and Majdanek were both concentration and extermination camps.) Prisoners transported to these extermination camps were told to undress to take a shower. Rather than a shower, the prisoners were herded into gas chambers and killed. (At Chelmno, the prisoners were herded into gas vans instead of gas chambers.) Auschwitz was the largest concentration and extermination camp built.

It is estimated that 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz. Vocabulary Terms Related to the Holocaust Vocabulary Terms Related to the Holocaust A Allies The nations fighting Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II, primarily Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States. Anschluss The German annexation of Austria in March 1938. Antisemitism Dislike or hatred of the Jews. Appell The roll call of prisoners that could take hours. Prisoners were forced to stand outside in all types of weather, usually without proper clothing. These were called for by the commandant of the camp in order to account for all prisoners and /or of the prisoners to witness special punishments or deaths of their fellow prisoners. Arbeit Macht Frei “Work makes you free” is emblazoned on the gates at Auschwitz and was intended to deceive prisoners about the camp’s function. Aryan Term used by the Nazis to describe northern European physical characteristics (such as blonde hair and blue eyes) as racially “superior”. Auschwitz-Birkenau The largest and most notorious concentration, labor and death camp where 1.6 million died; located near Oswiecim, Poland.

Axis The Axis powers, originally Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, extended to Japan when it entered the war. B Babi Yar A ravine near Kiev where almost 34,000 Jews were killed by German soldiers in two days in September 1941. Belzec Death camp located in southeastern Poland alongside a main railway line; between 550,000 and 600,000 Jews were killed there. Buchenwald One of the first major concentration camps on German soil. C Canada The name given to the storage buildings by the prisoners who worked in them. These buildings held the clothing and other possessions of those Jews who had just arrived into the extermination camps and were usually gassed shortly afterward. Much of the most valuable items were “stolen” by guards or went to the remaining ghettos to be “repaired” in the workshops there. Chelmno First death camp to use gassing and first place located outside Soviet territory in which Jews were systematically killed as part of “Final Solution.” Concentration Camp Camps in which Jews were imprisoned by the Nazis, located in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. There were three different kinds of camps: transit, labor and extermination.

Many prisoners in concentration camps died within months of arriving from violence or starvation. Crematorium Ovens built in concentration camps to burn and dispose of the large number of murdered bodies. D Dachau Himmler’s model camp located outside Munich, opened March 20, 1933; initially designed to hold political prisoners. E Einsatzgruppen Mobile death squad of the SS that followed the German army, executing Jewish residents as the squad moved through the Soviet Union; victims were shot and buried in mass graves. Evian Conference A meeting of delegates from some 32 countries in the summer of 1938 that met at the French summer resort to discuss the refugee problem caused by Nazi persecution of Jews. Few countries were willing to open their doors, giving a clear message to Adolf Hitler as to the true feelings of many foreign countries toward the Jews. Extermination Camp Six major camps designed and built for the sole purpose of killing Jews. These were Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka. F Final Solution Term used by the Nazis to describe their plan to annihilate the entire Jewish population of Europe.

Fuhrer German word for "leader," it was adopted by Adolf Hitler as his title after Hindenburg’s death. G Gas Chambers Large, sealed rooms (usually with shower nozzles) used for murdering prisoners of concentration camps; many people were led into gas chambers with the belief they were going in to take a shower. Gestapo The secret state police of the German army, organized to stamp out any political opposition. Ghetto A section of a city where Jews were forced to live, usually with several families living in one house, separated from the rest of the city by walls or wire fences, and used primarily as a station for gathering Jews for deportation to concentration camps. Gypsies (Roma/Santi) An ethnic group which was made up of two main groups: Roma and Sinti. This group had a long history of persecution in most of Western and Eastern Europe because of its beliefs and lifestyle. H The service marking the end of Shabbat (Sabbath) on Saturday at sunset. Hollerith Machine A machine developed to make the taking of the census much more efficient. The one used by the Nazis was developed by the German branch of IBM.

Adolf Eichmann used it to gather data on Jews living in Germany, Austria and later Czechoslovakia. Holocaust Term first used in the late 1950s to describe the systematic torture and murder of approximately six million European Jews and millions of other "undesirables" by the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945. J Jehovah's Witnesses Members of a Christian sect who refused, among other things, to recognize Hitler and the Nazis as the supreme force in Germany, and to swear allegiance to Hitler and the Nazis. The program against them was not racial but political. Many Witnesses were imprisoned; a number of them were executed. In some cases children were taken from their parents with the idea of “re-educating” them to alter their religious beliefs. Jews Persons identifying themselves with the Jewish community or as followers of the Jewish religion or culture. Judenrat Jewish councils set up within the ghettos to maintain order and carry out the orders of the German army. Judenrein “Cleansed of Jews,” a German expression for Hitler’s plan to rid Europe of Jews. K Prayer for the dead.

Kapo A prisoner within the camp who is elevated to a position to oversee work duties in that camp. Many Kapos are remembered negatively. Krakow Ghetto The ghetto in Krakow, Poland, where Oskar Schindler gave factory jobs to remaining Jews thus saving them from deportation in March 1943. Kiddish Sanctification, blessing over wine. Kindertransport A program which allowed, after much negotiations, and with heavy fees attached, for Jewish children to be sent from Germany, Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia to Great Britain. Many of these children were housed with foster families, not all of the experiences being positive ones. Others were housed in castles in the countryside. Many of these children, especially the girls, do not remember the experience with great affection since they were anxious to hear news of parents left behind. Kristallnacht Also referred to as the “Night of Broken Glass,” this pogrom occurred on Nov. 9-10, 1938 in Germany and Austria against hundreds of synagogues, Jewish-owned businesses, homes and Jews themselves.

This so-called “spontaneous demonstration” was in reaction to the assassination of a German official by a Jewish student whose parents had been deported to the Polish border. L Lebensraum Meaning “living space,” this was the excuse used by Hitler for the taking over of territories for the “superior” Aryan peoples. Lodz Ghetto The ghetto in Lodz, Poland completed in 1940. M Majdanek Death camp located in a suburb of Lublin, Poland where 360,000 people were shot, beaten, starved or gassed to death. Mauthausen Hard labor and concentration camp located near Linz, Austria. Mein Kampf Hitler’s autobiography in which he outlined his ideas, beliefs and plans for the future of Germany. Mezuzah A religious object on the door frame of Jewish homes or synagogues to sanctify them. Mischlinge Derogatory Nazi term meaning "mongrel" that denoted people having both Christian and Jewish ancestors. See Nuremberg Laws. Mizrah Means sunrise or east; a decorated plate hung on the eastern wall of a house or synagogue to indicate the direction of Jerusalem.

N Nazi Name for members of the NSDAP, National Socialist Democratic Workers Party, who believed in the idea of Aryan supremacy. Night and Fog German term for political prisoners from western Europe who disappeared without leaving a trace. Nuremberg Laws Anti-Jewish laws enacted in 1935; included denial of German citizenship to those of Jewish heritage and segregation of them from German society; also established “degrees of Jewishness" based on family lines. P Partisans Groups of organized guerilla fighters who aimed to damage the German war effort by attacking military targets, often using the forest for cover. Pogrom An organized, state-sponsored attack on a group of people. R Rosh Hashanah The Jewish New Year begins the High Holy Days and a time of reflection and soul searching. S SA Sturmabteilungen or storm troopers, the terrorist branch of the Nazi army, was formed in 1923 and was used to help secure Hitler’s rise to power. Scrip Paper currency or tokens used as evidence that the bearer was entitled to receive something in return. Holocaust Museum Houston's archives houses the largest collection of ghetto and camp scrip in the world.

Shabbat The Sabbath day, beginning at sunset on Friday and ending at sunset on Saturday. Shoah The Hebrew word for Holocaust. Shtetl Small towns and villages in Poland and Russia that were made up mostly of Jews. Sobibor Death camp in the Lublin district of Poland where approximately 250,000 Jews were gassed. Sonderkommando At Auschwitz-Birkenau and other extermination camps, this was a group of prisoners whose job it was to remove bodies from the gas chambers and to burn the bodies in the crematorium. At Auschwitz-Birkenau this group was successful in blowing up one of the crematorium. SS Schutzstaffel; the German army’s elite guard, organized to serve as Hitler’s personal protectors and to administer the concentration camps. Swastika Once an ancient symbol used to ward off evil spirits, the Nazis adopted it as their official symbol. Synod T T-4 Program The euthanasia program directed against the physically and mentally handicapped persons who were considered “useless” in the new German Reich.

The T-4 program served as the training ground for methods of mass murder that would later be used in the death camps, such as gassings and cremation of bodies. Tallis Shawl worn by men during prayer. Tefilin Small boxes containing four scriptural passages worn during daily morning prayers, except on Sabbaths and festivals. Theresienstadt (a.k.a. Terezin) Located near Prague, Czechoslovakia; used as the “model” concentration camp to deceive the world about true nature of Nazi plans for European Jews. Theresienstadt is the German word for this camp; Terezin is the Czech word for this camp. Third Reich The Third Empire; name given to the Nazi regime in Germany; Hitler boasted that the Third Reich would reign for 1,000 years. Torah The first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Treblinka Death camp located in sparsely populated area near Treblinka, Poland, approximately 870,000 Jews killed.

U German word meaning "sub-humans," used by Nazis to refer to the groups they deemed "undesirable." V Versailles Treaty Peace treaty ending the First World War, creating many of the issues of bitterness between European countries and, especially, a feeling of resentment by Germans. Volkisch This was a movement in Germany that believed in the superiority of the Germanic race. The group feared and hated foreigners, particularly Jews. W Wagner-Rogers Bill A bill to admit some 20,000 Jewish children to the United States. The bill was killed by the efforts of some of the antisemitic factions in the U.S. State Department, as well as the fear by some Jewish leaders that pressing this bill would create antisemitic backlash in the United States. Wansee Conference Conference of high-ranking German officers, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, to finalize plans for the destruction of European Jews. Warsaw Ghetto Largest ghetto in Poland covering 100 square blocks where approximately 500,000 Jews were contained from 1939 until May 1943. Weimar Republic The new democratically elected government in Germany following the end of World War I.

White Rose Movement A group of young German students who protested against the Nazi treatment of Jews and others. Most of the members of this group were eventually rounded up and executed. Wimple Made from swaddling cloth, embroidered with child’s name, birthday, and a blessing; used to wrap the Torah scroll on boy’s first trip to synagogue with his father. Y Yiddish Language spoken by many Jews in Eastern Europe; a combination of German, Hebrew and dialects of the countries in which Jews were living. Yom Kippur Day of Atonement and a time for repenting and fasting. Z Zyklon B A chemical developed as an insecticide, the pellets of which were shaken down an opening in the euphemistically called “shower rooms,” or gas chambers. The Nazis found this to be a quicker, cheaper and more reliable method of mass killing than carbon monoxide. Holocaust | Holocaust Definition by Merriam-Webster Examples of holocaust in a sentence The museum is devoted to the Holocaust. There were fears of a nuclear holocaust. Did You Know? The Greek word holokaustos means "burnt whole".

For the early Jews who followed the laws given in the first books of the Bible, a holocaust was a sacrifice to God, the burning on an altar of a lamb, goat, or young bull. The word is used about 200 times in the traditional Greek version of the Old Testament, though it rarely appears in English translations. In the 1700s holocaust began to be used to refer to the mass destruction of life. But no mass murder in Western history ever approached the scale achieved by the Nazis. As many as 6 million Jews may have died at their hands; when the slaughter of non-Jews is included, the number of murdered victims may have amounted to over 15 million.

Origin and Etymology of holocaust Middle English, from Late Latin holocaustum, from Greek holokauston, from neuter of holokaustos burnt whole, from hol- + kaustos burnt, from kaiein to burn — more at caustic First Known Use: 13th century holocaust Synonyms Balashon - Hebrew Language Detective: shoah and holocaust Wednesday, April 30, 2008 shoah and holocaust This week Israel observes Yom HaShoah - יום השואה, whose full name is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה. This is generally translated as "Holocaust Remembrance Day". However, it is very common for Jewish writers to use the Hebrew word "Shoah" instead of the English word "Holocaust". Why is that? Let's start by looking at the word "holocaust". Here's the Online Etymology Dictionary entry : c.1250, "sacrifice by fire, burnt offering," from Gk. holokauston, neut.

of holokaustos "burned whole," from holos "whole" + kaustos, verbal adj. of kaiein "to burn." Originally a Bible word for "burnt offerings," given wider sense of "massacre, destruction of a large number of persons" from 1833. The Holocaust "Nazi genocide of European Jews in World War II," first recorded 1957, earlier known in Heb. as Shoah "catastrophe." The word itself was used in Eng. in ref. to Hitler's Jewish policies from 1942, but not as a proper name for them. The word "holocaust" referring to a burnt offering sacrifice can be seen clearly in this Jewish Encyclopedia article on sacrifices. In the article, written over 100 years ago, the term holocaust as a sacrifice appears frequently. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum discusses the development of the term: While the word holocaust, with a meaning of a burnt sacrificial offering, does not have a specifically religious connotation, it appeared widely in religious writings through the centuries, particularly for descriptions of "pagan" rituals involving burnt sacrifices.

In secular writings, holocaust most commonly came to mean "a complete or wholesale destruction," a connotation particularly dominant from the late nineteenth century through the nuclear arms race of the mid-twentieth century. During this time, the word was applied to a variety of disastrous events ranging from pogroms against Jews in Russia, to the persecution and murder of Armenians by Turks during World War I, to the attack by Japan on Chinese cities, to large-scale fires where hundreds were killed. Early references to the Nazi murder of the Jews of Europe continued this usage. As early as 1941, writers occasionally employed the term holocaust with regard to the Nazi crimes against the Jews, but in these early cases, they did not ascribe exclusivity to the term. Instead of "the holocaust," writers referred to "a holocaust," one of many through the centuries. Even when employed by Jewish writers, the term was not reserved to a single horrific event but retained its broader meaning of large-scale destruction. For example: You are meeting at a time of great tragedy for our people. In our ... deep sense of mourning for those who have fallen ... we must steel our hearts to go on with our work ...

that perhaps a better day will come for those who will survive this holocaust. (Chaim Weizmann, letter to Israel Goldstein, December 24, 1942) What sheer folly to attempt to rebuild any kind of Jewish life [in Europe] after the holocaust of the last twelve years! (Zachariah Shuster, Commentary, December 1945, p.10) By the late 1940s, however, a shift was underway. Holocaust (with either a lowercase or capital H) became a more specific term due to its use in Israeli translations of the word sho'ah. This Hebrew word had been used throughout Jewish history to refer to assaults upon Jews, but by the 1940s it was frequently being applied to the Nazis' murder of the Jews of Europe.

(Yiddish-speaking Jews used the term churbn, a Yiddish translation of sho'ah.) The equation of holocaust with sho'ah was seen most prominently in the official English translation of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, in the translated publications of Yad Vashem throughout the 1950s, and in the journalistic coverage of the Adolf Eichmann trial in Israel in 1961. Such usage strongly influenced the adoption of holocaust as the primary English-language referent to the Nazi slaughter of European Jewry, but the word's connection to the "Final Solution" did not firmly take hold for another two decades. The April 1978 broadcast of the TV movie, Holocaust, based on Gerald Green's book of the same name, and the very prominent use of the term in President Carter's creation of the President's Commission on the Holocaust later that same year, cemented its meaning in the English-speaking world.

These events, coupled with the development and creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum through the 1980s and 1990s, established the term Holocaust (with a capital H) as the standard referent to the systematic annihilation of European Jewry by Germany's Nazi regime. Clearly, it can be understood why it might be considered offensive to describe the murder of millions as a sacrifice, particularly a religious one. So even though the term had been so used before the Nazi genocide, once the phrase "The Holocaust" came to describe the acts of the Nazis, there was a need for a more appropriate term, and many began using the Hebrew "Shoah" in English as well. This is Yad Vashem's explanation of the use of the term Shoah in languages other than Hebrew: The biblical word Shoah (which has been used to mean “destruction” since the Middle Ages) became the standard Hebrew term for the murder of European Jewry as early as the early 1940s. The word Holocaust, which came into use in the 1950s as the corresponding term, originally meant a sacrifice burnt entirely on the altar.

The selection of these two words with religious origins reflects recognition of the unprecedented nature and magnitude of the events. Many understand Holocaust as a general term for the crimes and horrors perpetrated by the Nazis; others go even farther and use it to encompass other acts of mass murder as well. Consequently, we consider it important to use the Hebrew word Shoah with regard to the murder of and persecution of European Jewry in other languages as well. What is the origin of Shoah? The word שואה meaning "catastrophe, devastation" derives from the root שאה. According to Klein, this root originally meant "to make a din or crash", then "crash into ruins", and then "to ruin, lay waste". The original sense of making noise can be found in the related word teshua תשואה - "noise, tumult", which doesn't have a negative connotation at all (see Zecharia 4:7).

Online Etymology Dictionary holocaust (n.) mid-13c., "sacrifice by fire, burnt offering," from Old French holocauste (12c.), or directly from Late Latin holocaustum, from Greek holokauston "a thing wholly burnt," neuter of holokaustos "burned whole," from holos "whole" (see holo- ) + kaustos, verbal adjective of kaiein "to burn" (see caustic ). Originally a Bible word for "burnt offerings," given wider figurative sense of "massacre, destruction of a large number of persons" from 1670s. The Holocaust "Nazi genocide of European Jews in World War II," first recorded 1957, earlier known in Hebrew as Shoah "catastrophe." The word itself was used in English in reference to Hitler's Jewish policies from 1942, but not as a proper name for them. The Biblical Meaning of Holocaust - Taylor Marshall Taylor Marshall Comment | Share | Tweet | +1 | Buffer | print | email We have become accustomed to associating the term “holocaust” to the murder millions of Jews and others during the era of Nazi Germany.

However, for over two millennia, the word had a different association. It originally referred to the burnt offering prescribed by God through Moses. For this reason, many Jews resent use of the term “holocaust” as a description of of the 20th century murder of European Jews. Many prefer the term “Shoah”. The term holocaust comes from the Septuagint translation of the burnt offering and derives from two words: holos (“whole”) and kaustos (“burnt”). This Greek translation corresponds perfectly to the Hebrew terms holah meaning “that which ascends” as in fire or smoke, and kalil meaning “whole” or “entire”. Holokautein denoted that the offering was utterly destroyed and consumed, as opposed to thyesthai which denoted a sacrificial victim and a meal consisting of the victim’s flesh. This latter kind of sacrifice became associated with the Holy Eucharist. When Saint Jerome translated the Sacred Scriptures into Latin, he preserved the term in Latin and translated the “burnt offering” as holocaustum and it enters English in this form. For those interested, the Old Testament prescribes several kinds of holocausts.

First there were two daily holocausts at the tabernacle, one in the morning and one in the evening. These two holocausts correspond to the Catholic practice of praying Lauds (morning prayer) and Vespers (evening prayer). These holocausts were combined with a wheat offering and a wine offering (typical of the Holy Eucharist). See Ex 29:38-42 and Nm 28:3-8. Secondly, there was a holocaust appointed for the Sabbath which was a more elaborate version of the daily double holocaust. Third, there was the monthly New Moon holocaust and those associated with annual feasts of the Passover, Trumpets, Tabernacles, and Atonement. Lastly, there were personal holocausts prescribed for various liturgical rites, such as the ordination of priests, purification of women, cleansing of lepers, purifying unclean persons, and the completion of a Nazarite vow. Download My Book for Free Thomas Aquinas in 50 Pages Over 15,000 copies downloaded! This is a quick and easy way to learn the basic philosophy and theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas.

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Question: What is the Hebrew word for the holocaust?
Answer: Shoah