In essays written specifically for this volume, distinguished contributors assess highly charged and fundamental questions about the Holocaust: Is it unique? How can it be compared with other instances of genocide? What constitutes genocide, and how should the international community respond? On one side of the dispute are those who fear that if the Holocaust is seen as the worst case of genocide ever, its character will diminish the sufferings of other persecuted groups. On the other side are those who argue that unless the Holocaust’s uniqueness is established, the inevitable tendency will be to diminish its abiding significance.
The editor’s introductions provide the contextual considerations for understanding this multidimensional dispute and suggest that there are universal lessons to be learned from studying the Holocaust. The third edition brings this volume up to date and includes new readings on the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, common themes in genocide ideologies, and Iran’s reaction to the Holocaust. In a world where genocide persists and the global community continues to struggle with the implications of international crime, prosecution, justice, atonement, reparation, and healing, the issues addressed in this book are as relevant as ever.
✦ Table of Contents
Contents......Page 10
Foreword......Page 12
Preface......Page 20
Acknowledgments......Page 22
Introduction to the First Edition......Page 26
Introduction to the Second Edition......Page 36
Introduction to the Third Edition......Page 46
1. The Ethics of Uniqueness......Page 52
2. Religion and the Uniqueness of the Holocaust......Page 64
3. From the Holocaust: Some Legal and Moral Implications......Page 72
4. The Uniqueness of the Holocaust: The Historical Dimension......Page 80
5. Responses to the Porrajmos: The Romani Holocaust......Page 100
6. The Atlantic Slave Trade and the Holocaust: A Comparative Analysis......Page 128
7. The Armenian Genocide as Precursor and Prototype of Twentieth-Century Genocide......Page 150
8. The Comparative Aspects of the Armenian and Jewish Cases of Genocide: A Sociohistorical Perspective......Page 164
9. Stalinist Terror and the Question of Genocide: The Great Famine......Page 200
10. The Holocaust and the Japanese Atrocities......Page 226
11. The Holocaust, Rwanda, and the Category of Genocide......Page 240
12. Hitler, Pol Pot, and Hutu Power: Common Themes in Genocidal Ideologies......Page 248
13. "Global Vision": Iran's Holocaust Denial......Page 256
14. The Promise and Limits of Comparison: The Holocaust and the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda......Page 270
15. Applying the Lessons of the Holocaust......Page 284
16. The Rise and Fall of Metaphor: German Historians and the Uniqueness of the Holocaust......Page 296
17. Uniqueness as Denial: The Politics of Genocide Scholarship......Page 320
About the Book and Contributors......Page 366
A......Page 370
C......Page 371
D......Page 372
E......Page 373
G......Page 374
H......Page 375
I......Page 376
J......Page 377
M......Page 378
N......Page 379
R......Page 380
S......Page 381
T......Page 382
U......Page 383
Z......Page 384