Holocaust

Holocaust
   The word derives from Greek and Latin and is translated as “something wholly burnt up” and, in its broader meaning, “a total destruction.” The Holocaust refers to the Nazi objective of annihilating every Jewish man, woman, and child who fell under their control. By the end of World War II, approximately six million Jews had been murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Elie Wiesel is generally credited with associating the word “Holocaust” with the murder of six million Jews, although the term appears to have been used on the cover of the 3 October 1941 issue of The American Hebrew. In this issue there appeared a photograph of a large partly open gate, upon which is a Star of David, that shows two men, a French army officer or policeman and a man dressed in prayer attire, carrying a Torah scroll from a synagogue in northern France. The caption below the photograph reads in large print, “Before the Holocaust.” Although Wiesel used the term in the 1950s, its general usage entered the mainstream during the late 1960s.
   The term today has stirred controversy because other victims of the Nazi terror, such as the Gypsies and people of Slavic ancestry from Eastern Europe, claim that they were as much victims in the Holocaust as were the Jews. To differentiate between the more inclusive use of the word “Holocaust” and its special meaning within the Jewish community, many Jews have substituted the Hebrew word Shoah or Churban for the Nazi genocide.

Historical dictionary of the Holocaust. . 2014.

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  • Holocaust Denial —    This is the claim that the genocide of the Jews during World War II did not occur at all or that the Holocaust did not happen in the way historians have recorded it. Holocaust deniers reject the claim that Nazi Germany had a deliberate policy… …   Historical dictionary of the Holocaust

  • Holocaust — • As suggested by its Greek origin (holos whole , and kaustos burnt ) the word designates an offering entirely consumed by fire, in use among the Jews and some pagan nations of antiquity. [Definition from 1910.] Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • holocaust — HOLOCÁUST, holocausturi, s.n. 1. (În antichitate) Jertfă adusă zeilor, în care animalul sacrificat era ars în întregime. ♦ fig. Ofrandă, sacrificiu. 2. Ucidere (prin ardere) a unui foarte mare număr de oameni. [pr.: ca ust. – var.: olocáust s.n.] …   Dicționar Român

  • Holocaust — Sm Völkermord, besonders an den Juden in der Nazizeit per. Wortschatz fach. (20. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus ne. holocaust; dort übertragen aus einem biblischen Wort für Brandopfer (aus l. holocaustum n., gr. holokaútōma n., zu gr. hólos ganz,… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • holocaust — [hä′lə käst΄; hō′lə kôst΄, hô′lə kôst΄] n. [ME < OFr holocauste < LL(Ec) holocaustum, a whole burnt offering < Gr holokauston (neut. of holokaustos), burnt whole < holos, whole (see HOLO ) + kaustos, burnt: see CAUSTIC] 1. an offering …   English World dictionary

  • Holocaust — Hol o*caust, n. [L. holocaustum, Gr. ?, neut. of ?, ?, burnt whole; o los whole + kaysto s burnt, fr. kai ein to burn (cf. {Caustic}): cf. F. holocauste.] 1. A burnt sacrifice; an offering, the whole of which was consumed by fire, among the Jews… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Holocaust — Жанры Хеви метал Годы 1977 наше время Страна …   Википедия

  • holocaust — mid 13c., sacrifice by fire, burnt offering, from Gk. holokauston a thing wholly burnt, neut. of holokaustos burned whole, from holos whole (see HOLO (Cf. holo )) + kaustos, verbal adjective of kaiein to burn. Originally a Bible word for burnt… …   Etymology dictionary

  • holocaust — {{/stl 13}}{{stl 7}}[wym. holokaust] {{/stl 7}}{{stl 8}}rz. mnż I, D. u, Mc. holocaustuście, blm {{/stl 8}}{{stl 7}} zagłada, całkowite zniszczenie (zwłaszcza w odniesieniu do masowej zagłady żydów, przeprowadzonej przez nazistów w czasie II… …   Langenscheidt Polski wyjaśnień

  • holocaust — ► NOUN 1) destruction or slaughter on a mass scale. 2) (the Holocaust) the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime in World War II. ORIGIN from Greek kaustos burnt …   English terms dictionary

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