Discussion » Questions » History » Why is it called The Holocaust when holocaust means burnt offering?

Why is it called The Holocaust when holocaust means burnt offering?

That tragedy was not a burnt offering. 

Why not use Shoan (devastation,  destruction)
Yom Hashoah (Day of Destruction)?

Posted - May 4

Responses


  • 11002
    https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-the-origin-of-the-term-holocaust
      May 6, 2024 10:07 AM MDT
    3

  • 1500
    Could've just said "Britannica is your friend!"
      May 6, 2024 10:48 AM MDT
    0

  • 34270
    I know some Jewish people who don't like the term because of its Hebrew meaning and call it Shoan.  Personally, when I heard the meaning it hurt my heart and offended me (which I do not do easily)  because my God (same G~d as in Judism) does not except humans as an offering burnt or otherwise.  
      May 6, 2024 11:28 AM MDT
    0

  • 3719
    I had no idea of this until I read the thread and the citation.

    I can see why it ought not be called "the Holocaust" because it warps the meaning in a rather distressing way, but I'd always understood it was Jewish survivors who had started its use. Maybe I was wrong on that point.

    Wasn't one of the original Hebrew aims to end the practice of sacrifices and "burnt offerings", that had been inherited from older religions?

    I am normally very uneasy about the Orwellian trend to rename or redefine even quite innocent words lest someone be upset, let alone specific coinages, but perhaps this is an exception, and the word Shoah, or Shoan, ought take over.

    In the end though, although some Jews do find "Holocaust" the wrong term, what matters is the remembrance.
      July 5, 2024 3:07 PM MDT
    1