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Home > Holocaust (disambiguation)


 

The term holocaust means a great loss of life, or sacrifice, from Greek holokaustos, which literally means "burnt completely by fire" [1].

Accordingly, before World War II, it was common to refer to any great fire as a holocaust. In recent decades, however, the term has become synonymous with genocide.

Used alone, as in " The Holocaust", it has largely come to refer to the experience of Jews, Poles and other minorities in Europe during World War II (the terms Jewish Holocaust and Gypsy Holocaust can also be used more specifically, though both "holocausts" occurred at the same time and place). Because the term "Holocaust" is so closely tied in contemporary times to the Jewish experience at the hands of the Nazis, use of it in other contexts may be seen by some as controversial or even offensive. That said, the term is originally of Greek origin, and arose long before World War II.

The term has come to be used quite generally, describing events that have affected a large group of people, but where suffering rather than death was the main outcome. The expression " Silicone Holocaust" is one such.

Certain events described here are controversial, held as fact by one side and rejected absolutely as fabrication by the other. The information here has been drawn from a number of sources.

Various racial or cultural groups have used the term to describe events which have occurred in their own history. This following list is chronological, though some events are not marked by clear beginnings or endings. Please note that it is far from complete; there are individuals and groups who would have events listed here that are not, others would have events listed here removed.

1 List of holocausts

The term is also used to denote non-historic events like a possible nuclear holocaust - the deaths in a global nuclear war and the ensuing nuclear winter. Furthermore, activist groups sometimes compare their causes to holocausts -- an environmentalist, for example, may speak of a "holocaust of old-growth forests" and an anti- abortion activist may speak of a "holocaust of babies". Though the movement is not currently as active as it was, the silicone holocaust was an issue of grave concern for many women who suffered extreme reactions to silicone breast implants. Though there are no confirmed cases of death resulting directly from implant complications, thousands of women have suffered grievous and lifelong disfigurement and impairment.



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