Holocaust as a Unique Occurrence Unparalleled by Other Crimes in Human History - Essay Example

Historians have oftentimes regarding the Holocaust as a unique occurrence; unparalleled by other crimes in human history. Naturally, from the standpoint of a historian, such a statement is bold and must be validated with the facts. In seeking to invalidate this statement and bring it more in line with an understanding of history, the following analysis will seek to weigh whether or not the Holocaust was a unique occurrence within world history or whether it was merely another mass genocide as has been perpetrated by so many distinct groups within the past.

Whereas seeking to prove or disprove whether the Holocaust was unique could engage is this author in an exploratory study of world history that spans many hundreds of years, for purposes of simplicity and clarity, the Holocaust will be compared to other mass genocides that took place during the 20th century. Through such a unit of comparison, a level of measurement bias will not be induced and the danger of corrupting the analysis by comparing completely dissimilar genocides will not be engaged.

It is the hope of this author that such a level of analysis will provide the reader with a more informed understanding for why the Holocaust continues to be regarded as a unique occurrence in human history. Firstly, it must be understood that the Holocaust was perpetrated not only by a given regime but by a sociopolitical interpretation and understanding of history as well as a shared and tacit form of societal racism. Although many authors and scholars have pointed to the fact that Nazi Germany and the actual apparatus of power was antagonistic we anti-somatic, it must also be noted that this apparatus of power could not have achieved any degree of success without the tacit approval and discussed for Jewish individuals within the Third Reich (Fulbrook 203).

Moreover, it must also be understood that the Holocaust, and the Jews that were primarily targeted for persecution and elimination during it, only represented a very small percentage of an ethnically and religiously dissimilar group. As compared to the genocide in Rwanda and Uganda during the early 1990s, the Holocaust could not be defined as a type of civil war between two large ethnic groups within a given nation. Moreover, the Holocaust was unique due to the fact that the dispersion of Jews within Nazi Germany, and the occupied regions that they conquered, could not allow for these affected populations of Jews to engage in a civil war or seek to engage in open acts of rebellion and defiance against the persecutor (Spielvogel 278).

Whereas it is true that populations within Rwanda and Uganda were butchered mercilessly by representatives of the respective Hutu and Tutsi militia, a back-and-forth approach developed where the aggressor and the victim was oftentimes blurred between the subsequent acts of genocide that occurred. Naturally, this was very much not the case with regards to the Holocaust within Nazi Germany and the occupied territories. A level of similarity to the Armenian genocide has oftentimes been promoted.

The Holocaust within Nazi Germany and occupied territories bears a striking resemblance to the way in which a recently unified T sought to expel and otherwise destroy the Armenian population that lives within its borders. The level of similarity the Holocaust necessarily has to do with the fact that the Turkish forces received direct orders from a central government that was overwhelmingly ethnically Turkish. These orders were then carried out by ethnically Turkish soldiers who actively sought to infringe upon the rights and liberties of the Armenian Christians that inhabited large swaths of Eastern Turkey.

Moreover, definitive evidence has been presented with regards to the fact that an active execution campaign existed during this time and was responsible for the known murder of approximately 1.5 million Armenians. Naturally, the sheer scale of this mass murder is enough to draw a clear and marked level of comparison to the Holocaust. However, upon closer inspection, a key differential is noted. Firstly, it must be understood that the borders of the Turkish leaders involved the destruction and execution of Armenian villagers within Eastern Turkey.

However, it most certainly did not reference the complete annihilation of the entire Armenian race and/or an active attempt to invade any other regions that may house them and dispose of them in the same manner. This should not be understood as a means of whitewashing the horrors of the Armenian genocide; rather, it merely points to the fact that it cannot be understood upon the same industrial type of execution that took place during the Holocaust. From the analysis that is been presented, it can be understood that the Holocaust in and of itself is a singular and defining horror that cannot adequately be compared and contrasted to any other event within the 20th century; and arguably to any other event in the history of the world.

Due to the universality of the approach that the third right engaged with regards to the treatment and ultimate destruction of the Jewish race, no other genocide and/or political ideology for dealing with a ethnic/religious group or minority has been evidenced within the world. As such, the singular horror of the Holocaust is punctuated by the fact that no other comparison exists with regards to the depravity and cruelty it can be represented by mankind upon fellow human beings. Works Cited Fulbrook, Mary.

 A concise history of Germany. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print. Spielvogel, Jackson J. Hitler and Nazi Germany : a history. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2001. Print.