Holocaust Analogy Inaccurate, Katz Says

The Nazi Holocaust should not be used as a metaphor for other instances of inhumanity, Cornell professor Steven T. Katz told an audience of about 70 at the Harvard Divinity School yesterday.

Likening the suffering of Native Americans, homosexuals, or other groups to that of the Jews under Hitler is inaccurate and damages the memory of the Holocaust, said the professor of Near Eastern studies from Cornell.

In his speech, titled "The Holocaust and Historical Memory," Katz said that "the Holocaust has become the standard" by which all other crimes against humankind are judged.

But such comparisons are often ill-founded, Katz said at the Ingersoll Lecture on Immortality, sponsored by the Divinity School. "If it's merely mass murder, that's not enough," he said.

Katz focused on several tragedies throughout history that have been compared to the Holocaust. Although they are appalling, he said, they cannot fairly be labelled "holocausts" or "genocides."

Only the Nazi Holocaust aimed for the systematic and rapid extermination of an entire race, Katz said. The Holocaust stands out among tragedies not only because of the number of people killed but also because of the reasons for which they were murdered, Katz added.

Though victims of other persecution--Native Americans, African slaves, and Russian political prisoners--diedin greater numbers than the victims of theHolocaust, the prime goal of their oppressors wasnot genocide, Katz said.

Katz said that most Native Americans were wipedout by disease rather than systematic destruction,that Black slaves were valued as living propertyand that even during Stalin's purges, women andchildren were granted some mercy.

On the other hand, "the greatest enemy ofNazism was the Jewish fetus," he said, aspregnancy meant virtually assured death in Naziconcentration camps.

Katz blamed modern overeagerness to use the"Holocaust metaphor" on both Jewish and non-Jewishhistorians.

"Jewish memory too is very odd," Katz said,noting the debate between Reform and OrthodoxJudaism over the Holocaust's significance tomodern life.

Katz also warned against the tendency to viewNazism as an extension of Jewish-Christianconflict. "That's very bad history, and it's verybad theology for both Jews and Christians," hesaid.

Katz emphasized the importance of correcthistorical memory. "Any memory that turns theShoah [Holocaust] into a metaphor--I believeJewish memory will reject that," he said

Katz said that most Native Americans were wipedout by disease rather than systematic destruction,that Black slaves were valued as living propertyand that even during Stalin's purges, women andchildren were granted some mercy.

On the other hand, "the greatest enemy ofNazism was the Jewish fetus," he said, aspregnancy meant virtually assured death in Naziconcentration camps.

Katz blamed modern overeagerness to use the"Holocaust metaphor" on both Jewish and non-Jewishhistorians.

"Jewish memory too is very odd," Katz said,noting the debate between Reform and OrthodoxJudaism over the Holocaust's significance tomodern life.

Katz also warned against the tendency to viewNazism as an extension of Jewish-Christianconflict. "That's very bad history, and it's verybad theology for both Jews and Christians," hesaid.

Katz emphasized the importance of correcthistorical memory. "Any memory that turns theShoah [Holocaust] into a metaphor--I believeJewish memory will reject that," he said