Instrumentalization of the Holocaust

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The instrumentalization of the Holocaust is the idea that memory of the Holocaust is manipulated for political, ideological, and financial gain.[1] Accusations of instrumentalization have been made against the state of Israel and its supporters,[2][3] the Russian government,[4] nationalists and right-wing populists in Europe[5] (particularly Hungarian[6] and Polish nationalists),[7] Communist governments, and others.[8]

Although it's been argued that the Holocaust is one of the primary justifications for the foundation and existence of Israel as a Jewish state,[9] others say that any suggestion that Jews or Israel supporters instrumentalist the Holocaust for political gain is inherently antisemitic.[1]

The charge of instrumentalization was prominently made by a number of books around the turn of the twentieth century, particularly Peter Novick's The Holocaust in American Life, Tim Cole's Selling the Holocaust, and Norman Finkelstein's The Holocaust Industry, but these books were largely dismissed as overly cynical.[10] In 2022, the conference "Hijacking Memory" was split by controversy after Palestinian speaker Tareq Baconi argued that the memory of the Holocaust should not be used to argue against Palestinian human rights. Although Baconi's speech was applauded by the audience, Jan Grabowski and Konstanty Gebert accused him of antisemitism.[11] More recently, Enzo Traverso argues that the Holocaust has been used to justify the Gaza genocide.[12]

The practice of instrumentalization was criticized by many Holocaust survivors including Zygmunt Bauman, Primo Levi, Jean Améry,[2] and Stephen Kapos.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b Becker, Matthias J. (2024). "Instrumentalisation of Antisemitism and the Holocaust". Decoding Antisemitism: A Guide to Identifying Antisemitism Online. Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 273–288. ISBN 978-3-031-49238-9.
  2. ^ a b Mishra, Pankaj (1 March 2024). "The Shoah after Gaza". London Review of Books. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  3. ^ Gutwein, Daniel (2009). "The Privatization of the Holocaust: Memory, Historiography, and Politics". Israel Studies. 14 (1): 36–64. ISSN 1084-9513.
  4. ^ Makhortykh, Mykola; Vziatysheva, Victoria; Sydorova, Maryna (18 December 2023). "Generative AI and Contestation and Instrumentalization of Memory About the Holocaust in Ukraine". Eastern European Holocaust Studies. 1 (2): 349–355. doi:10.1515/eehs-2023-0054.
  5. ^ Subotić, Jelena (2024). "CONTESTED REMEMBRANCE OF THE HOLOCAUST IN POST-COMMUNIST EUROPE". Nasledje Kragujevac. XXI (58): 229–239. doi:10.46793/NasKg2458.229S.
  6. ^ Vigneault, Sara-Jane (2022). "The Memory Discourse of the Holocaust in Hungary: Distortion of Memory". Cahiers d'histoire. 38 (2): 100–124. doi:10.7202/1099406ar. ISSN 0712-2330.
  7. ^ Zisook, Jonathan (1 September 2021). "Instrumentalizing the Past: The Politics of Holocaust Memory in Contemporary Poland". Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects.
  8. ^ Making Sense of the Holocaust in Socialist Eastern Europe Audrey Kichelewski p. 12
  9. ^ [1] Omer Bartov
  10. ^ Sutcliffe, Adam (2 April 2024). "Whose Feelings Matter? Holocaust Memory, Empathy, and Redemptive Anti-Antisemitism". Journal of Genocide Research. 26 (2): 222–242. doi:10.1080/14623528.2022.2160533.
  11. ^ "The Challenge of Defending Memory in Germany". Jewish Currents. Retrieved 18 September 2025.
  12. ^ Traverso, Enzo (3 October 2024). Gaza Faces History. Footnote Press. p. search "Holocaust". ISBN 978-1-80444-179-4.
  13. ^ "Israel using Holocaust as a cover for Gaza genocide: Holocaust survivor". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 22 September 2025.