The American Politics of Holocaust

Americans were neither victims nor perpetrators of the Holocaust. Why, then, does this horrific event occupy such a prominent place in their public life and political discourse? With the help of the works by American Jewish historians Norman Finkelstein and Peter Novick, this review article offers a tentative solution to this puzzle. Finkelstein stresses that the Holocaust has been used by the American Jewish elites and organizations for their financial, political and symbolic benefits. Novick does not deny the role of elites and of their instrumental motives but claims that sincere and profitless activities of innumerable „private“ Jews and of their informal networks have played no lesser role. According to Novick, four factors contributed to the elevating of the Holocaust to the public pedestal: (1) the transformation of the general atmosphere in the American society from the “integrationism” of the 1950s and 1960s to the “differentialism” of the 1970s and 1980s, (2) the ensuing competition of ethnic and racial groups for the status of the most historically aggrieved minority which motivated Jews to use the Holocaust as a trump against the claims of other groups, (3) the crisis of Jewish identity (brought about by waning religious practices) which made it possible for the Holocaust to function as an Ersatzidentity for Judaism, and, finally, (4) the overrepresentation of the Jews in the media, cultural institutions and entertainment industry which confers upon them a privileged role in the creation and reproduction of hegemonic discourses and images of the larger society. In addition, the reference to the Holocaust has proved useful in justifying tough policies of Israeli governments vis-à-vis the Palestinians and in gaining support for those policies with the American public and government.