Holocaust trivialization


Many authors argue that a metaphorical use of the word Holocaust constitutes Holocaust trivialization, and many consider such uses offensive. In the words of Holocaust survivor and memoirist Elie Wiesel:
I cannot use anymore. First, because there are no words, and also because it has become so trivialized that I cannot use it anymore. Whatever mishap occurs now, they call it 'holocaust'. I have seen it myself in television in the country in which I live. A commentator describing the defeat of a sports team, somewhere, called it a 'holocaust'. I have read in a very prestigious newspaper published in California, a description of the murder of six people, and the author called it a holocaust. So, I have no words anymore.

Manfred Gerstenfeld identifies trivialization and universalization of the Holocaust as one of eleven forms of Holocaust distortion. Holocaust trivialization involves the application of language that is specific to describing the Holocaust to events and purposes that are unrelated to it.
On the other hand, David Stannard argued that attempts to eliminate Holocaust comparisons belittle other events of comparable magnitude.

Notable cases

The Anti-Defamation League has accused Gilad Atzmon of trivializing and distorting the Holocaust specifically in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ADL states that, among other abuses, Atzmon invoked the word Shoah to describe Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.
The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs condemned the United Church of Canada for trivializing the Holocaust. According to the Center, the United Church published a document in which they placed a statement decrying the "loss of dignity" on the part of the Palestinians, attributed to Israel, promptly after a similar statement acknowledging "the denial of human dignity to Jews" in the Holocaust.