Trying to hold back the rage

Our Maddy of the Sorrows:

"Meanwhile, among British Muslims it is commonplace to draw analogies with the rise of anti-semitism in Germany in the 30s: how cultural racism legitimises persecution and, ultimately, violence. Even the idea that there is no community with a more vested interest in promoting Holocaust education than Muslims is spreading - what happened in Europe in the 40s could happen again, and they will be the victims this time. This kind of apocalyptic gloom is interspersed with fantasies of flight - where shall we move to?"

It isn't just commonplace amongst British Muslims - the moonbat left in this country and the Ba'athist regime in Syria appear to share this analysis. Our Maddy goes on to explain why It's All Your Fault. Really hate to intrude on this angst-fest but can I ask a couple of historical questions that might be salient? Was Julius Streicher forced to relinquish his editorial position? Did the National Socialist regime publicly regret the publication of anti-Semitic cartoons? Where were the demonstrations calling for the enemies of Judaism to be beheaded? Where are the equivalent of the Nuremburg Laws in Europe today? Banning of headscarves? Don't make me vomit. Actually, there's really only one question I want to ask: why aren't people ashamed to make this comparison?

Which brings me to Michael Burleigh's piece in the Telegraph last week. Norman Geras' treatment of it is here and I don't have much to add except to emphasise the feeling that there's something profoundly pernicious in this notion of a 'Holocaust industry'. The implication is this is a focus that is being deliberately, and unjustifiably, manufactured. But there's a contradiction at the heart of this effort to diminish, sorry, contexualise the Holocaust: it is not denied, merely insisted that it was not unique, indeed some go as far as to suggest it wasn't even unusual; there were many 'holocausts', and 'genocides' are ten-a-penny these days. The effect is to make the memory of the real Holocaust lighter than air, when it should still be heavy - but is the unseemly and frankly sickening clamour to share in the language of the Shoah not indicative of how very unusual, evil, unique it was?