ADMIN/OT: Holocaust thing

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 11598

Excerpts of various comments made:-

Amanda said:

"As I'm forever pointing out to people, please to remember that in
addition to the Jews, the Slavs and Gypsies were also exterminated. Just
as many Poles, Gypsies, and homosexuals died as did Jews. It wasn't just
a Jewish thing. It was a non-Aryan thing."

Pippin said (amongst other well-phrased things):

" The word Holocaust refers properly to a specific historic catastrophe
which was only a part of the general destructiveness of the Hitler
 regime. Whether it 'should' mean that...another question entirely and
 off topic for this list, although I would be glad to hear your views."

John:

"Forgive the OTness of this post. I've been studying the post-WWII fallout
last term and have some fairly strong opinions. If another of the Moderator
team (who, unlike me, would be impartial here) wants to step in and call a
halt to this thread, feel free."

***

I'm afraid I can't be impartial on this topic either: far from it.  Who on
earth could be impartial?  We are talking about the killing of millions of
innocent people; whether these be deaths in the Holocaust, as defined, or
senseless deaths in the broader sense.  IMO, anyone who claimed to be
impartial on such a topic would have seriously questionable values.

Obviously, this is an interesting thread, in the sense that there appear to
be parallels with WWII and Hitler's Nazi regime in the HP books (Voldemort,
Death Eaters, pure-blood etc).  However, partiality aside, the topic is
clearly emotive once it has drifted OT-ward, and, as Pippin suggests, some
aspects, outside the context of the HP books, should, perhaps, be continued
off-list.

Personally-speaking, I wouldn't say don't OT post on this topic [a bit late
for that..], but would suggest that we all accept the horrors of WWII as
read and continue to look at how JKR may be reflecting this in the story
she's telling.

Neil
Moderator Team
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