Holocaust (disambiguation)

The word holocaust originally derived from the Greek word holokauston, meaning "a completely (holos) burnt (kaustos) sacrificial offering", or "a burnt sacrifice offered to God". In Greek and Roman pagan rites, gods of the earth and underworld received dark animals, which were offered by night and burnt in full. Holocaust was later used to refer to a sacrifice Jews were required to make by the Torah.

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But since the mid-19th century, the word has been used by a large variety of authors to reference large catastrophes and massacres, particularly those caused by immolation.

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In this sense, Holocaust may refer to:

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• The Holocaust, the experience of mainly Jews, but also Gypsies, Poles, and other groups in Europe during World War II.

Other World War II events:

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• Gay Holocaust, the imprisonment and extermination of gay men by the Nazis, beginning in the late 1930s.
• Chinese Holocaust, the deaths of over 10 million Chinese POWs and civilians during the Japanese occupation of China in World War II.
• Asian Holocaust, the mass murder of civilians and POWs in China, Korea, Indochina, Philippines, Dutch East Indies and the rest of the Pacific islands by the Imperialist Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War 2.
• Hiroshima Holocaust, the death of at least 140,000 civilians as the direct effect of nuclear bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima.

Other Historical atrocities:

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• Ukrainian Holocaust, the Holodomor during Soviet collectivisation.
• Armenian Genocide, sometimes described as "Armenian Holocaust".
• Great Irish Famine, sometimes described as "Irish Holocaust".
• Black Holocaust, the death of Africans on slave ships.
• Native American massacres, sometimes described as "Native American Holocaust".

In popular culture:

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• Silicone holocaust, the disfigurement of many women's bodies as a consequence of the use of silicone breast implants.
• Holocaust (miniseries), television miniseries about the WWII Holocaust, which was broadcast in the United States in 1978.
• Holocaust (band), a Scottish heavy metal band.
• Holocaust (comics), a Marvel Comics super villain.
• , a book on genocide of Canada's First Nations people.
• Nuclear holocaust, the result of global nuclear war and the ensuing nuclear winter.