Between October 7 and the Holocaust: Why This Comparison Is Wrong and Dangerous
Maariv, Israel, February 23
When Ohad Ben Ami, Or Levy, and Eli Sharabi returned from Hamas captivity about two weeks ago, their images were projected across television screens in Israel, triggering a wave of shock and outrage. It was evident that the three hostages had endured a long, grueling period in captivity, subjected to unbearable conditions.
Many in Israel, recalling the events of October 7, made comparisons to the Holocaust in their attempt to process the trauma. By the end of the week, the number of hostages in captivity had decreased to 63, with six released alive and four dead. The painful journey ahead is clear. Despite the joy of family reunification, there will be immense sorrow, with funerals, mourning ceremonies, and heartbreaking loss.
Yet, this national tragedy must not, under any circumstances, be compared to the Holocaust—not even indirectly. There is no event in world history, no atrocity in the annals of humanity, that comes close to the scale and horror of the Holocaust. Mass killings of civilians, brutal civil wars, such as those in the United States during the 19th century or Franco’s Spain in the 20th, may be tragic, but none begin to resemble the Holocaust. The Holocaust stands as the greatest atrocity ever committed by one group of humans against another.
Even 80 years later, it requires immense mental fortitude to watch the harrowing documentation of the Holocaust. Ordinary Germans—people with families—operated a vast industrial machine of death, including trains, concentration camps, and crematoria, designed for the systematic extermination of an entire people. And they succeeded in murdering six million Jews—men, women, and children—simply because of their Jewishness.
While October 7 certainly ranks among the worst pogroms in history, such as the 1648 Cossack uprising against Polish occupiers, which saw thousands of Jews slaughtered, or the 1903 Chisinau riots, described poignantly in Bialik’s poem “In the City of Slaughter,” these events cannot be compared to the scale and industrial efficiency of the Holocaust.
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The pogroms of Eastern Europe were horrific, but they did not serve as a wake-up call for the Jews of the continent. Germany, once a beacon of Western culture and technological progress, was the last place one might have expected such savagery to unfold. Who could have imagined that a culturally rich and advanced Germany would become the epicenter of Nazi brutality? When anti-Semitism began to rise, few foresaw its catastrophic consequences.
During World War II, Europe’s Jews were woefully unprepared for self-defense, lacking the means or awareness to protect themselves. Apart from some partisan actions and the brave Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, millions of Jews were led to their deaths without resistance.
Today, Israel stands as a sovereign state with a powerful military. Yet, in the face of the small and relatively weak Hamas force that attacked the residents of the Gaza perimeter, we tragically misjudged the threat. The Israeli military command, smug and overconfident, failed to anticipate the scale of the attack, and the defense lines were woefully inadequate.
Israel Defense Forces units were unprepared to safeguard the perimeter’s residents should Hamas strike. We had the power to prevent the massacre of October 7, and we failed to use it. Instead, Hamas terrorists were able to carry out their atrocities unchecked for hours.
This was not the Holocaust, and any attempt to equate it to such an atrocity is misguided. What happened on October 7 was the result of our own failures. The Holocaust taught us the lesson of “never again.” It underscored, forever, the necessity of strength in the face of enemies. It established the imperative to create a Jewish homeland in Israel.
The events of October 7, however, teach us a new lesson: even when you are strong, you must never underestimate enemies, no matter how weak they may appear.
Uriel Lynn (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)
