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Daniel asked in Arts & HumanitiesHistory · 2 years ago

Wasn't the firebombing of Dresden and Hamburg a "holocaust" by definition since that word means death by fire?

Update:

Definition of holocaust

1 : a sacrifice (see sacrifice entry 1 sense 2) consumed by fire

2 : a thorough destruction involving extensive loss of life especially through fire a nuclear holocaust

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/holocau...

3 Answers

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  • Dr. D
    Lv 7
    2 years ago

    The term "holocaust" has its origin in Jewish sacrificial offering where the animal sacrifice was to be completely consumed by fire. The modern term refers to an annihilation of a targeted population, a mass slaughter. In the case of the Jewish holocaust, it was genocide.

    Dresden and Hamburg cannot be considered in the same sense of the word simply because they were strategic centers in the war. Dresden was a major rail transport and communication center, housing 110 factories and 50,000 workers in support of the German war effort. Some have argued that Germany had already lost the war. Germany had little defense at that time of the war, but had not surrendered. The firebombing helped hasten the war's end.

    In every war, as the war reaches its end, the defeated side usually does sustain some of its worst casualties. In Japan they experienced nuclear bombs. Almost in every war, as the final climax is in view, you will find some of the greatest casualties.

  • 2 years ago

    Hamburg was an industrial city and port and was involved in the construction of U-boats - it was a legitimate target for strategic bombing. What was Britain and the US supposed to do, just allow the German war effort to continue unhindered which would have prolonged the war and cost even more lives?

  • 2 years ago

    That's not what the word means.

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