Public opinion about comparisons to the holocaust

Holocaust and genocide researchers are engaged in a vigorous debate concern ing the uniqueness of the Holocaust and the appropriateness of comparing th is event to others. They concur, however, in criticizing comparisons to the Holocaust made by activists, characterizing these comparisons as carelessl y reasoned and self-interested. We use a U.S. national survey to identify w hich comparisons to the Holocaust are most salient to the public. Further, we test hypotheses about possible motivations or predictors of various comp arisons, including influences of education and gender on ways of knowing, e ffects of race and political orientation on ethnoracial comparisons, and ge nerational differences in collective memory. We conclude that public compar isons to the Holocaust are in concordance with elements of the United Natio ns' definition of genocide. Comparisons to the Holocaust are best predicted by education, gender, race, and current events. These findings have import ant implications for Holocaust pedagogy and for our understanding of the pu blic's role in the construction of historical accounts.