The Holocaust and blood sacrifice

This article looks at affinities between the Holocaust and blood sacrifice of archaic times. It begins with a discussion of the practices and beliefs which have accompanied sacrificial rites in the past. This is followed by a discussion of ancient animal sacrifice, out of which came the practice of kosher slaughter Christians rejected kosher slaughter, together with all sa crificial rites, and kosher slaughter has evoked intense controversy on bot h humane and religious grounds. Slaughter, like all features of animal husb andry, was radically changed by the introduction of railroads and industria l abattoirs. The Nazi death camps resemble abattoirs in several respects, e xcept the activity of killing is deprived of practical utility. As such, it appears to be a sacrificial rite adapted to the industrial age. An implici t recognition of this is suggested by the designation "Holocaust," which is originally a term used for blood sacrifice. The Nazi brutality was not, ho wever, simply a result of primitivism or an atavistic ideology. It was, rat her a consequence of detaching elements of archaic religion from the restra ints provided by a relatively coherent context of culture and belief. (C) 2 000 International Society for Anthrozoology.