Holocaust

noun

/ˈhɒləkɔːst/

The systematic, state-sponsored genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II, resulting in the murder of approximately six million Jews — along with millions of Roma, disabled persons, political opponents, and others.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The Holocaust remains the gravest indictment of how an advanced, bureaucratic state can be marshalled towards industrialised cruelty, and its memory underpins the post-1945 architecture of international human-rights law, from the Genocide Convention to the doctrine of crimes against humanity.

Synonyms

genocidemassacreannihilationexterminationcarnagedevastation

Antonyms

preservationprotectionsalvationdeliverance

🌱 Word Family

holocaustal (adj), holocaustic (adj), holocausts (n pl)

🔡 Root

Greek holos = whole; kaustos = burnt; holokauston = whole burnt offering; via Late Latin holocaustum

📜 Etymology

From Middle English, via Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek holokauston (ὁλόκαυστον) — holos ("whole") + kaustos ("burnt"); originally a religious term for a burnt offering; applied to the Nazi genocide from the 1950s, with the Hebrew term Shoah ("catastrophe") used in parallel.

🧠 Memory Hook

Greek "holos" (whole) + "kaustos" (burnt) - think "WHOLLY CAUSTIC": a fire that consumes everything wholly, leaving total destruction.

🏛️ History & Culture 📖 Seen in: Rise of Fascism/Nazism & World War II

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