Quote (Interesting @ Aug 23 2017 08:38pm)
Lots more people have died in other atrocities, sometimes over shorter time periods. The Khan dynasty of Mongolia, although not a short period, exterminated almost 20% of the earth's population at the time (roughly equivalent to 900 million people today).
The Holocaust stands out mainly because 1) it's fairly recent and happened in a relatively modern time period, and 2) the cold, calculating methodical way the Nazis did what they did.
Is it "overblown?" When considering the implications, I don't believe so. It's a catalyst to a lot of thought and aspects of our daily, post-modern life, and still very relevant existentially.
It's also worth noting, and perhaps this has equal consequences and importance, that the Holocaust was not a very significant concern for the Allied Forces during the war. The planes that blasted Dresden to ashes flew directly over at least one concentration camp. We bombed the shit out of Germany, and we knew about most camps, yet the choice was decidedly made not to intervene until the Nazis were out.
The Holocaust is a poor name for it as well. Means burnt offerings, implying a sacrifice. No sacrifice was made, it was just mass murder.