Thread by @seffikogen

One awkward thing about #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay is that people cite the entirely made-up stat that 11 million people were killed in the Holocaust. WRONG. 6 million Jews were killed by gas, bullets, fire, and starvation, along with no more than 500,000 non-Jews.

The Holocaust was a uniquely Jewish tragedy and citing the 11 million number has the effect (and sometimes the intent) of universalizing the Holocaust. Some people, more provocative than I, refer to this as "all lives matter"-ing the Holocaust.

The 11 million number comes from famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal who chose it because 5 million was close to, but crucially not more than, 6 million. He hoped to elicit non-Jewish sympathy, by helping them see themselves in the tragedy, without outnumbering Jewish victims.

Of course, tens of millions of people of all backgrounds were victims of Nazi aggression, many millions of these were soldiers, and millions of others were civilians killed in more "ordinary" wartime atrocities (i.e. not a systematic extermination scheme like the Holocaust).

This is awkward is because whenever you explain that the 11 million number is made up, people look at you like you're a Holocaust denier. But this is well sourced! Here's the @HolocaustMuseum very gently making this point: encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/art…

And @deborahlipstadt and other experts have also weighed in on this through the years. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

Here's the heartbreaking quote from the dean of Holocaust historians, Yehuda Bauer: 

“I said to him, ‘Simon, you are telling a lie.’ He said, ‘Sometimes you need to do that to get the results for things you think are essential.’”

From @kampeas: timesofisrael.com/remember-the-1…

I sympathize with Wiesenthal's aims but he was obviously wrong to do what he did. This story is a North Star for me in my advocacy work. Even if you CAN stretch the truth to garner sympathy for your cause, even if you think it'll help, it's still wrong, and might hurt you later.

People are in my mentions like "omg you're erasing the genocide of the Sinti and Roma!!!"

I'm not, you just can't read. That's who the 500,000 non-Jewish victims are. Roma, people with disabilities, gay people, all systemically exterminated like the Jews.

But what none of the assholes I blocked tonight can do (because it can't be done) is explain HOW exactly you can arrive at the number 11 million. You can easily get to like 30 million+, if you count everyone killed by Nazi aggression. But there is no logical sum of 11 million.