From swastikas found in Jewish spaces, to hate speech on the internet, Jewish people are constantly being reminded of the hatred and horror of the Holocaust. These hate actions are often not taken lightly by Jewish communities. Yet, after 10 years of attending Jewish school, a space where primarily Jews are present, I have seen the Holocaust being taken lightly in a different way within Jewish communities: through Holocaust humor.
The Holocaust is too frequently brought up in a humorous context. While in non Jewish settings it is understood as antisemitic, Holocaust humor is just as common in Jewish settings, where its inappropriateness is overlooked.
Even in the media, shows produced by Jews such as “The Producers” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” have glorified Hitler or made jokes about the events of the Holocaust. But why would the ancestors of victims and survivors of this tragic event portray the Holocaust in a humorous way less than 100 years later?
The easiest way to answer this question would be to blame these jokes on the psychological phenomena where humans resort to humor when addressing uncomfortable topics. Psych Central explains that humor is used as a way to deflect trauma, because the negative emotions evoked by that trauma are alleviated when the trauma is framed as a lighthearted joke.
Even though Jewish teenagers are not directly traumatized by the Holocaust like their grandparents or great-grandparents, the emotional weight has been carried throughout generations through testimonies, documents and Holocaust education. I know for myself that the topics we cover in the course Modern Jewish History are difficult and emotional, so for many students this psychological phenomena explains their behavior.
This issue is especially prevalent now, as more and more years have passed since the Holocaust. While immediately after, or during the shock and trauma of the event, no one would think to make a joke, time has led to a greater desensitization.
This idea can most easily be easily understood through the context of Oct. 7. If someone at CESJDS made a joke about the current events in Israel, chances are the response of their peers would not be positive. However, even though the Holocaust was an event of even larger scale violence towards Jews, it feels less personal to today’s teens. Therefore it has become a more acceptable topic to joke about.
However, I believe that humor is not an acceptable way of talking about the Holocaust, even though many Jewish people hold the opinion that Holocaust jokes are allowed to be made by Jews. Being the nation that was directly affected by this event, we are the ones to set the precedent about conversations relating to the Holocaust. By joking about it, we send the message to others that it is acceptable to joke about.
In a YouGov poll done in December of 2023, one fifth of United States citizens of a variety of races, incomes, genders and political parties between the ages of 18 and 29 surveyed, answered that they believe that the Holocaust is a myth. Twenty three percent of those surveyed said they believe the Holocaust has been exaggerated. Making jokes about the Holocaust just perpetuates the issue of people not believing in the Holocaust as it minimizes the seriousness of the event.
Especially after Oct. 7, the largest massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust, our community is being threatened again. Jews across the world are recovering the phrase “Never Again,” a phrase that originated as a response to the large-scale antisemitism during the Holocaust. Instead of belittling the tragedy of the Holocaust by making jokes about it, we must raise awareness on antisemitism to maintain strength as the Jewish people did 100 years ago.
