Based on scholarly work on Holocaust awareness in Israel, the top-down memory of the Holocaust in the media and the vernacular Holocaust memory on social media, this article analyzes the ways the Holocaust became a frame of reference in Israel for the interpretation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the newest link in a long chain of using the Holocaust as a prism for other topics in Israeli society. The scant research on the way it has affected Holocaust awareness has mostly focused on Holocaust museums and memorials ( Ebbrecht, 2020 Walden, 2020) and the emotional effects of the pandemic on survivors ( Bagno, 2020 Wurgaft, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic began in 2019, spread to the rest of the world in 2020 and still holds nations in its grip in 2021. The Israeli media did not create these comparisons but reported them widely and contributed to their circulation. In the second half of the year, as the restrictions and two more lockdowns became part of life, references to the Holocaust changed – negative reactions to COVID-19 government regulations and law enforcement were compared on social media to Nazi acts. It shows that the initial panic created a wave of comparisons between the Holocaust and the pandemic in the media and social media. The article centers on the evolution of the COVID-19 – Holocaust references and the role of media and social media in it.
There is scant research on the way it has affected Holocaust awareness.
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