The Holocaust’s uniqueness was that eugenics was actually enforced

Evidence

The grandiose German plan to rest the reproduction of society on a scientific basis and eliminate the heretofore unharnessed (and hence haphazard) forces of heredity and selection was simply the most radical expression of the universal ambitions inherent in the modern mentality. It was, indeed, a relatively small part of a much wider totality. It earned its terrifying fame not because of its uniqueness, but because - unlike most similar sentiments elsewhere - it did reach its purpose: it was put into practice, with the help of technological and organizational resources available to a modern society fully mobilized by the unchallenged might of a centralized state. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 403 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

As LaCapra (1994:45-7) observes, the Holocaust or Shoah has become the quintessential embodiment of the oldest opposition in historical thinking: the unique versus the universal. Recently, several writers have suggested that the Holocaust is both unique and universal, standing as a “generic term” (Bauer, 1990:154) for a type of genocide that could be repeated (Rosenberg, 1987). In spite of their differences, these positions place the Holocaust at the center of discourses of genocide; insofar as it becomes the prototype of genocide, all other events are evaluated in relation to it (see Goekjian, 1991), seemingly occupying a more marginal relationship to the category. Efforts to compare the Holocaust to the Armenian genocide (see Dadrian, 1996) or to the “American Indian Holocaust” (see Churchill, 1997; Stannard, 1992; Thornton 1987) have thus been deemed to trivialize it. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 272 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The Holocaust combined barbarism with systematic science in unprecedented ways; Eugenic sterilization advocacy preceded and was independent of antisemitic ideology; Nazi eugenics differed from other nations’ versions only in being implemented — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 403 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Nazi eugenics differed from other nations’ versions only in being implemented #corroborates (0.92) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 403
• American eugenic sterilization laws preceded and outlasted Nazi-era ones #complicates (0.80)
• Holocaust uniqueness claims position all other genocides as marginal by comparison #complicates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 272
• Economic conditions, not evidence, governed eugenics’ scientific acceptance #complicates (0.72) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 859