--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the Holocaust is blamed on the…" description: "\"“When the Holocaust is blamed on the modern state, the weakening of state authority appears salutary.”\" — Timothy Snyder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/timothy-snyder-882_holocaust_when-the-holocaust-is-blamed-on-the-mode_3216401.jpg" --- # When the Holocaust is blamed on the modern state, the… ![“When the Holocaust is blamed on the modern state, the weakening of state authority appears salutary.” quote by Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/timothy-snyder-882_holocaust_when-the-holocaust-is-blamed-on-the-mode_3216401.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/timothy-snyder-882_holocaust_when-the-holocaust-is-blamed-on-the-mode_3216401.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58b/timothy-snyder-882_holocaust_when-the-holocaust-is-blamed-on-the-mode_3216401.jpg) > ““When the Holocaust is blamed on the modern state, the weakening of state authority appears salutary.”” [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Blaming the Holocaust on modern statehood can be used to weaken current governmental authority. **In simple terms:** Blaming history can undermine state power. Key Takeaway Critically assess historical arguments. Themes history politics propaganda Mood critical cautious Type analytical political When to use this quote - academic debates - policy discussions - public speeches Key Concepts state legitimacy collective memory political manipulation Questions to Reflect On - What are the risks of politicizing historical tragedies? - How can societies preserve truth while resisting manipulation? A Different Perspective Oversimplification may ignore complex causes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Holocaust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust/) [Holocaust Blamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holocaust-blamed-6029722/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [State Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-authority-2767143/) [State Weakening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-weakening-6029723/) [Weakening State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakening-state-6029724/) ## Related quotes > [“A common American error is to believe that freedom is the absence of state authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/a-common-american-error-is-to-believe-that-freedom-is-the-absence-of/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [When legitimately constituted state authority stands down in the face of armed threats, the very foundation of the republic is in danger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perlstein/when-legitimately-constituted-state-authority-stands-down-in-the-face/) [Rick Perlstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perlstein/) > [I wish to give officials greater discretion. 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The victory will be only entirely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/the-jew-always-lives-from-the-blood-of-other-peoples-he-needs-such/) [Julius Streicher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-streicher/) > [Never to forget the Holocaust was not only against Jews. It was mostly against Jews but it was also against homosexuals, gypsies and, let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-westheimer/never-to-forget-the-holocaust-was-not-only-against-jews-it-was-mostly/) [Ruth Westheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-westheimer/) > [I'm of that generation of Jews still deeply influenced by the Holocaust. Certainly the notion that the state power to kill can be subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-turow/i-m-of-that-generation-of-jews-still-deeply-influenced-by-the/) [Scott Turow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-turow/) > [“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-were-taken-i-cannot-find-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) ## More by Timothy Snyder > [“Nationalism is relativist, since the only truth is the resentment we feel when we contemplate others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/nationalism-is-relativist-since-the-only-truth-is-the-resentment-we/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The time is out of joint. O cursed spite,/That ever I was born to set it right!” Thus Hamlet. Yet he concludes: “Nay, come,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-time-is-out-of-joint-o-cursed-spite-that-ever-i-was-born-to-set/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“the democracies that arose after the First World War (and the Second) often collapsed when a single party seized power in some combination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-democracies-that-arose-after-the-first-world-war-and-the-second/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“salami tactics—slicing off layers of opposition one by one. Most people were distracted, some were imprisoned, and others were outmatched.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/salami-tactics-slicing-off-layers-of-opposition-one-by-one-most/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“We allowed ourselves to accept the politics of inevitability, the sense that history could move in only one direction: toward liberal democracy...We imbibed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/we-allowed-ourselves-to-accept-the-politics-of-inevitability-the/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“The key to this translation of ideology to politics in both cases was an effective appeal to human experience at the crucial time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-key-to-this-translation-of-ideology-to-politics-in-both-cases-was/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [“Both of these positions, inevitability and eternity, are antihistorical. 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Prothero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-r-prothero/) > [In my rear view mirror the sun is going down sinking behind bridges in the road and I think of all the good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/in-my-rear-view-mirror-the-sun-is-going-down-sinking-behind-bridges/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [THE REAL PURPOSE OF HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM IS TO MAKE NATIONAL SOCIALISM AN ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE AGAIN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-covington/the-real-purpose-of-holocaust-revisionism-is-to-make-national/) [Harold Covington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-covington/) > [The difference is that we have the hardest and most painful evidence that there was a Holocaust. But, for the global warming scenario that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-difference-is-that-we-have-the-hardest-and-most-painful-evidence/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“I do not know where Viktor and Rudolf were taken. I cannot find the records. I never Elisabeth or Iggie. It is possible that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-de-waal/i-do-not-know-where-viktor-and-rudolf-were-taken-i-cannot-find-the/) [Edmund de Waal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-de-waal/) > [Arab youth are taught to wonder, 'Since the Holocaust was a European affair, why are the Palestinians being forced to pay for the creation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-bronfman-sr/arab-youth-are-taught-to-wonder-since-the-holocaust-was-a-european/) [Edgar Bronfman, Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-bronfman-sr/) > [Miami Beach - that's where I grew up, in a middle-class Jewish family led by my maternal grandfather. 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I think we even watched a graphic video about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-soloway/i-remember-learning-about-the-holocaust-when-i-was-in-kindergarten/) [Jill Soloway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-soloway/) > [“Oskar is the fruit of those fantasies -- the idea that what needed to be saved was not just lives but hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simon/oskar-is-the-fruit-of-those-fantasies-the-idea-that-what-needed-to-be/) [Richard Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simon/) > [Every two, three years there is a movie about the Holocaust because they want you to remember and they want you to be reminded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-foxx/every-two-three-years-there-is-a-movie-about-the-holocaust-because/) [Jamie Foxx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-foxx/) > [The Jew always lives from the blood of other peoples, he needs such murders and such sacrifices. 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