Veganazi and Holocaust

This is a very critical topic which can be emotional and often leads to misunderstandings between vegans and non-vegans. I don’t know if “Veganazi” is a common term in other parts of the world but I heard it several times in Germany/Switzerland. Just for your information: I don’t like either of these two terms but it is an interesting topic to have a closer look at.

Most people lose their mind if a vegan is using the term “animal Holocaust”. We all agree on the fact that it was horrible what happened in the second world war and the victims during this time suffered incredibly. By using the term “animal Holocaust” most people think it is not acceptable to use a term where so many people suffered during the second world war on an animal context. This would not live up to what these people were going through. The term is embossed by the second world war and is a tragedy for the victims. I think everyone can understand this and nobody wants to make the Holocaust from the second world war something “less tragic” or “not a terrible thing”. And if a vegan is using the term he doesn’t mean to play the suffering down he only wants to explain that the treatment of the animals in today’s factory farms is equal. Let’s look at the noun “Holocaust” in general a little closer: destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, especially caused by fire or nuclear war. In historical terms, there is, of course, the 2. World war “holocaust” definition too. But the original term comes from the Greek and is way older than the second world war and has also been used several times before to refer to mass killings. But today the term is closely connected to the Jewish holocaust. If a vegan is using the term “animal Holocaust” he wants to refer to the slavery of animals, the misuse, putting them into gas chambers or killing them in another way and all this on a massive scale we can’t imagine (see animal kill counter). You can see the treatment is the same and they are also sentient beings with feelings and a will to live and it all happens on an even bigger scale than ever before. The only reason why we don’t rate it that horrible is speciesism (see here). I also think it is not only a coincidence that these people who were affected the most (the Jewish) are the ones with one of the highest counted percentage rates of vegans in their country (Israel). Perhaps this also had an influence into the decision to go vegan, but this is only a guess. I don’t want to be disrespectful against anyone but just wanted to explain and share an understanding for vegans and non-vegans.

We are used to the image of red meat lying at a sales counter. But if you hover over the picture (attention: disturbing picture) you will see an example of how such meat looks right before it was cut into pieces. We all know somehow that animals get killed and probably have seen such pictures before, but it disgusts most humans and we want to turn around or close our eyes. If you cannot look at it, how can it be good for you? And if I think about how many animals are going day by day through this, I totally get the argument of an animal holocaust.

Veganazi is on the other side a term which is sometimes used to depreciate vegans. I know there are other terms like grammar-nazi for example. The term Nazi is therefore sometimes used to label someone as extreme or annoying. I totally get that and if our language is changing and the term is established I can live with that.

1. But I think it is somehow controversial to compare someone who wants to reduce the harm to any living being on earth to a minimum with someone who is responsible for the above mentioned “Holocaust”. Even if they just mean “extreme”, by using the word Nazi it is like comparing a peaceful fighter for equality with a racist (both have “extreme” views but want totally different things).
2. Of course, there are some vegans which seem to be very obtrusive and talk very badly about everybody who isn’t vegan and I really doesn’t support this and I can see why someone would call them veganazi. But those are about 1% or less of all vegans and even these people are against harming other beings, even if they do it in a not so good way.
3. And the term extreme can also be discussed (see here). Vegans only seem to be extreme from the outside, but consider this. I pay someone to raise a pig and let him kill it (because I couldn’t do it on a daily basis) so I can buy meat in the supermarket as cheap as possible and the sticker on the meat is showing a happy laughing pig. Ah, and before I forget it, I also pay (by buying this product) to steal the kids from the pig so I can raise and kill them too. Or is it extreme to resign to animal products and just eat plant-based which is possible in today’s society? So which of whom is the “extreme” one?
4. If we really want to use the term Nazi as a synonym for “extreme” (world view) we could call everyone who is believing in what he does a Nazi. Which doesn’t really make sense. Would we call someone who believes sport is the most important thing to stay healthy a sports-nazi? Or a health-nazi? Or every religion which also tries to convince as many people as possible from their beliefs? No this doesn’t make sense and everyone would lose his mind if we would use the term Nazi for such things. So let us be consistent with the term.

This is the reasons why I think it is not appropriate to use the term Veganazi. I know that these are two sensitive topics and I hope I have been able to give you a closer look at it.

Do the change and go vegan

By simply making other choices in the supermarket you can have a direct impact on the harm caused to other living beings. If you have any concerns regarding veganism have a look at my other articles and if you still have open questions or if you are struggling at a specific point, just leave me a comment or contact me directly. If you want to support this webpage and me to continue spreading the vegan message you can do this here. Thank you a lot.

Don’t close your eyes and ask yourself what stops you to make a difference? I am convinced you won’t regret it.

Cheers,