Quinn draws the comparison between the Holocaust and the famine emigration initially to highlight the impact of the Famine on the Irish population and the magnitude of its catastrophic effect on Irish culture and lifestyle. Quinn’s juxtaposition is based on the fact that both events affected an exorbitantly large amount of people over a prolonged period of time, in a way that completely altered the foundation of the targeted societies. The Famine forced the Irish poor to find assistance from another external source because of England’s lack of concern for a “source of national weakness” (Quinn, 53). The Holocaust both shattered the physical and cultural bases of Jewish life; shifting the focus from living in isolation to surviving from the ashes of near extinction.
However, Quinn later refutes this parallel to draw distinction between what the purpose behind each atrocity was. The Famine started as a natural disaster in Ireland’s main subsistent crop, only to then be used by English aristocracy as an opportunity to dictate Irish populations and policies by hindering them from receiving external assistance for their subsistence strategies. Essentially, the Famine served as a social control on the socio-economic status of the Irish people within the context of the English domain. Additionally, there was no debate as to the extent of damage the famine left the Irish community; a large portion of Irish were lost to the seven-year ordeal. On the other hand, the Holocaust was a premeditated attack on a specific group of people (Jews) in order to completely eliminate the chosen population, otherwise known as genocide. The level of impact here is more much substantial and the intentions of the oppressors are much more actively lethal. There was no question as to what was being done: systematic murder. Survivors and offspring from the event took years to piece together exactly how awful Hitler’s actions were and how exactly it impacted each individual’s life.
