Shoah
/ˈʃoʊ.ɑː/noun
A Hebrew term referring specifically to the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II.
Did you know?Unlike “Holocaust,” which can imply a religious offering consumed by fire, “Shoah” emphasizes catastrophic destruction and avoids framing genocide as a sacrifice.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
שׁוֹאָה (šōʾāh)
“Ruin, desolation, or sudden catastrophe”
8th–5th Century BCE
Biblical Hebrew
šōʾāh
“A calamity or destructive event, appearing in prophetic biblical language”
Medieval Hebrew
Hebrew
שואה (sho'ah)
“A catastrophe or great disaster”
1940s
Modern Hebrew
השואה (ha-Shoah)
“The catastrophe; the term increasingly used for the Nazi genocide of European Jews”
Late 20th Century
English
Shoah
“An English loanword designating the Holocaust, especially emphasizing the destruction of European Jewry”
Modern English
English
Shoah
“The established historical term for the Nazi genocide of approximately six million Jews”
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