ABSTRACT
The Whitwell paper clip project exemplifies the sort of penetration of the Holocaust into American consciousness which Peter Novick attempts to account for in his important book, The Holocaust in American Life. Novick is right to note the tension between claiming that the Holocaust is unique, and that there are lessons to be learned from it. Lessons require points of comparison. In addition to this point, Novick is particularly disturbed by the claim of uniqueness, or, more precisely, by the way that claim has been parlayed in discourse about the Holocaust and other atrocities. Regarding criticism, Novick cites several contexts in which the lessons of the Holocaust have been invoked to support a moral stance whose sources clearly lie elsewhere. In one respect, Novick would presumably approve of Facing History's approach. On the other hand, a central part of Novick's criticism is that the Holocaust is an extreme example of a moral horror.
