The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a 2000 book by
Norman G. Finkelstein, in which Finkelstein argues that the
American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the
Nazi Holocaust for political and financial gain, as well as to further the interests of
Israel.
[1] According to Finkelstein, this "Holocaust industry" has corrupted
Jewish culture and the authentic memory of the Holocaust.
Finkelstein states that his consciousness of "the Nazi holocaust" is rooted in his parents' experiences in the
Warsaw Ghetto; with the exception of his parents themselves, "every family member on both sides was exterminated by the Nazis".
[2] Nonetheless, during his childhood, no one ever asked any questions about what his mother and father had suffered. He suggests, "This was not a respectful silence. It was indifference."
[2] It was only after the establishment of "the Holocaust industry", he suggests, that outpourings of anguish over the plight of the Jews in
World War II began. This ideology in turn served to endow Israel with a status as "'victim' state" despite its "horrendous" human rights record