Is there a difference between Oppenheimer’s A-bomb and the Holocaust?

Question

Reading the notes and charges of the Nuremberg Trials, there’s at least an argument. If we lost, the US Air Force would certainly be held accountable. Goring has a point…til the end of course.

RavVid · Accepted Answer

Possibly you have a point. WW2 was the first time war could be taken to civilians if you ignore all those times that sieges of cities resulted in mass slaughter of the inhabitants.

The RAF's Bomber Harris was the only commander who didn't get a gong at the end. He was a strong believer in bombing civilians into submission and perhaps the British gov't found him a moral embarrassment at the end.

Given there would be impossible losses if Japan was invaded - which Okinawan implied with 50,000 US casualties and 150,000 Japanese/Okinawan casualties (with enforced suicides). The estimated casualties were 129,000 to 226,000 from the A bomb. Less at the low end than Okinawan casualties.

The options were conventionally bomb and create fire storms of cities, maybe blockade Japan and cause widespread death from lack of food. Leaving Japan alone to resume the war at a later date wasn't an option. Not many other options.

It was actually a close run thing that Japan did surrender. The military had a realistic assessment that the US would have at most two A bombs and wanted to fight on. There was an attempted coup at the end.

On the other hand, the Nazis didn't need to exterminate the Jews. Like the allies interning citizens of belligerent nations, if they felt Jews were an internal threat they could have interned without exterminating. Ditto other nationalities.

So i think the moral equivalence is false.

Stoner710 · Accepted Answer

OK here's the difference. The atomic bomb was dropped on Japan so that we wouldn't have to invade. As a japanese enthusiast as myself. I'm glad the atomic bomb was dropped. I'm glad we have a Japanese culture which produces many good products for Americans to buy and a lot of good anime Americans can consume. The Japanese people are very very honorable, and very very loyal to their country. Every single Japanese citizen, and Korean citizen that was brought over from Korea to Japan, was willing to fight to the death. What's the cost millions of American lives and basically destroyed the Japanese people culture and the entire society. If America to invade, we would've wipe their asses out we would've had to we would have killed every single man, woman and child without the atomic bomb.. the only war they lost in history was to the United States, and that's because they decided to attack us first the atomic bomb was mercy. It was brutal, but it was mercy compared to killing every single person on thr five main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku and Okinawa.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

There was no Air Force when they dropped the bomb and they saved potentially millions of American lives by doing so and ending the war in the only way possible at that point.

Drewtate · Answer

Yes big difference. Over 1 million Japanese died in the bombing campaign.

For instance at Hiroshima 70,000 died, at Nagasaki 60,000 died but when Tokyo was bombed 130,000 died. To date the bombing of Tokyo in WW2 is the single most devastating bombing raid in human history.

To match the holocaust with atomic bombs they'd have to drop hundreds of atom bombs. How about the holocaust in China, 35 million Chinese killed by the Japanese most of them not with an expensive weapon like the atomic bombs but with the simple bayonet.

Grovermint · Answer

The Holocaust was a deliberate attempt to wipe out every last individual of entire ethnic groups the Nazis didn’t like. In addition to Jewish people, they went after the Roma, Sinti, black and Slavic people, as well as disabled, homosexual, political opponents, and religions that conflicted with Nazi ideology.

In a full scale invasion like they were planning if the Atom bombs failed, the expected Japanese casualties both military and civilian would have been between 5–10 million people.

Casualties from the use of the Atomic bombs were roughly 250,000 .

The holocaust had about 7 million victims.

exitseven · Answer

Yes, the holocaust was genocide to eliminate the jews. They were locked in cages and taken to gas chamberrs and killed. The United States was fighting Japan and were anxious to end the war as soon as possible. The atomic bomb probably saved thousands of American lives.

Anonymous · Answer

Sort of.

The atom bomb was done to end the aggression of another country by wiping out a city of theirs.

The Holocaust was used to exterminate members of one's own country because they were under the delusion that they lived in a society run by those members to the benefit of their own at the expense of others.

They both went way too far but at least the atom bomb was not meant to exterminate the entire country, just one hell of an intimidation tactic to stop a war that they started with the US. However, the US along with other nations came by to help Japan rebuild and rewrite their constitution so that they would no longer be as brutal as they once were much like the rest of the axis powers.

The Holocaust was just nothing but destruction purely based on delusion.

jshm2 · Answer

That's the thing about wars, the winners gets their crimes forgiven, while the losers don't.

You should really read up on the shit the Americans did in Vietnam and the British did in Bangladesh. As bad as the Nazi's.

Sun_Kim-Ai · Answer

Yes, and it would be silly to compare them, similar to comparing Nazism to Comunism.

strateguy632 · Answer

obviously the jews had not attacked them, the way japan did so the crime holocaust is much much worse.

msc545 · Answer

Dropping nuclear weapons on people TWICE. is justbout as evil as the holocaust was.

goaded · Answer

The allies won.

Is there a difference between Oppenheimer’s A-bomb and the Holocaust?

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Is there a difference between Oppenheimer’s A-bomb and the Holocaust?

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Was the Holocaust beginnings that different than America at the time?

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