Over the past fifty years, among the most common names given to the extermi
nation of the Jews during the Second World War are 'hurban', 'shoah', 'holo
caust', 'genocide', 'final solution', and, by synechdoche, 'Auschwitz'. Thi
s article illustrates how the search for a name is emblematic of the diffic
ulties encountered in trying to interpret this event and to free the questi
on of its emotional implications. It explains why a term with religious con
notations, such as 'holocaust', has come to be so widely accepted in the En
glish-speaking world, and suggests alternative names that might be preferab
le to this mystifying term.