Monday word: pogrom
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pogrom pō′grəm, noun
An organized persecution, purgative attack, or extinction of an ethnic group, especially of Jews.
Kristallnacht (1938) is an example of a pogrom. Sadly, there are many examples of pogroms in in history (and in modern times), antisemitic and otherwise. Related terms are ethnic cleasing and genocide.
Etymology: Yiddish, from Russian pogromu, devastation or destruction.
The word first became common in English after anti-Jewish events in the Russian empire in the 1880s.
I was trying to find a relevant word for Memorial Day; my first choice - cenotaph - had already been taken.
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Date: 2015-05-26 02:57 pm (UTC)---L.