Moreover, this comparison between Jewish people and animals takes away from the impact and the suffering that Jewish people endured in concentration camps (Kalechofsky 2003). In contrast, comparing the two also takes away from the suffering that animals endure. I think that the comparison is strong and is likely to catch a lot of attention. However, the comparison seems too strong in that it is surprising to hear that Costello would compare the events together. The holocaust was no doubt a devastating occurrence, but it happened a long time ago and the unethical treatment of animals has become a more recent discussion. Therefore, both events involve different topics and they happened and different points in time.
In addition, Hitler killed Jewish people because he did not like them, but animals are not killed because they are hated, but more because they are wanted for food. However, humans have come to lack compassion, and that is why animals are treated so poorly. Costello says, “It is only since victory became absolute that we have been able to afford to cultivate compassion. But our compassion is very thinly spread” (Coetzee