The Holocaust in American Life

The Holocaust in American Life is a book by historian Peter Novick published in 1999. His subject is not the Holocaust, but rather how it has been acknowledged, defined, and spread as an event which requires public remembrance. It has been reviewed by major journals and discussed in many Jewish magazines. The book popularized the term "victimization Olympics" to describe how various groups have fought to portray themselves as the most serious victims of the Holocaust.

In the acknowledgement section of The Holocaust Industry, published in 2000, author Norman G. Finkelstein writes:

The initial stimulus for [The Holocaust Industry] was Peter Novick's seminal study, The Holocaust in American Life, which I reviewed for a British literary journal.

Hasia Diner has accused Novick and Finkelstein of being "harsh critics of American Jewry from the left", and challenges the notion reflected in their books that American Jews did not begin to commemorate the Holocaust until post 1967.[1]