In US President Dwight Eisenhower's farewell address, he refers to the 4 major wars that had taken place in the 20th century as "holocausts" in the plural. Was this a common form and if when did holocaust come to only refer to Hitler's genocide?
As an Israeli Jew I do not like the word holocaust very much, but it is here to stay in English. I am reading a book about the Cold War and in it the speech is transcribed, and this usage got my attention.