Desecration is the act of depriving something of its sacred character, or the disrespectful, contemptuous, or destructive treatment of that which is held to be sacred or holy by a group or individual.
"Execution" of the Sacred Heart by leftist militiamen at Cerro de los Ángeles near Madrid, on 7 August 1936, was the most famous of the widespread desecration of images and Churches. King Alfonso XIII had consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the spot on 30 May 1919. The photograph was taken by a Paramount newsreel representative and originally published in the London Daily Mail with a caption calling it part of the "Spanish Reds' war on religion."
Martyrdom in Judaism is one of the main examples of Jews doing a kiddush Hashem, a Hebrew term which means "sanctification of the Name". An example of this is public self-sacrifice in accordance with Jewish practice and identity, with the possibility of being killed for no other reason than being Jewish. There are specific conditions in Jewish law that deal with the details of self-sacrifice, be it willing or unwilling.
Image: Mass Grave at Bergen Belsen concentration camp Fritz Klein IWM BU4260
Image: The Liberation of Bergen belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 BU3778
Image: May 1944 Jews from Carpathian Ruthenia arrive at Auschwitz Birkenau
Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 183 N0827 318, KZ Auschwitz, Ankunft ungarischer Juden
