Irving's War

From January 11, 2000, through March 16, 2000, an extraordinary trial captioned "Irving v. Penguin Books and Lipstadt" took place in London. The Holocaust was not on trial in London. Neither was this case merely about whether statements made in Prof. Lipstadt's book "Denying the Holocaust" (1993) about David Irving were false and defamatory. This trial was about the freedom to criticize bigotry masquerading as scholarship. This case was nothing other than a single battle in a war waged by David Irving to silence his critics.

In the sense that a historical event like the Holocaust can be put "on trial," the Holocaust has been in that position since the IMT trial at Nuremberg and it has withstood all challenges. The fact that the Third Reich engaged in the planned genocide known as the Holocaust has been established in hundreds of civil and criminal trials under American, British, French, Canadian, German and Israeli law in the half century since the end of World War II. None of the fraudulent allegations of the lunatic fringe which denies the Holocaust has even been established as worthy of belief in any of those trials.

We have a series of articles entitled Irving's War  by Yale F. Edeiken.  These articles do not deal with the issues, direct or indirect, of that trial. They are about the legal realities of the trial and reasons why David Irving failed to prove his case.

The Wannsee Protocol: Object of Revisionist Falsification of History

The Wannsee Conference - which was initially scheduled for December 9, 1941 but postponed on short notice - took place on January 20, 1942 at a suburban villa on the shores of Berlin's Wannsee lake. Chaired by Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Security Main Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt), 15 high-ranking officials of the German bureaucracy, the SS- and police-apparatus discussed the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", while enjoying the lovely sight of the villa's gardens and the lake. It was only after the Protocol (minutes) of the conference was found in 1947 that the conference was named "Wannsee Conference" after its location.


The Holocaust History Project is proud to present a text based on a paper by Christian Mentel delivered in November 2009 at the memorial site House of the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, Germany. A longer German version is available here. An even more detailed German-language article with complete references can be downloaded here. In addition, the memorial site's multi-language webpage at www.ghwk.de offers a wealth of material, including scans of historical documents. For generous and invaluable assistance in translating the text and beyond, the author wishes to thank Gord McFee.

What Holocaust Revisionism Is

This essay,  by THHP member Roger, a follow up to a previous article, Why Revisionism Isn't. I have been asked recently why THHP so vehemently opposes denial, and while the answer to me is blindingly obvious, let's look at it in light of recent statements from deniers. My thanks to David Irving, Germar Rudolf, and Mark Weber for making the matter so plain.

The "other day" mentioned in the Why Revisionism Isn't article has come. Holocaust denial is, always has been and always will be an outlet for irrational hate, using base dishonesty at every turn to feed inflated egos in an attempt to finance their lifestyle.

Read the full essay at: http://www.holocaust-history.org/revisionism-isnt/revisionism-is/

The IHR at the Cross Roads

From its beginning in 1978 the Institute for Historical Review (IHR ) was in the forefront of the intellectual fraud of Holocaust denial.  Under the control its co-founder, Willis Carto, the IHR prospered as part of a complex of organizations with the common goal of propagating anti-Semitism in theUnited States.  "Liberty Lobby v. Dow-Jones Co." 838 F.2d 1287 (D.C. Cir.;1987) After Carto was ousted from his position, the IHR has been through a financial crisis caused by the loss of old followers and its failure or inability to recruit new ones.  As a result the current management of the IHR has evidently attempted to obtain new financing from the Arab states of the Middle East.


In an article at the Holocaust History Project, Yale F. Edeiken examines some recent history of this intellectual fraud:


http://www.holocaust-history.org/ihr/

General Semantics and Holocaust Denial

The challenges that the deniers apply to the generally accepted history vary widely in size and scope. For instance, they dispute the death toll at Auschwitz-Birkenau, resurrect early allegations about the Holocaust and Nazi atrocities that are now known to be untrue, e.g., soap production from human fat, and they claim that the Nuremberg trials were a sham and a perversion of justice.  Furthermore, they pore over documents from the Nazi era, and, disregarding any document that would further incriminate the Nazis, they find what might be an exculpatory document and seize on it as if its existence destroys the entire house of cards. The so-called Luther memorandum is a prime example here.

Looking at such Holocaust-denial tactics through the lens of general semantics, we can find at least three main shortcomings:

1. Over- and Under-Defining the Holocaust. The use of “the Holocaust” as an over/under-defined term, allowing for the “disproof” of victim numbers and atrocity stories.

 2. Extending the Definition over Time. The inability (or refusal) of the deniers to accept multiple time-based definitions of the Holocaust, as seen in their reading of the Luther memo.

3. The Two-Valued Orientation. The overwhelming use of the two-valued orientation in presenting the so-called revisionist version of the Holocaust, for example, in their allegations about Nuremberg.

A strong working definition of the Holocaust with consideration of its development over time, along with the exposure of two-valued orientations wherever they are used, can enable us to see the faulty logic on which Holocaust denial is built.

Andrew E. Mathis, PhD. Mathis examines this subject in a peer-reviewed article origininally published in ETC: A Journal of General Semantics, and reprinted with permission at the Holocaust History Project Website: 


http://www.holocaust-history.org/gen-semantics/

The Holes in the Roofs of the Gas Chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau: A forensic investigation proves their existence

"No holes, no Holocaust" has long been one of the denier community's favorite slogans. It refers to the holes in the roof of Kremas (crematoria) II and III at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Now a report at The Holocaust History Project entitled The Ruins of the Gas Chambers: A Forensic Investigation of Crematoriums at Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau by Daniel Keren, Harry W. Mazal and Jamie McCarthy proves not only that the holes existed but shows where they are. This report first appeared in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Oxford University Press, Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2004, pages 68-103. and is reproduced with permission.

Pamphlet on David Irving

We have recently updated our pamphlet on Holocaust denier David Irving at http://www.holocaust-history.org/pamphlets/irving/who-is-irving.pdf.

The British court found that Irving's 

misrepresentation of history was 

"deliberate in the sense that he was motivated by a 

desire borne of his own ideological beliefs to 

present Hitler in a favourable light."

October 2009

October 16, 2009. Added a rebuttal to the misleading ads being placed by Holocaust denier Bradley Smith in college newspapers

April 2008

April 27, 2008. Added a reproduction of the Klarsfeld Foundation book The Holocaust and Neo-Nazi Mythomania. It consists of two studies — "The Launching of the Final Solution of the Jewish Question" and "Reply to the Neo-Nazi Falsification of Historical Facts Concerning the Holocaust." It is now linkable off the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation page.

April 12, 2008. Added a reproduction of Klarsfeld Foundation book Wherever They May Be, the autobiography of Beate Klarsfeld. It is linkable off the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation page.

April 12, 2008. Added a section on reproductions of various seminal Holocaust books by the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation.

May 2006

May 22, 2006. Updated the question and answer essay on denial and deniers.
May 5, 2006. Added an extensive and fully annotated essay on the Treblinka death camp entitled Final Destination Treblinka. Thanks to Stephen Potyondi for the essay.
May 2, 2006. Added a quick hit question and answer essay addressing Holocaust deniers and denial.

January 2006

January 19, 2006. Added essay and article on General Semantics and Holocaust Denial that analyzes the "arguments" of Holocaust deniers using the principles of general semantics.
January 7, 2006. Added Short Essay on the infamous Majdanek concentration/extermination camp near Lublin in Poland.
January 4, 2006. Updated Links page.

August 2005

August 29, 2005. Added an essay that examines the use of multiple identities (or nyms) by Holocaust deniers, in this case, Germar Rudolf.

June 2004

June 12, 2004. Added Holocaust Denial as defined in the book Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia.

July 2002

July 26, 2002. Added: David Irving's attempts to sway the High Court of Appeals. This action failed dismally when the so-called expert reports he had presented as new evidence were hurriedly withdrawn by his barrister. The Expert Witness reports presented on behalf of Prof. Deborah Lipstadt completely demolished Irving's mendacious plea.
July 26, 2002. Added Judge Sedley's devastating Opinion in which he endorsed Judge Gray's decision and refused Irving's request for appeal.

June 2002

June 6, 2002. Added the Affidavit produced by renowned scholar Robert Jan Van Pelt presented to the High Court in London to counter David Irving's last gasp attempt to appeal the ruling against him in his failed libel suit against Prof. Deborah Lipstadt.

April 2002

April 5, 2002. Added Harry W. Mazal's Critical Review of an affidavit submitted by Mrs. Zoe Polanska Palmer on behalf of David Irving in his recently failed lawsuit against Prof. Deborah Lipstadt.

August 2001

August 12, 2001. David Irving is a Holocaust denier residing in the UK who recently sued Deborah Lipstadt for libel and lost. We now have an index organizing material about David Irving.
August 12, 2001. Added Rich Green's Expert Report submitted in support of Deborah Lipstadt's defense in David Irving's lawsuit against her.

September 2000

September 24, 2000. Updated questions and answers.
September 9, 2000.Added John Zimmerman's essay My Response to Carlo Mattogno and a supporting document Cremation at Gusen: A Timesheet.

July 2000

July 28, 2000. Added a postscript to the article Chemistry is not the Science addressing Germar Rudolf's inadequate response to that article.

October 1999

October 21, 1999. Added Dr. William Samelson's essay Holocaust Denial: Truth or Hoax?
October 18, 1999. Added Dr. László Karsai's essay Photographs Documenting the Holocaust in Hungary.
October 15, 1999. Added Mark Van Alstine's Response to the Johannesburg Citizen, in which he answers the questions of a Holocaust-denier.
October 12, 1999. Added Prof. John Zimmerman's essay Body Disposal at Auschwitz: The End of Holocaust-Denial.