David Irving |
bj Documents on the International Campaign for Real History
First posted Wednesday, October 24, 2012 11:58 am
© Focal Point 2012
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I have changed my mind: I don't want to be a long-haul truck driver when I grow up, I want to work on an oil rig.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Sarasota - Naples, FloridaALL day long after he arises (fortunately quite late) Mein Host bombards me with conspiracy theories, wildly gesticulating with obscure gestures as he does so: "chem. trails" -- that's a new one on me --, John Lennon, JFK and Robert Kennedy, Nine-Eleven and so on: there is not one he has not followed avidly, and made videos on. His business was buying up in advance domain names, particularly those of pop stars, and then selling them to the person concerned. He owns four thousand. I say, "Isn't that called squatting?" I get a lot of writing done.
Stewart O. writes:
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your enlightening talk given in Clearwater last evening. It was good to see you looking fit and healthy after your surgery. I have been unable to find the insurance company reference you made with regard to UA's Flight #93 and would appreciate your sending me it, if possible.10:07 a.m I reply with this link.
WE have raised the 25,000 euros we needed for our legal battle in Germany and it has been paid into court in Potsdam as a bond. Much to my quiet delight and surprise.
Somebody writes me:
Yesterday, I watched on YouTube the video 'The faking of Adolf Hitler for history', and I was extremely surprised with the action of the British government took when they seized your personal belongings, and had "misplaced" your research; my question, did you take legal action against the government? Or did you receive any compensation or formal apology? I enjoyed listening to what you had to say, and appreciate you to devoting most of your life to such a matter. If you answer my question I will be very pleased, from a fan of your theories and research.I have replied : "Acting in person, i.e. without lawyers, I did take High Court action against the trustees who had lost or destroyed my archives, and about sixty percent of the possessions were returned [six years later], in total chaos, with forty percent of the archives including most of my Himmler and Goebbels research missing, and all tapes and videos of my interviews. Very sad. We settled the High Court action out of court, but under the terms of the settlement I am not at liberty to disclose how much compensation I forced the authorities to pay. It was substantial."
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Naples - Miami, FloridaI WRITE this to Jessica who starts university life tomorrow:
Here's Daddy, in Naples, Florida. Big day for you tomorrow, and I shall be thinking about you all day. The start of a new life, with many old friends. Don't mess it up. That would be an easy thing to do, and often irreversible. . . It is possible to have fun without drinking anything at all: vide Mummy, and Jae; and I have not touched a drop for three or four years.Listen to Hugo when it comes to studying and how. Discipline! Uni is not like school, you can skive off all day doing nothing, and nobody notices -- until exam time comes. Use the card with great moderation, because I cannot get cash to you any other way easily.
Tour is going very quietly indeed. Nobody has any money now. Naples was K.'s (bad) idea. Texas will be better, and then California, but that is three or four thousand miles of driving first.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Miami - West Palm Beach - Palm Bay, FloridaCOLIN W. sends me comments on my draft memoirs chapters:
I hope you are going to complete this. Without making too much of the fact, you (together with those who harass you) have managed to make yourself a historical figure in your own right as well as a historian: in a way, quite a significant one. . . Then too, good writing on almost any subject is always a pleasure to read. At any rate, I for one would definitely want to read the completed work -- and for that to happen, you're going to have to finish it!Somebody sends me a link to an Observer review of the Sönke Neitzel book on the CSDIC transcripts. Grrr. I write this Reader's Letter but don't know if the newspaper published it:
Ben Hutchinson reviewing Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying by Sönke Neitzel and Harald Welzer uncritically follows the book-jacket blurb and says that the (illegal) transcripts of German prisoner-of-war conversations were "discovered in 2001 by the historian Sönke Neitzel." Wrong.As Mr Neitzel and his publishers know, I was the first historian to use them, in Hitler's War (1975), and then in Göring (1987), Goebbels (1996), Churchill's War, vol. ii (2000) and several other books. After negotiating with HMSO, the copyright holder, I released two hundred of the secret conversation transcripts in my online book Overheard (1988). My German publisher refused to print the book, as it was "fouling the nest".
In the 1970s [Prime Minister] Harold Wilson tried to have me imprisoned for using these transcripts in Hitler's War. The files on that are in the archives in Kew. Please give some credit where credit is due.
I stop for the night in a cheap Rodeway motel in St Lucie, room price forty-four dollars. That's more like it. (It's agreeable to have a girl with me as a driver and assistant, but they always want the fancy rooms, fitness centres, pool etc., which licks the cream off any profit.)
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
West Palm Beach - Melbourne - Palm Bay, FloridaI DECIDE to write to Snowdrop direct once again:
Hugo told me of your correspondence; truly sorry that he inundates you with messages about, well, us. He shouldn't. I wish you all the very best with your life, and always have. You broke it off the wrong way, and told me a few porkies (look it up), but that's how it goes. . . As for the missing autographed books, I have written them off. You have more important things on your mind now. My very best wishes to you, once again, -- David."I plead with a correspondent: "Please keep me out of the Nine-Eleven debate!! I only have so many mental megaytes of space left." He wants to persuade me that there were no planes.
Stanley S. writes me with helpful advice on my sick Pigmobile, which coughs up blue smoke when it starts:
I have found in my long experience with automotive repair that the first thing to check are the valve guide seals. Unless the engine has a lot of miles on it I have found it is not usually the piston rings.I have also found the valve guides usually (not always) go bad after the engine has experienced engine overheating, often more than once.
Also, valve guide seal replacement is a cheap repair. I've done it myself in my driveway with some basic tools and a piece of rope. Of course, I have no idea what they charge over yonder.
I reply: "Well, I will be returning to the UK mid next year, at the very latest, and looking for a house in Dorney again. Unemployment in Spain sounds terrible -- 25 percent or something. Not as bad as that in the UK. I will be in an apartment here for the first months of next year if all goes as planned, but returning to UK for three weeks over Christmas. I am driving up the east coast of Florida at present, on the start of a 15,000 mile drive round the west, stopping in 45 cities."
I need somewhere above all to house my archive of around three hundred archive boxes, two or three cubic feet apiece.
She replies. "Dorney is a lovely place. Unemployment in Spain is abysmal. Businesses are dropping like flies around us. Even though English is in demand, people have to prioritise. . .
I say: "Yes, very impressive, but in a downward economy it is hard sledding."
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Palm Bay - Orlando, FloridaAUSTRALIAN teacher Robert L. thanks me for explaining the high postage cost he had to pay for Hitler's War from Atlanta to Australia.
I admit I was shocked at the postage cost, but know that the book is worth it (I have an earlier edition) -- I only regret that the postage goes to the authority, and not to you. I am currently writing a school textbook for use in Australian history in Australian secondary schools, and I will be incorporating many of the insights and understandings that you have provided into Nazi Germany, and the writing of honest and evidence-based history, over the years. I dislike seeing your occasional disparagement of Australians, but understand . . . I hope that a future government will rescind its travel ban on you and that I get the chance to hear you in person.I apologize for the occasional disparagement:
Got several reasons but I try (unsuccessfully) to rise manfully above them. Worst one at present is that a paunchy Australian has stolen my beautiful personal assistant and married her, and I am still writhing with fury at the loss. My own fault. I could have prevented it, perhaps, but being a gentleman I stood graciously aside and let him have his try. Never again.My fourth daughter Beatrice however is married to a fine Australian guy in Brisbane, which makes me angrier than ever at [Prime Minister] John Howard's mindless ban on my renewed entry into the country. She has two super children; all of them are Australian citizens, which gives me an automatic right of entry as next-of-kin, but I am told that Howard boasted in Canberra that they would "change the law if necessary again" to keep me out.
Best of luck with your book project. My book Hitler's War is being ordered in larger numbers at the start of each university year, so I think it is creeping onto the curriculum one way or the other.
By six-thirty we have all our Orlando guests assembled, and they stay until late. The first guests come at six p.m., last leaves at ten p.m. The book sales are less than hoped . . . One guest informs me that he downloaded on his Nook "tablet," whatever that is, two of my books including Nuremberg, but without the illustrations; that is of course copyright-theft by Nook.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Orlando - Pensacola, FloridaMY German attorney sends me his latest warning letter to the film production company lawyers. I thank him: "Eine gute Auswahl der Formulierungen." -- "Danke, zeitlich wird's jetzt doch etwas eng. "
I text to Jessica: "Six hour drive today. Florida is very big. Heading to Pensacola. I thought I gave you a pillow. Did you mean pillow case? I gave you that too. You must not squander the card. Want a fullish report on the first days at uni. some time. Make sure you eat properly, No Junk Food. Your brain won't like it."
Then my German attorney sends me documents from the Munich courts, where we are fighting the permanent ban on my entry.
"You can work here in the lobby," she points out. "It's working here."
Uh, no. I check out. She does the paperwork and expresses surprise, "It seems it has not charged you." I should hope not indeed. I cross the road, and check into a Quality Inn, where the desk girl Kerri expresses convincing disbelief when she hears how many decades ago I was born. That's more like it. Very nice room, splendid WiFi, and right next to the lobby.
A good friend sends me a little info which may be of use for Himmler.
Many years ago, when I happened to live in London and work in the West End, I visited you at Duke Street, and you very kindly lent me your files related to the Luftwaffe High Command from your study. I was and remain grateful to you. It was the summer and I caught you decorating your flat, as you answered the door in shorts, with paintbrush and paintpot in hand!I later attended one of your drinks invitations there. Anyway, this is just a heads-up to draw your attention to file DEFE3/573 at Kew (in case you are not already aware). It's Ultra stuff, but has some quite interesting bits and pieces on Himmler towards the end. The good old National Archives now allows you to download it free from their website, but it is a 166 MB file. Not sure if this link will take you there or not, but try http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details/AssetMain?iaid=C1910470 You need to skip to the back of the file from about page 500 onwards. It's not earth-shattering, but it's not bad.
Elina Garanca Friday, October 5, 2012
Pensacola, FloridaHUGO writes:
I delayed my departure for Bonn by one day so that I could attend a concert by the stunning Latvian mezzo, Elina Garanca (above). who went beyond my every expectation, in voice and in looks. I cannot understand why you don't share my view of her unless you were winding me up. . . I lost count of the encores she had to give and she was showered with flowers, many being single red roses. The audience wouldn't let her go and some gave her a standing ovation. However, you could tell they were the Germans amongst the audience because Germans give standing ovations to everything, no matter how good or bad, because they want all the world to know how 'kultiviert' they are (Germans spell Kultur with a capital K) whilst the overwhelming majority of the audience, being English, remained firmly seated.8:14 a.m I tell him: "Göring said, the more I hear the word Kultur, the more I reach for my Browning."
The film company's lawyers are bleating that . . . and of course they deny any violation of my intellectual property.
Hugo further tells me:
Hi David, I went to the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz yesterday . . . Whilst waiting in the library, I idly took down a list on the Nachlaß of Hitler, and saw that the first item on the first page was the following entry: "Nachlaß Adolf Hitler im Bundesarchiv, Koblenz Materialsammlung von David Irving über den Gesundheitszustand Hitlers (Untersuchungsbefunde, Gutachten, Aussagen vor amerikanischen Militärgerichten, u. A. Der Ärzte Theo Morell (far left, with Otto Dietrich), Brandt, Hasselbach)."He adds with heavy irony: "It must be very gratifying that the German Government continue to treat you so generously after all the material you have generously presented them!" Yes, they originally had half a ton of my documents, which they returned after three years. They fill forty big archive boxes.
The tour is not going financially well so far, but then nor is the economy. -- I have now indicated online that I shall be organising a new Wolf's Lair tour in September 2013. [NOTE: THE PAGE WILL BE UPDATED SOON]
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Pensacola, FloridaA LENGTHY dispatch comes from Jessica at university: "... My loan came through yesterday which was exciting. Budgeting has gone out the window so I should probably sort something out. My room smells of old people and is stuck in the 1970s. I got a new pillow, as the one you gave me was totally flaccid. Our halls are soo nice, the people are really nice (although there are a few obnoxiouS types . . . like one guy who likes to walk through the corridors at 4am blaring loud music to wake everyone up (don't worry, his actions were swiftly curtailed by my rugby-playing neighbour who just completely lost it with him)). Some other types set off a fire extinguisher on our corridor as well and all of us are being fined £160 for letting it happen (WASN'T EVEN THERE -- OUTRAGE). Lost my room keys last night, which was demoralising and I have to pay £50 for a new pair."
I reply to her at 9:17 a.m.: "That was a splendid report Jessica, just what I needed to cheer me up. How could you lose your keys, and why so expensive to replace them? You have to keep a tight watch on money."
I could have sworn that I put a stamp on my letter to you of September 11, enclosing a draft [memoirs] chapter about Albert Speer. And yet Hugo tells me that no reply has yet come to the above address. I may presume that you will, sooner or later, acknowledge or reply to the letter? It is a courtesy which I can assure you I myself always follow.Stephen Goodson writes me that Professor Richard J Evans (right), known to us all as "Skunky", has spoken to a Holocaust meeeting in South Africa: "You may recall that I chaired your meetings in the Western Cape when you were last here in 1992. More recently I featured on your website as the Reserve Bank director who has 'denied the Holocaust'. If I had known that 'Skunky' Evans was in Cape Town, I would have attended the meeting and given him a piece of my mind."
12:12 p.m I reply, "Well I see that the talk was at the Capetown Holocaust Center, so I guess they were paying his expenses too. These folks just swim in money, but are careful not to invite discussion or opposition speakers."
British journalist Peter Hitchens has the same idea about Eric Hobsbawm and myself.
Hugo tells me:
The day before I came to Bonn, I had lunch with [the Dowager Lady M.]. There were six of us altogether and your name cropped up when Janet asked me how you were. 'He's a charming man,' she said, 'Charming! And frightfully clever!' Everyone else nodded in agreement and Janet asked me to send you her good wishes and looks forward to seeing you again when you are next back in England.He later says he left the less flattering bits out. He is a scamp. I go out for a bite with Mr B., again; better behaved, we go to Pensacola Beach. Back at the hotel, I find the printer has stopped, the generic inks have been detected by Epson's software and it is refusing to accept them. Hmmm.
Emails: one from Hugo, still twisting the knife:
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Pensacola, Florida - Biloxi, MississippiSPENT a miserable night brooding, once again. Yesterday's mailout has produced a slew of orders and bookings.
Bruce … has noticed that www.onread.com has some of my pdf books online. It is theft, and there is not much I can do about it.
Rob MacP. writes from Calgary, ordering some five hundred dollars of books. I write thanking him at once. "I've never ordered books online," he replies, increasing his order, "and then received a personal email from the author. I'll see you in Coeur d'Alene, you can sign them all for me in a few weeks. PS It is Coeur d'Alene, Idaho? I'll have a nice seven-hour drive down from Calgary Canada."
A good customer. I reply, "Yes, Idaho. And I have a nice one-month drive up round the west coast from here, Florida."
Before leaving I write to Jessica at university: "Hello Jessica, how's it going? Off to Mississippi today, Biloxi, on the Gulf. Only an hour and a half from here along Interstate-10 to the west. I put your film online
and I will try and embed the other one in a day or two. We must make several more. Next week your first lectures, right? Keep me informed.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Biloxi, Mississippi - Houston, TexasJESSICA has emailed, and I reply: "... I had a long dream about poor Josephine this morning, getting a tearful phone call from a boyfriend, and her saying repeatedly I love you, I love you, I love you, and bursting into tears. It was very disturbing. I am still upset by it. -- Daddy."
Hugo writes:
I spent today at the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz going through Darré's diary together and various other papers from his Nachlaß which mention Himmler. I also found Hedwig Potthast's Sportausweis photograph which was on microfilm. The Darré diary was massively edited in 1972 in co-operation with Darré's widow. Apparently, after this massive act of vandalism, his diaries were burnt.I tell him that Elke Fröhlich told me this was because the original R Walther Darré diaries, like mine, contained a lot of X-rated stuff.
Hugo, slyly: "All the more reason why they should have been made available for posterity -- as I hope yours will be!"
The German court officers (the bailiffs) have actually refused to recognise our injunction against TeamWorkx. Are the German courts really stacked that high against me?
I advise Jessica, "Money burns a hole in your pocket. You've inherited that trait from me. I am on the road, heading west. . . This is where I need a co-driver. "
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Houston, TexasA WAKEFUL night: fretting, then dreams about family. As for our injunction against the film company, it is by no means cut and dried, and the legal costs are mounting. The opponents are digging in their heels to waste time and prevent us seeing the TV film Rommel before its broadcast.
I acknowledge my German lawyer's latest effort: "Weiter so; sehr interessant. Die Fristsetzung ist richtig, denn der Gegner will Zeit vergeuden. Hoffentlich sitzen wir noch am längeren Hebel."
He sends me Stage 2, taking injunctive action against SWR: This is stacking up ominously for the other side. Threats of criminal proceedings, and even a warning to cancel the film's premiere, etc.
As something of a linguist, I recognise the obscene-obsessive language. Middle-East origin, or Brooklyn perhaps? I am guessing the writer is not a Christian after all. He gets our standard reply: "This is an automatically generated response. We regret that we receive up to 300 emails a day and cannot undertake to read them all. If you wish your recent email to be considered for posting in our hate-mail section, please ensure that you have thoroughly checked its spelling and grammar, and resubmit. Focal Point Publications"
I have got a lot of Himmler drafting done during the day, at last converting my Vienna prison writings into typescript.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Houston - Elgin - Austin, TexasRob MacP. writes again from Canada:
Dear Mr. Irving:
I feel so ashamed that my country has banned you. I feel even more ashamed that I didn't even know who you were up until a few weeks ago. Thank God I stumbled across an old (about 1996 I think) video of Christopher Hitchens defending you. As I said when he said you were one of the "necessary historians" I knew I had to check you out. So thank god for YouTube as I've been watching you lectures over and over. I look forward to meeting you in Coeur d'Alene. I've already booked a motel and I'll spend a day just wandering around the city.
I'm shocked at how effective the other side is at keeping you hidden. They really are effective; I'm not the best read person in the world, but I can't believe it's all my fault I never even heard of you. They're doing a pretty good job at keeping you shut out. When I found out Norman Finkelstein despises Deborah Lipstadt, I knew I had to help you out with more than the postage saved on my books. I intend to send help regularly; I wish I were brave enough to put more on the line. I'm just not that brave.
This is not relevant, but I like the [May 2004] photo of you and your young daughter in her school uniform on you website. It's very endearing. So all the best my friend. I look so forward to meeting you and getting you to sign my giant pile of your books! Keep fighting the good fight. I'm sure there's more people that care for you and believe in what you're doing than you can ever know.
Snelson is very fit, going a bit deaf, and a good safe driver too. He waves a copy of the Avon edition of Hitler's War at me; I now give him the latest millennium edition.
He clearly remembers his immediate CIC chief Robert A Gutierrez, had a letter from or referring to Lieutenant Gutierrez (which I did not get to read), and tells me that the Eva Braun items -- her diary, silverware, and the Hitler uniform items were housed in the CIC headquarters at Heidelberg for a time, along with her photo album(s) and a thick stamp album. He has no recollection of seeing other papers. He was a German linguist with the CIC, learned the language at University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Has a clipping from Stars & Stripes about the cache, however, which his daughter has scanned for me.
He recalls Gutierrez as leaving for the USA some time before he did and agrees that August 1945 is possible. He was also involved in the arrest of Dr Klaus Schilling (who conducted crucial malaria experiments at Dachau, later hanged) and a 19 year old, "Maus", Operation Danube, one of many young German Hitler Youth men who worked for the US in infiltrating Werwolf units after 1945.
The names Johannes Göhler, Schloss Backnang, and Franz Konrad mean nothing to him. He is sad that Gutierrez made no effort to contact him after the war; he knew that Gutierrez lived in Albuquerque, but was not aware he was dead.
He himself returned to the USA in January 1946. The Eva Braun items were taken out of the safe and forwarded to Seven Army's G2 (General Edwin Sibert?); before that Snelson asked a friend to photograph him holding them outside the Heidelberg headquarters, and the items were then locked back in the safe -- anyway not to his knowledge burned. The name William Conner was known to him, but no more than that.
He finds it hard to believe that any GI would actually have burnt the uniform items; more likely, he agrees, he would have taken them home as souvenirs.
His only souvenirs are an original Himmler picture postcard autographed by the Reichsführer; a blank sheet of very white paper with a Hitler signature; a Hitler invitation to a February 1939 meeting; two original formal half-plate photos of Hitler with an unidentified female; half a dozen original CIC photos of corpses heaped up under a carport-like shelter at Dachau, one including a helmeted GI, and his own wartime IDs. He has a few pages of 1940-onwards military personnel documents, and his honorable-discharge certificate. His daughter filmed our whole interview.
I check into an Embassy Suites in Austin, but only with difficulty, as they are full tonight.
7:06 p.m I tell Jeannie. "Tour going better now, as you will notice from the increased registrations. I have three days off, which is a drain on the resources, in Austin, but I will get some writing done. G. [the Piranha] is still angling to come."
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Austin, Texas
HEAVY dreams. I go down for breakfast but find that breakfast here has finished at nine. The chef makes an omelette for me. I chat with the general manager.
I write to Jessica: "In a few days, if you give me a suitable time or text it to me, I can phone you for a chat. I am following your progress closely. Next year: rent a house, get the Rolls out of the workshop, finish the book."
James Lander asks for assistance for a book on Max Wachtel, wartime commander of the V1 flying-bomb regiment. I reply:
Well, I presume you have located the very bulky war diary of Flak Regiment 155W; it was provided to me by the Air Historical Branch of the Air Ministry in the 1960s, it should now be in the Public Record office at Kew or perhaps restituted to Germany (Militärarchiv in Freiburg). I had correspondence with Wachtel, but my files are in storage in Slough, UK, and I am in Texas at present on a tour. I interviewed W. in Hamburg, where he was airport manager.Jeanette writes: "I'm glad [Canadian] Robert MacP will pick up his 2 orders from you. It works out better all the way around, I won't have to fill out those damned forms, and you get an extra $126 from the shipping, as a donation. I'm not all bad."
I reply: "The Curate's Egg (look it up)."
Wikipedia: Origin of phrase Curate's egg: The bishop says "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr Jones". Apparently trying to avoid offence or curry favor, the curate replies, "Oh, no, my Lord, I assure you that parts of it are excellent!"
Friday, October 12, 2012
Austin, TexasA long and fascinating letter from Michael Montgomery about the mysterious sinking of HMAS Sydney in November 1941. And an inquiry then comes from England about the Dresden air-raid casualties figure.
I am sure you are tired of this question so I don't expect you to write anything new, but I wanted to ask if you have a standard response to the question regarding the figures of the Dresden bombing. Do you have anything that covers this as a full answer that you could send me please, both for my own interest and for that of anyone that may ask me.I understand that you have answered this question to Tom Robertson here on February 11 and here on January 17, 2012.
But I wondered if you had a reply that covers all points as a kind of final answer in this that will put it to bed.
-- to which I have replied: "Best thing to do is to browse my online dossier on this.. I will also post in the next half-hour a 12-megabyte dossier for you at this location. All the items on it are copyright-protected, and you should ask me before reproducing any."
SWR SENDS my lawyer the usual, but lengthy, rejection letter of our demands. Their counsel beefs about our giving short notice periods, etc. The stakes are getting higher, and they know it.
12:25 p.m to Jessica: "Tell me when you'd like me to phone this weekend. A landline phone would be nice, and much cheaper to phone."
There is a score of Facebook friends of Jaenelle's on this tour - they ply me with her latest news when they come to my talks, unaware that she is in the past now, our partnership in ruins. She says on Facebook she is down in Australia with the new husband.
He's her second, an Australian. He was a guest on our Wolf's Lair tour last year. When I saw him in Poland I thought him paunchy and unfit, but on the plus side he's wealthy, and a would-be triathlon competitor (aren't we all!); at least somewhat fitter than the average Houstonian or Hoosier. To the folks in Houston, in fact -- Obesity Capital of North America -- he might even appear quite slim.
A student from Waco, attending my talk this evening with a friend, says he too is friends with Jaenelle on Facebook. I thought she had de-friended just about everybody, on her new hubby's orders. The two students help me pack and load the car.
I hope she has kept up her singing -- that was one of the things she was so good at. She was training a lovely contralto voice. She was just about the finest personal assistant I had, if one overlooks her own taste in music. Oh, and her short fuse too, as evidenced by the emails between us which the enemy hacked into and published. The more cerebral her companion, the shorter her fuse: so her new hubby should be okay for a while.
Her image continues to haunt this tour. Many of the guys who come to hear me speak look around for her, and ask when she is coming back. "Eventually," I promise, but I know it is a lie. I am capable of raising the dead, as the reincarnation of the Piranha has shown, but Jaenelle? That is altogether another matter.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Austin - Dallas - Weatherford (on Interstate 20), TexasI TELEPHONE Jessica before leaving Austin, for a five minute chat; she says something about reading up on her lectures, which sounds more promising
Onwards in intermittent drizzle with leaden grey skies on the right, and bright sunshine to the left, toward Arlington, halfway between Dallas and Forth Worth. At first Susie's Café seems invisible, but then I detect it -- a grubby little Mexican watering hole. As I park I realize however that I have used it before, and the meeting room is large and well appointed. One of my guests thinks we were here last in about 2003 -- i.e. before prison.
The owner Silvia has no knowledge of my booking. The Latina I gave the order to two days ago has evidently forgotten to pass it on. No matter, I slip her boss fifty dollars and we set up rapidly. Jon Gentry the videographer and his pal John S. make a video of my ninety-minutes talk plus twenty minutes of discussion afterwards. Sales are enough to pay for the gas, the car, the hotel and this room. I am glad to see that everybody orders a meal.
Not much profit, however, and onward I go for an hour at ten thirty p.m. to Weatherford, on the I-20 heading south-west again. The distance I have covered since this tour started is only about four inches on the map I use, with several feet to go, and one of my smallest meetings yet, El Paso, seven hundred miles ahead.
I tell Hugo: "Jessica told me that her lost wallet (!) had been found and that the place where she had been had found two keys which she hopes are the missing ones. Tomorrow I have a seven hundred mile drive to the next location, El Paso."
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Weatherford - Pecos (still on Interstate 20), TexasBRIGHT sunshine, clear skies over Texas. Just as well that I haven't got another Bright Young Thing with me on this tour, she would not stand the pace. Paperwork for an hour, and I write more Himmler based on the prison drafting.
10:46 a.m Hi Jessica
Lovely weather in Texas today, clear blue skies, and I am about to set off for El Paso which is where I turn north after speaking to about three people. Hmmm. Cost in petrol today and tomorrow about 200 pounds.So far this journey is trouble free, but the Pacific Northwest has a history of trying for violence against me, with mounted police, and so on. Maybe it was Jaenelle they were really gunning for!! Everybody asks me where she is, which is annoying.
West of Lubbock the oilfields begin to thicken; since I last travelled this highway it is now a scene of immense activity, Sunday or not, trucks with oil-rigs thundering past, pumps nodding and sucking as far as the eye can see, the scent of crude oil and hot tar in the air, drilling-platforms and occasionally towering oil-rigs littering the prairies and dunes, vast acres of dumps sprawling along the Interstate, with parades of new drilling equipment, cranes, bulldozers and steelware testifying to the rise in crude oil prices.
All preparing perhaps for Israel's next bloody adventure in the Middle East and the seemingly inevitable closing of the Straits of Hormuz, after which only the rich will be able to find gas at prices they can afford.
I have changed my mind: I don't want to be a long-haul truck driver when I grow up, I want to work on an oil rig. They are all paunchy and wealthy, and that's what it takes. I halt for the night at Pecos, and go online in the hotel lobby as the Wifi does not reach as far as my room, not even a whisper:
Tuesday, October 15, 2012
Pecos - El Paso, TexasWEST TEXAS is one vast, empty state. I authorise My German attorney to ask the German courts to grant an injunction against SWR. The odds are steepening.
Another YouTube fan contacts me from Greece:
I am a great supporter of your cause and would like to know if there is any chance you will ever come to Europe because in your speaking program Europe is not mentioned anywhere. I really like the dozens of Youtube videos with your speeches but i guess that being present s a whole different story. Angelos Berberakis.
Sales today do not cover the costs. I seriously think this will be the last Grand Tour for a year or two. The Depression is hitting everybody.
Anthony Lloyd Wallis writes:
I just thought you may be interested in a conversation I had a few days ago with a veteran from WW2. He is 94 years old and served in the signals regiment in North Africa after discussing his service decorations and listening to his stories of his survival and the loss of his comrades he went on to say how all the sacrifices he made he wondered if it had all been worth it. This reminded me me of your statement that if the soldiers who landed on the Normandy beaches [in June 1944] would have advanced a few yards up those beaches if they knew how it would turn out today. The more I learn about the second world war the more I understand what you are saying.I reply: "Thanks Tony, I was very moved by your letter. David Irving."
Another long haul tomorrow up to Tucson in Arizona, with around four hours on the highway.
Wednesday, October 15, 2012
El Paso, Texas - Tucson, ArizonaLETTER from a stranger, living in Pennsylvania, who wants to write my biography; it will go nowhere in the long run:
I reply:
7:47 a.m Difficult to know what to say. That time is approaching, but you'd have to line up a prospective publisher first I think. And it could not be done by email, as that would amount to my writing the book. Tell me what mainline publishers say, and we will see if the idea should be taken further.Breakfast at 8:30 a.m. I will not stay at this El Paso Embassy Suites hotel again. The only coffee is Ersatz, from liquid concentrate in a machine -- the cheapest gas station does better than that; the only "butter" is margarine; the only bananas are brown and soggy. There are no oranges. The staff pretend to understand English, but don't. When I mention this at the front desk, saying that this is the second worst of all the hotels of this otherwise excellent chain that I have ever stayed at, the man says with a shrug that it will cease to be an Embassy Suites hotel after November 1. Comment superfluous.
IN the Rommel film case, my German attorney sends me two endless letters from the opposing lawyers, trying to get our injunction overturned. I fear they may succeed.
I write Himmler for a while from my prison drafting about Marga and her diary. I also print fifty letters to my friends in British Columbia, and invite them to my northern USA talks, and mail them before leaving El Paso.
5:52 p.m to Jessica: "Had a lovely four or five hour drive across the Arizona desert to Tucson this afternoon, listening to Debussy and Ravel on the super satellite radio in the truck. The audiences so far are not big, but that pays for petrol and hotel. I hope you are meshing your gears with other students and lectures and getting involved. I am now on Pacific Coast time. Eight time zones distant from England. I have turned north and now go to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and California this week. My legs are stiff from all the sitting in the driving seat! Lots of love from Daddy."
A very thinly attended meeting here at Tucson. Too late I realized that we rather clash with this evening's televised U.S. Presidential Debate Number Two. I make a loss on the day, if I disregard the exhilarating drive across the Arizona desert.
A veteran History Teacher at a Massachusetts High School has written me:
I have been a WW2 buff since I was in elementary school, and a keen researcher of the who's what's where's and why's of Germany's expansion and ultimate destruction. Fast forwarding to this era, our school teaches a Holocaust class. I mentioned David Irving to the teacher, and he responded with a measure of disdain and hint of vitriol that caught me off guard. Shortly after, I purchased the three book compilation, Hitlers War, read it quickly, and reported to the history teacher that it was very erudite and relied heavily on primary sources--many unpublished to date. I was dismissed with a hand wave.Now...it is ten years later, and I have just finished my second read of the same text. I am quite perplexed at the brickbats, literally and figuratively, that have been tossed your way.
The intervening ten years have expanded my research, and I have some ideas as to why there has been such a negative reaction to this work. (the single sentence dedicated to the liberation of Auschwitz has to be the big one...) But the vividness of the writing, the humanization of the subject are quite gripping. And therein lies the likely problem. A tale that tells more than a modicum of truth bucking the wave of global demonization and semi slanderous versions of what history is....would be considered dangerous by those who value an opinion over truth.
11:22 p.m I send the above letter to Jessica: "I thought you'd be proud to read this kind of letter, which I now often get. Just in case you wonder..."
I reply to him with a broad hint: "May I say what would most please me: if you or some other teachers would say, "Mr Irving, would you like to come one day or evening to talk to my history classes? After all you personally knew Hitler's private staff and interviewed them at length." I would come like a shot. I shall probably be in New England this spring. At present only one university, in Denver, dares invite me to come and talk to their classes, twice a year, which I am happy to do without fee."
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tucson - Phoeix - Glendale, ArizonaJESSICA reports from western England: "Hi, sorry for the silence on my end. I've been obscenely busy. I'm still really all over the place!"
Also look at this assignment I've been set [she continues]. I'm totally over my depth with world politics help. I have no idea how to even write this kind of essay let alone structure it and coherently argue it! I've ordered a few books on international relations which I plan to get stuck into today but there's just NO time.Today I don't have any lectures so I'm doing a kickboxing class (to keep fit, I'm getting so chubby here) and then after I have to take part in a psychological experiment (it's compulsory for experimental psychology students to take part in at least 4 hours worth of these, any hours after that are paid 10 pounds an hour). Dinner here is at 5.30. If you thought psychology here would be a mickey mouse degree you'd be extremely surprised, it's VERY neuro-sciency and quantitative. I'm doing a module this term on statistics which is so so so boring.
I reply: "Statistics are fun. I can help you with that too. More later. Just got up, very glad to hear you're getting stuck in. How are the boys? Any WAMPAN's? White Aristocrat Millionaires Princes and Nonsmokers?" -- I should have added, Avoid paunchy Australians no matter how seemingly wealthy. Wealth is no subsitute for character. But then, like most folks I am a hypocrite.
Her essay questions are:
- To what extent is the United States an empire, a hegemon or both?
- How neoliberalised is world politics?
- What are the determinants of success and failure in cases of humanitarian intervention using armed force?
- It is often said that economic sanctions do not work and yet they are used often. Explain this apparent contradiction.
- Who are the winners and the losers from Britain's arms sales?
- What emancipatory opportunities are created by seeing world politics as socially constructed?
- Drawing on historical materialist theory, explain how states and transnational capitalism relate to each other.
- Drawing on liberal IR theory, discuss the extent to which there is an international society.
- Does the invasion of Iraq in 2003 vindicate realism?
- Are environmental problems taken sufficiently seriously in world politics?
In my reply I also comment on these questions: "Weird questions indeed, and written in a kind of civil service gobbledegook with little relationship to the English language that we have learned. Can you risk actually saying so? 'Before tackling this question, I would really like it to have been written in Plain English, using words that real people understand.' That is at the heart of the political problem -- professional politicians using their own jargon (rather as doctors use their own kind of Latin), in order to retain their fateful monopoly on world politics. The Calculated Unintelligibility Syndrome, I could call it.
I add: "I could attempt intelligent answers to questions 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10. And so could you if you had listened to more world news and less Black Rap Crap. The others contain buzz words and meaningless jargon which nullify the question, so tell them so, Jessica! To hell with the score. Neoliberalised, determinants, socially constructed, emancipatory, historical materialist, liberal IR: what on earth do these words and phrases mean to us real people?"
She replies 9:12 a.m: "He tried to teach us what neoliberal meant but I zoned out. Historical materialism is another way of saying Marxist theory. My new buzzwords I've picked up are 'unilateral hawks' and 'pragmatic multilaterals' (who knows what they mean?)."
9:14 a.m "I think you should stand up to him and ask why they use this jargon-speak instead of commonly available language used by normal people."
P.S. a few minutes later "I liked the phrase zoned out. Very descriptive."
Holocaust-denier David Irving to visit Portland, OR on Nov.3- Anti-fascists Will Confront Event 10/15/2012: David Irving, Holocaust-denier and neo-fascist, is coming to Portland, OR on Saturday, November 3rd, giving a speech at a presently-unknown location. According to Irving's website, this event is scheduled for 3PM. Portland anti- racists are determined to locate, confront and if possible shut down this event. Rose City Antifascists ask that local anti-racists organize now in preparation for Irving's visit, which is only weeks away. Please keep the date free and be ready to respond at short notice.Hugo reports on Himmler letters he has found in the German archives for me -
written in November 1944 and January 1945 and signed, not with a name but with a large asterisk as follows: 'Bleib gesund und [word illegible] nicht. Deine *'. One written in January 1945 ends: 'Vergiß mich nicht wieder! Ich halte den Daumen. Deine * ' Do you know if they are letters from [Hedwig] Potthast to Himmler?I reply: "Normally Himmler signed his letters to Potthast -- like the one I attach -- with a large runic *." I add: "Just on the road going into Phoenix, hope we have no violence tonight. Need Jae, she saved me before."
I add: "THIS was Jae at our Phoenix talk last time, photographed by the enemy. She went out to photograph them! Unable to force their way in, they slashed the tyres of the cars parked outside."
I set out from Tucson at 1:30 p.m. On the road, the "disabled" applicant Johnston phones again asking for tonight's Phoenix location, "even if only approximately"(!). Not very bright. When I point out that he could have registered properly at any time these last few months, and he has yet to do so, he says he does not want to lose money.
I say we will make a refund if he cannot attend for reasons of his "disability". He pleads for the location or area, and again I say he must register first. "I am sure you will understand our security concerns." He does not register, so he is evidently their mole. Their only one?
The Massachusetts history teacher has replied. "Hello Mr. Irving,
I have broached the subject at school today, and received quite polarized responses. The second in command of the History Department is quite open minded and intrigued, and compared the pervasive brick batting of your work with the widespread violence in response to the YouTube video of Mohammed across the Muslim world . . . I.e. no one has seen it but are very upset. I thought this to be quite apropos.I feel that a visit would be overwhelming for our small performing arts charter school, but . . . I am still going to broach it with the department chair, an admitted non fan of your work, although I have come very close to getting him to admit that he has read none of your works.
A quick perusal of the Wikipedia page devoted to you is somewhat ingenuous, and sometimes borders on calumny. The portion devoted to 'Holocaust denial' is definitely the portion that will blind many to the research that you have done, and the primary sources you have at your disposal. Be that as it may, this is part of the legacy that taints many before they have even turned a single page.
For many, the primary source education on the 1933-1945 period rely on few sources. Albert Speer and William Shirer (an insider and a journalist) and Trevor-Roper and Joachim Fest. I again have to say that there are so many tidbits you have unearthed that bring a richness to the tale, which again probably rubs many the wrong way-those who only wish to see a condemnation of evil, not a studied objective view that leaves the reader the right to decide what actually was happening. And that is the job of a good historian.
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