Holocaust denier goes bankrupt, but won't give up on latest lawsuit

By Simon Carroll
Jewish Telegraph Agency

LONDON, March 5 (JTA) -- The man who is arguably the world's most famous Holocaust denier has been declared bankrupt.

But David Irving is pressing ahead with his fight to "revise" history.

In a highly publicized case in London in 2000, Irving lost his lawsuit against Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books, who had accused him of being a Holocaust denier.

In what was a crushing defeat for Irving, Britain's High Court ruled in April 2000 that he was a racist who had deliberately misrepresented and distorted historical evidence about the Holocaust. The court found that Irving had portrayed Hitler in a favorable light for ideological reasons.

David Irving comments: INTERESTING spin in this article: it might have been written by that new Pentagon office for spreading disinformation -- except it has been dissolved, uh, hasn't it? (That's what the Pentagon told us anyway.)    The Observer is published by Guardian Newspapers Ltd, co-defendant in my action against Sereny. There are several major libels in the article which this "shrivelled little prune" wrote which are completely different from those penned by Lipstadt, as the defendants well know.   Mark Bateman (rear left, behind scholar Deborah Lipstadt): "I can't see how we won't get his house."

Irving was ordered at the time to pay Lipstadt's legal costs, estimated at nearly $3 million. The ruling ruined him financially.

Irving, based in London, was served with bankruptcy proceedings in January when he came back from the United States. He indicated he had no chance of paying the sums involved.

His defeat in the Lipstadt lawsuit has not deterred the disgraced historian from pursuing his libel action against the writer Gitta Sereny and The Observer newspaper, even though that case hinges on many of the same issues. The law allows bankrupt individuals to sue for libel and they can keep any money awarded from such lawsuits.

Now it's expected that Penguin Books, which hired lawyers to defend against Irving's long-running libel action, will try to seize Irving's property.

Eighteen months ago, his apartment in central London was estimated to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.

But the house, which Irving, 63, shares with his partner, Bente, and their 7-year-old daughter, Jessica, reportedly has had no fewer than five simultaneous mortgages on it.

Soon after he lost the libel action, Irving was quoted in The Guardian newspaper as saying: "Undoubtedly they will come for their pound of flesh, but will find I'm made of British beef. I've always suspected they were into money and gold, with a capital G."

Mark Bateman, a lawyer for Penguin Books, said at the time:

"He knew what the consequences would be -- professional and financial ruin -- and he bought that on himself. He doesn't deserve an element of compassion. I can't see how we won't get his house."

Irving said benefactors had donated hundreds of thousands to a fund backing him.

Bateman had said the backers could also be pursued, if they exist.

"If they were considered to be maintaining the legal action, then we could go after them. But I reckon he's been given small amounts by fruitcakes."

© JTA.

Now read the odious story printed by the deathwith press, aka The Guardian, who also face action by Mr Irving; and spot the similarities.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2002

Holocaust denier made bankrupt

by Vikram Dodd and Don Guttenplan
The Guardian

The pro-Nazi author David Irving was yesterday declared bankrupt after failing to pay £150,000 in costs after his disastrous libel action against charges that he was a Holocaust denier. Irving now faces losing his home, a flat in Mayfair, central London, estimated to be worth £900,000.

In 2000 the high court found he had falsified history to exonerate Adolf Hitler, driven by anti-semitism and his own pro-Nazi views.

David Irving responds to author Don Guttenplan: "How much of that loathsome article was by you and how much by Dodd? Writing with a shared byline has obvious dangers. Dodd appears to have an unhealthy obsession with 'Nazis', a word he uses as a synonym for Germans. E.g. "One is believed to be a former Nazi U-boat captain."    You knew that that submarine officer (not captain) was dead, which makes the whole sentence particularly stupid; so I assume Dodd is the author and he merely used your name to add credibility. Otherwise I would not have any further dealings with you, I am afraid, which I am sure would not surprise you.    As for the hearing (and our coming appeal), we offered to pay Penguin the £150,000 in full over four years, not six years as you (or Dodd) wrote, and we gave the fullest security meanwhile.    There was no talk of full and final settlement. It was a reasonable offer. As for what next, they had first to get their bill taxed. We fully expected it would then shrink to nothing, for obvious reasons, or substantially less than £150,000.    I was not in financial trouble, and there are not "five mortgages"; I would be the second to know if there were, and no doubt the mortgage bank would be the first!    Where do these silly stories come from! And where did you or Dodd get the silly statement, "Irving would not comment yesterday"? You made no attempt whatever to contact me for comment, so far as I am aware."

He had sued Penguin books and the author Deborah Lipstadt over her book which said Irving had persistently and deliberately misinterpreted and twisted historical evidence to minimise Hitler's culpability for the Holocaust.

Penguin incurred costs of £2m for lawyers and experts they hired to defend the claim and in May 2000 Irving was ordered to pay an interim amount of £150,000.

Yesterday after a 20 minute hearing the publishing firm was granted a bankruptcy petition against Irving who had failed to pay a penny. A trustee in bankruptcy will be appointed and a meeting of Irving's creditors will be held.

His Mayfair flat is believed to be his prime asset. It has been his home for over 30 years. He shares it with his partner Bente and their eight-year-old daughter Jessica. Irving unsuccessfully appealed against the judgment by Mr Justice Charles Gray which stripped the author of the last shreds of credibility.

Mark Bateman, a solicitor for Penguin, said: "Our client has been very patient but Irving was clearly not going to meet the interim payment which is a fraction of their total costs.

"The costs, consequences of his failing with his libel action, have long been clear. It's another step from what happened in court in 2000. He was aware that we were incurring the costs at a high rate and he continued.

"Penguin have been incredibly patient in waiting for the money to be paid, they're certainly not on a witch hunt."

Mr Bateman said it was unlikely that Irving's financial backers would be pursued. One is believed to be a former Nazi U-boat captain.

Irving had made two offers to settle the interim costs order, both of which were rejected by Penguin.

He had offered to pay by instalments over six years, and also claimed that a supporter would pay the £150,000 on his behalf if Penguin accepted that as full and final settlement.

It is thought that there will be other claims on Irving's assets other than from Penguin. At the time of his libel action Irving was in financial trouble having taken out five mortgages on his Mayfair flat, according to land registry records.

Irving sued Lipstadt over passages in her book Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. Irving sought to challenge Lipstadt's description of him as a man prepared to bend historical evidence "until it conforms with his ideological leanings and political agenda."

He also sought to challenge the historical legitimacy of the Holocaust itself, claiming there was reason to doubt large numbers of Jews were deliberately murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz and other death camps. He had doubted the existence of gas chambers and at one stage addressed the libel case judge as "mein Fuhrer". Irving would not comment yesterday, but speaking about the prospect of being pursued for costs after the failure of his libel action, he said: "Undoubtedly they will come for their pound of flesh, but will find I'm made of British beef."

It is believed that he will appeal against the granting of the bankruptcy petition.

Secret document in Lipstadt's files from Canadian Jewish body ("don't let this fall into the wrong hands") revealed their long-term conspiracy to destroy what they called Mr Irving's "legitimacy" and credibility