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Ah yes, book signings in New York. I recall one day in 1977 when I attended the headquarters building of The Viking Press in Madison Avenue, New York, to present my book Hitler's War to several hundred assembled sales representatives of that media giant. (The book became a best-seller, but mysteriously lost the contracts for The Reader's Digest and later paperback publication). As I was about to go on stage, the sales director drew me aside and whispered: "Mr Irving, we are going to have a rather delicate problem with your biography. You may be able to help us with an answer to the following question. Are you Jewish?" Only years later, as the vicious ADL and international Jewish campaign unrolled against me for writing Real History, in Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, and -- as they regained position -- in Germany, did I realise the significance of this half-forgotten question. Mr Guttenplan is also Jewish, but a well motivated and sincere writer who has made an honest attempt with his book and articles to get to the truth about the trial as he sees it. He does not always suceed, but it is the best of the bunch, as we have said before. Don Guttenplan in New York City by Jim Russell
Guttenplan shocked many in the audience with his concessions that no Jews were gassed at Dachau, that the soap and lamp-shade sagas were false, that the tale of the King of Denmark wearing a Star of David originated in the fertile imagination of Leon Uris, and that all of the internment facilities where lethal gassing supposedly occurred were coincidentally located in territories occupied by the Soviet Union at the conclusion of the war. Speculating on why there had been so little prior coverage of David Irving's suit which had been filed in 1996, Guttenplan suggested that some journalists were "afraid that Irving was right" and didn't want to be the ones to break such ominous news. Guttenplan admits that he himself wondered for a while "if this is a hoax." Guttenplan related that he became convinced of the authenticity of the extermination allegation by an emotional response to Irving's alleged implication that after the war, "capitalist Jews fled to the US, while Communist Jews fled to the USSR." This view, [wrongly] attributed by Guttenplan to Irving, convinced Guttenplan that Irving felt that "Jews are not human beings." However, Guttenplan was quick to affirm that he did not rely merely upon emotional intuition to arrive at his conclusion. There was "abundant evidence" to prove the extermination allegation. "Survivor" testimony was not included in the trial, apparently due to Irving's objections to its reliability and the defense's noble assertion that the survivors had "suffered enough." Guttenplan bases his belief on some documents "discovered" by Soviet troops in an Auschwitz construction office for evidence and concedes that those who don't trust the Soviets may not accept the authenticity of these documents.
A member of the audience asked Guttenplan precisely what information Irving had been found to have distorted. At first Guttenplan replied that it would take too long to answer this question and that he would talk to the person after the discussion. Then Guttenplan said that Irving had added an additional "0" to a report of 20,000 deaths (for collateral damage there, see image left) in the bombing of Dresden, bringing the total to 200,000. (How many extra "0's" are there in the 6,000,000 figure?) Another member of the audience wanted to know whether Guttenplan considered Irving to be an "anti-Semite." After some hesitation, Guttenplan replied, "Yes, yes, of course." He qualified this judgment by noting that having lived in Tennessee and having known white racists who would cringe at the thought of contact with a Black, Irving was quite cordial toward Guttenplan and even allowed his young daughter to sit on Guttenplan's lap without objection.
Throughout Europe and even in Canada people are jailed for daring to question the so-called "Holocaust." At this point Guttenplan asked me if I had a question. I answered "Yes," and proceeded, "In such a climate of suppression coordinated by international Jewish organizations, how can any objective historical research be accomplished?" Guttenplan said that he was opposed to laws which provide criminal penalties for challenging the "Holocaust" but "understood" why countries with "special histories" like France and Germany might wish to maintain such laws. As for as the suppression of revisionist literature, Guttenplan briefly responded that "If you go to the physics section of the library you will not find books which assert that the earth is flat." I responded that his analogy was inappropriate, but
Guttenplan ended the discussion at this point. I would have
reminded him of his own documented doubt about the
extermination allegation, which would seem to place its
discussion in a far more legitimate context than the
assertion of a flat earth. It is actually the antiquated
exterminationist position that is more akin to the notion of
a flat earth.
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write to
David Irving | ||
I
HAVE received a report (below) from a correspondent on
Don Guttenplan's presentation of his book The
Holocaust on Trial in a new York bookstore. It is reproduced
below. 
D.
D. GUTTENPLAN, the diminutive, bespectacled and bow-tied
author of "The Holocaust on Trial" conceded Thursday
[May 17, 2001] in New York City that he was a bit
apprehensive at his first book-signing / discussion event.
Despite being on friendly turf, his apprehension became
warranted when J&E participants
[a pro-Kevin
MacDonald grouping] challenged
his remarks at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble
Bookstore.
Guttenplan,
as did defendant Deborah Lipstadt, alleged that
Irving had willfully distorted documents. A J&E
participant reminded Guttenplan that Irving was renowned for
his careful analysis of primary documents that had been
overlooked by other historians. Guttenplan backtracked and
acknowledged Irving's recognition by scholars such as Sir
John Keegan.
I thought that Guttenplan would not solicit my question, but
after the Barnes & Noble hostess announced there could
be just one more question, he pointed in my direction. Since
the bookstore is a huge four-story structure, I stated:
"This is a very large bookstore. There must be over 50,000
volumes for sale and over a hundred volumes on the so-called
"Holocaust" in the section behind us. Yet I challenge you to
find even one original work that is critical of the
extermination allegation. Unless one visits Internet sites
such as 