London, Thursday, December 30, 1999, 2:01 AM Dear Sirs Prof. Lipstadt I have now commenced re-reading the Evans
report, which is truly magisterial in its sweep and
dive, and I trust you will not object if I ask you
to pass these comments and queries on to your
witness: 1. Can I take it that his assistants
Wachsmann and Skelton-Robinson were
both fully instructed in the implied undertaking as
ordered by Master Trench particularly with
respect to the diaries? Please confirm that this is
so. 2. Will Professor Evans please be precise as to
where I (page 16 at 1.5.8; and page 17 at 1.5.11)
"on various occasions" "claimed" there was "a chain
of documents [which] proved Hitler's
ignorance" etc., with particular regard to the
specificity of the wording he uses. 3. Please confirm that source note 6 on page 30
should actually read Hitler's
War (Avon Books, New York, 1990; Focal Point,
London, 1991), pages 6-7 and not as at present. 4. In regard to his remark in lines 1-2 of page
30 at 2.3.3 can Evans please check this page on my
Website: http://www.fpp.co.uk/reviews/HaywardonHW.html
and satisfy himself that am right? (I shall put
this to him.) 5. In regard to his quotation of my Introduction
on page 30 at 2.3.4, will Prof. Evans state if any
other historians bothered to find, transcribe and
use the Himmler
telephone notes and pocket diaries before I
published the extracts in 1977? (I shall put this
to him). 6. With regard to his reliance on evidence
obtained before and at war crimes trials, is Prof.
Evans familiar with the findings of the Simpson
Commission of Inquiry re US Army interrogation
methods, which led to the quashing of sentences
based on evidence obtained by such methods? 7. Will Professor Evans please be precise as to
where I (page 36 at 2.4.3) stated that I rejected
"all 'post-war oral trial evidence'", with
particular regard to the specificity of the wording
he uses. He has provided no source.  8.
Will Professor Evans please be precise as to where
I (page 42 at 2.5.4) identify "our traditional
enemies" either exclusively, or indeed at all, as
the "Jewish community" (your witness does not
mention any other communities), with particular
regard to the specificity of the wording he uses.
He has provided no source.
9. Incidentally the point he makes on page 48 at
2.5.14 [about my book
Accident]
was very ably made by A J P Taylor, and I
concede that there is some force in that
argument. 10. Will Professor Evans please be precise as to
where I (page 49 at 2.5.17) relied on the
manuscript diary which I "clums[il]y"
misread? The reference is no doubt to the diary of
the Governor of Gibraltar. He has provided no
source. 11. Dealing with the late Professor
Broszat's critique of my works (page 50 at
2.5.20, passim): is Professor Evans not aware of
the profoundly personal origins of the hostility,
involving [...]? I do not however propose
to air these in public. 12. Dealing with Sydnor's critique of my
works (page 53 at 2.5.23): Is Professor Evans not
aware of my lengthy reply to Sydnor, published in a
later issue of the same journal? 13. Dealing with Lukács's
unprincipled critique
of my works (page 59 at 2.5.32): Is Professor Evans
not aware of item 108 of my Discovery, August 17,
1944: General Jacob Devers to Generals
George C Marshall and Dwight D
Eisenhower, signal reporting that 40 percent of
prisoners taken in S France so far are
Russians? These Requests for Information are offered in
the same spirit of co-operation that no doubt
motivated your own such list. Yours sincerely, David Irving - Davenport Lyons
- • attention: Mr Mark Bateman
•
- 1 Old Burlington Street
- London W1X 2NL
| 
Evans,
author of the book In Defence of History.
Charged with the mission of destroying Mr Irving's
legitimacy as an historian, Evans has submitted a
740-page expert report, accompanied by sixteen
ring-binders of documents, mostly extracted from
the files voluntarily provided by Mr Irving under
the process known as Discovery. The report is less
impressive than it might seem, judged purely by its
length and weight. A few days before the trial
begins, Mr Irving invites the professor to answer
some queries, based on the first fifty
pages.