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[see David Irving's answer's below]
I HAVE a few questions I've written down concerning your book and the Holocaust, and I'll probably think up a few more as I'm reading and writing.....I hope you don't mind answering them, obviously you don't have to write that much, just a few ideas will do.
1. Do you relate your theories at all to those of Maurice Bardeche, eg. Jews in the war only died through war-realted illnesses, the 'final solution' referred only to the transfer of Jews to ghettos, evidence has been falsified and so on...
2. Have you any theories on why Jews have always been used as the 'scapegoats' throughout history, from their captivity in Babylon in the 6th century BC to the Spanish Inquisition?
3. Some revisionists have said that the conditions in concentration camps were luxurious. Do you agree with this?
4. You say that Hitler had no intention to annihilate the Jews, but he said in his Sept 1942 speech: 'At one time the Jews of Germany laughed about my prophecies....they will stop laughing everywhere'. How do you explain this?
5. Do you believe in the existence of the Holocaust?
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Emma
Svanberg
Newcastle
David Irving
answers:
1. Never heard of Bardeche, but I am very interested in the epidemics aspect. The Polish Underground deliberately seeded typhus in Nazi military HQs and I suspect, from certain evidence in the PRO, that the British actively abetted them in this "dirty war". Have a look at these URLs on my Website (sorry, but this is one reason why I have built the Website!): [1] and in general [2]
2. I tackled Goldhagen in November last year about this point, roughly the "Jews had it coming to them" calumny. See my published diary.
3. Luxurious is a word that will not give you much mileage except from the hard-boiled and incorrigible revisionist. If you are looking for evidence along that lane however, I would say from memory that
- a number of British MPs visited Dachau just before the war and were impressed
- Field Marshal Milch, General Udet and other inquisitive Luftwaffe generals also visited Dachau pre-war and were impressed
- the private papers of MI6 agent S Payne Best, now in Hoover Library, contain a post-war letter to fellow MI6 agent Stevens (captured together with him by the Gestapo in the famous 1939 Venlo Incident) rebuking Stevens for having cashed in on the post-war wave of hatred and described Dachau in less than glowing terms in his memoirs, when, as Payne Best reminded Stevens, in fact both had been pleasantly relieved by the excellent treatment they and fellow prisoners were accorded there during the war. In the last months of the war of course there was an appalling deterioration in conditions, leading to a skyrocketing death rate. Have a look at the Dachau death-rate graph you will see printed in various places: it continued to soar after VE-day!
So much for Dachau. Can't say much about the other camps. They were not supposed to be rest-centres, but punitive internment camps. I expect that in terms of luxury, to use your word, Nazi concentration camps fall somewhere below the current Israeli camps for Palestinians, and somewhere above our own H Block in Northern Ireland!
4. Hitler repeated his January 30, 1939 statement to that effect on at least five occasions, including November 8, 1942 (I believe). When you come to my study here in central London, which I hope you will, I will show you the Völkischer Beobachter front page framed (on my wall) reporting his Jan 30, 1939 speech. Its headline (I am looking at it now) reads (in red:) Der Führer vor dem ersten Reichstag Grossdeutschlands. And main headlines in black: Eine der größten Reden Adolf Hitlers. Prophetische Warnung an das Judentum.
Now that is an odd phrasing to roll around your tongue! The words you quote are not in my expert view, alone, enough to prove he knew of any liquidation programme. See for instance these two items: [1] and [2] and, just posted yesterday [3].
These are the items you will not read much about in the "orthodox" literature; but they are genuine internal Third Reich documents, and cannot just be laughed away.
Having said all this, Emma, let me warn you not to be one-sided in your presentation. Every case in history has two or more sides to be heard, and your superiors will clout you if you do not recognise this. I certainly do...
Keep in touch, and do not hesitate to phone if you want to expand on these queries.
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