U. S. historian vs. British denier — London case could put the Holocaust itself on trial

Jewish Sentinel
28 October 1999

Manhattan Jewish Sentinel

New York, Oct 29 – Nov 4, 1999

The fight against Holocaust deniers is nearly as old as the Shoah itself, but, come January 2000 the biggest battle ever will begin, one whose outcome will echo long after the perpetrators and survivors are no longer around.

The book’s publication in England was the moment Irving was waiting for. Considered a brilliant media manipulator, he knew that his best chance for a successful lawsuit was in Britain, where the laws of libel–unlike those in the U.S. protect the defamed and place the burden of proof on the writer to show the veracity of his or her statements.

Even the language used by the deniers is faulty, says Lipstadt. She prefers “denier,” a term which as a result of her work has replaced at the denier’s use of “revisionist”, a legitimate historical stance. As Lipstadt points out in her book the deniers don’t revise they deny.

But perhaps the most

of all is Irving, the British military historian who has published 22 books since 1965, though many eminent reviewers of his works have dismissed his methods and conclusions, specifically those in the 900-page

“I don’t know whether [Irving] believes in what he says,” said Yad Vashem’s Bauer. “As far as he’s concerned, I think he’s convinced himself, and this of course makes him more

. He’s convinced himself that what he’s saying is the truth and therefore he has also the power to convince others.”

Wiesenthal Center

, said that what marks this trial is that the stakes are much higher because of who Irving is and because of the charges. “This is not a perpetrator saying it didn’t happen, nor a survivor saying it did happen. These are… historians, the people who deal with the events rather than the people who lived through the events. This is the beginning of the future. It would not be surprising if such cases don’t happen again and again.”

But perhaps the most dangerous of all is Irving, the British military historian who has published 22 books since 1965, though many eminent reviewers of his works have dismissed his methods and conclusions, specifically those in the 900-page Hitler’s War (1977).

“I don’t know whether [Irving] believes in what he says,” said Yad Vashem’s Bauer. “As far as he’s concerned, I think he’s convinced himself, and this of course makes him more dangerous. He’s convinced himself that what he’s saying is the truth and therefore he has also the power to convince others.”

“They say the documents are made up — do you know how hard it is to forge these documents? Let’s say you’re in one of the [Nazi] Einsatzgruppen.

You’re sending back reports saying, ‘We need more blankets, we need more ammunition, we need more guns,’… And you’re also typing up reports on the number of people killed — it’s all being done on the same typewriter.“You can’t suddenly have so many people sitting in Washington on an IBM Selectric [fabricating records and saying] ‘let’s feed it in.’ Everything has a consecutive number, file numbers.

And you have [the same] documents in six different places — what, [they] fed it into six different places? The whole thing is so fantastic, so beyond belief.“Some people obviously have deluded themselves into thinking that what the deniers are saying is true, but those deniers at the heart of the fight know they are twisting the truth. All of them to one degree or another have to be anti-Semites.

Some like notoriety, some are lovers of Third Reich Germany, some are at Adolf Hitler wanabes, and some are neo-Nazis.”

Zuroff of the Wiesenthal Center, said that what marks this trial is that the stakes are much higher because of who Irving is and because of the charges. “This is not a perpetrator saying it didn’t happen, nor a survivor saying it did happen. These are… historians, the people who deal with the events rather than the people who lived through the events. This is the beginning of the future. It would not be surprising if such cases don’t happen again and again.”