WAY OF THE WORLD
by AUBERON WAUGH
History
notes
IF I were head of the Secret
Intelligence Service -- and Sir
Colin McColl's job will be up
for grabs in September -- I should
volunteer to monitor the global spread
of Aids. The British Tourist Authority
reports that North American visitors
are now flocking back to Britain,
having recovered from their terror of
the Gulf war, which was widely thought
to be nearby. No doubt they are also
fleeing the violence in their own
country.
The consequences for Britain's
health -- particularly in the field of
Aids -- are unimaginable. Obviously, I
would not suggest that M16 should start
another little war somewhere -- let
alone sabotage an American airliner --
to encourage Americans to stay at home.
Either course of action would be
immoral. But they might point out that
Yugoslavia, currently suffering a
particularly horrible civil war, is
really very close indeed. Many
Americans are easily mistaken for Serbs
or Croats.
It may seem inhospitable to
discourage bona fide tourists in this
way, but they can have a terrible
influence. Ever since the end of the
war, it never occurred to me to query
the fact that there were gas chambers
in Auschwitz.
Although I had never been there or seen
them, everybody -- including the
political leaders of all the countries
in the world -- said they were there,
and I had no reason to doubt it.
Now I read that a German court has
fined David Irving, the
eccentric British historian, the sum of
£3400 for querying this
established fact. Similar laws against
querying it exist in France and
Austria.
Obviously, it does not influence the
truth or falsehood of the original
proposition by one jot that various
governments are prepared to impose
criminal sanctions against anyone who
questions or denies it. But I cannot
help asking myself what sort of truth
it is that requires these sanctions.
Mr. Irving's suggestion is that there
were no gas chambers in Auschwitz under
the German dispensation, but they were
added later as a tourist attraction. I
expect he is wrong, but I not think
that criminal prosecution is any sort
of way to win a historical argument.
Tourists undoubtedly have strange
tastes, after all, and host countries
seem prepared to go to almost any
lengths to keep them amused. Look at
France and Euro Disney.
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