October 31, 2000
A
Halloween re-enactment where the dread is
real JOHN
DOYLE NOVA: Holocaust on
Trial (PBS, 9 p.m.) is an account of
the libel
trial brought
by the English historian and Holocaust
denier, David Irving, against an
American academic and her publisher. For
three months last year, Irving,
representing himself, sought to prove that
Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books
had set out to ruin his reputation and
livelihood. Under British law, it was up to the
writer and her publisher to show that what
was published about Irving was true. They
had to show that Irving had deliberately
manipulated historical evidence to bolster
his dangerous claim that no Jews were
killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
What we see, for much of the program, is a
chilling re-enactment of the trial. Irving emerges as insanely provocative
from the beginning, claiming that to be
labelled a Holocaust denier is to be
tainted by "a verbal yellow star." Acting
for Lipsadt and Penguin, the defence team
had access to his private diaries and
there is one horrifying scene in which a
lawyer reads from them about Irving's own
joy in teaching his little daughter a
racist rhyme. These key moments in the trial are
interspersed with film footage and photos
to prove the very thing Irving denies. As
much as there is pleasure to be had in the
cross-examination of Irving that
demolishes his absurd claims, the true
pleasure comes at the end. Both sides elected not to have a trial
by jury and it is the words of Judge
Charles Gray that finally nail Irving,
denying his libel claim. "He is an active
Holocaust denier. He is anti-Semitic and
racist and he associates with right-wing
extremists who promote new
Nazism." As part
of Holocaust Education Week in Canada,
which ends Nov. 9, Dr. Lipstadt lectured
in Toronto on the weekend on Denying the
Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth
and Memory. Website note: - David
Irving writes:
-
- MANY PEOPLE
have pointed out to us that the Nova
version of the 4BM film The
Holocaust on Trial, as shown on PBS
television in North America, was only
50 minutes long, compared with the full
length of 90 minutes as shown in on UK
Television (Channel 4) and at David
Irving's Real History Cincinnati
2000
conference. Guess whose voice was in
the forty minutes that were cut? This
is the only way that the traditional
enemies of the truth can win their
argument. But not for
long....
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