Literary Sampler: Essays, Book Reviews, and More...
Monthly Column by Charity Gingerich

Author’s note: Considering the Revelation times in which we live (the conflicts in the Middle East as well as around the world), it seems necessary to be reminded that some historical events, such as the Holocaust, are facing increased skepticism.

In her book, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory Deborah Lipstadt undertakes a daunting task not only in exposing Holocaust deniers for who and what they are, but also what must have been, particularly from a historian’s perspective, a somewhat demeaning and discouraging task as well. Having to acknowledge that there is a force out there strong enough to cast even the minutest shadow of doubt on the historical facts of the Holocaust must have indeed been a bitter pill to swallow. To acknowledge this and go about writing a book of this scope with the niggling fear of giving Holocaust deniers any satisfaction of being considered “the other side” of a debate that does not exist must also have been something akin to walking a tightrope. As Lipstadt says, “this has been a difficult project because at times I have felt compelled to prove something [the Holocaust] I knew to be true. I had constantly to avoid being inadvertently sucked into a debate that is no debate and an argument that is no argument. It has been a disconcerting, and at times, painful task […]” (xix-xx). For Lipstadt, this book is not some attempt at self-exoneration on her own behalf or for others who believe and know that the Holocaust occurred. Instead it is a strong warning against those who say it did not happen and of how they are attempting to make inroads into academic circles, mainstream media, and a general public dangerously susceptible to falsehoods.

The purpose for writing this documentary on Holocaust denial was not to give any sort of credibility to the “arguments” of the deniers through some sort of dialogue with them, for, as Lipstadt points out:

to expect rational dialogue to constitute the sole barriers against the attempts to deny the Nazi annihilation of European Jewry would be to ignore one of the ultimate lessons of the event itself: Reasoned dialogue has a limited ability to withstand an assault by the mythic power of falsehood, especially when that falsehood is rooted in an age-old social and cultural phenomenon (25).

Instead, it seems to have been her goal to address the general public by presenting in as clear a fashion as possible both the origins of Holocaust denier’s arguments and the arguments themselves. Lipstadt traces the fodder behind these arguments in a chronological way (though at the outset of the book she does give a present day snapshot of what is happening on college campuses), beginning with the birth of the revisionist historical tradition in the 1920’s (32). She then leads us gradually into the present fray, pointing out the different “phases” of Holocaust denial as well as the fact that this is a phenomenon that “has increased in scope and intensity since the mid-1970s (17). All this to ensure that “ordinary folks” like me can pick up this book and be informed of the true nature of Holocaust deniers and be on the lookout for any traces of their harmful influence wherever I might find them.

One of the most important aspects of this book as a whole is that it sets up a clear and recognizable pattern of how Holocaust deniers have gone about trying to disclaim or explain away the Nazi atrocities carried out before and during WWII. Some of the most common themes are not unfamiliar but are accurately labeled as “traditional anti-Semitic imagery” (63), imagery we would not be surprised to find in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, but whose presence is shocking when it attempts to take on the appearance of scholarly argument. The Jews are essentially blamed for everything that the Germans did. They were the ones who instigated the war and the Germans were merely doing what “any nation” would have done in self-defense. The Jew is and was accused also of using the media as a “primary instrument […]” of wielding his power. Not only this, “The media [has] to help Jews because they [are] dominated by them [!]” (63). The Jew’s ultimate goal is and has been to “render Germany a ‘cash cow’ for Israel and its supporters [after which] they could turn to their larger and more monstrous objective: control of world finances” (64). Indeed, much of the most common themes have a ludicrous ring to them and sound very much like propaganda from the Nazis themselves. The reader can only conclude that even after the war was over and Germany had been defeated, Nazism and anti-Semitism remained very much alive.

Other themes that Denying the Holocaust brings forth are attempts made by Holocaust deniers to equalize the Nazi atrocities with other crimes committed – the Allied nations being a favorite target. In the earlier stages of denial, deniers tried to show that even if the Nazis committed terrible crimes against the Jews, they were not alone in committing such crimes and therefore it was not fair that they should be singled out for special punishment -- hence a dabbling in “immoral equivalences” (90). Along with this is the tactic of trying to shrink the numbers of Jews killed (six million, an estimation based on data gathered to date),  to a much smaller number, though proof of these numbers are either not offered or numbers are deliberately misquoted from other sources. (106). Even when faced with irrefutable evidence and hard facts of the atrocities of Auschwitz as well as confessions of Nazis on trial at Nuremberg, deniers do not shrink back from refuting these facts outright or from attempting to explain them away. In fact, as Lipstadt takes pains to point out not once but many times throughout the book, the key trait of Holocaust deniers is that they “consistently ignore existing evidence that
contradic[t] their claims” (135).

Another disturbing fact that Lipstadt drives home is this: no longer are deniers of the Holocaust only typical racists (i.e., neo-Nazis), there are even “respected scholars” (such as Ernst Nolte) who are joining the bandwagon. That Holocaust deniers have and are actually being recognized in some places – such as college campuses -- as being legitimate historical revisionists is nothing short of amazing. It is frightening and difficult to believe that the privileges of the First Amendment could be so abused.

The style of this book is mostly monographic in that it deals with a vast amount of facts in a rather cut-and-dried scholarly way. However, since the definition of a monograph is “a scholarly written study of a single subject,” (Askoxford.com) holding this book to this single, exclusive definition is rather too restrictive, since it is difficult to think of the contents of this book as a “single subject.” It is in fact this style, rather repetitive and lacking cohesion, that makes this a tedious read. However, keep in mind that one can hardly expect to be entertained with such a subject at hand.

Lipstadt’s credibility for tackling this subject is well-grounded. She has served as historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and was twice appointed by President Clinton to serve on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Further, “Dr. Lipstadt has been called upon by members of the United States Congress to consult on political responses to Holocaust denial” (Emory University para 3). Other books published by Lipstadt are History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving and Beyond Belief: the American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust.
 

Works Cited
    Askoxford.com. Oxford University Press. 24 Nov. 2004 <http:askoxford.com>.
     Emory University. 29 April 2005 <http:www.emory.edu>.

About the Author: Charity graduated from Kent State University with a BA in English, as well as minors in writing and history in 2006. This fall (2008) she will be entering the MFA in Creative Writing program at West Virginia University where she will be specializing in poetry. Charity always welcomes any questions/suggestions about this column. Click Here to send her an email.