Rating: 
Summary: protecting the lies
Review: Deborah Lipstadt is best known for her stand against the British neo-Nazi David Irving. Her book, the first full-scale history of Holocaust denial, is essential reading, but it does not always meet the high standards of scholarship which this subject demands.
Lipstadt gives a useful account of the origins of Holocaust denial in Europe and America, explaining how the deniers falsify facts to uphold their antisemitic conspiracy theories. She notes that the same Jews who supposedly forced the world to collaborate in the Holocaust "hoax" were unable to convince even a single country to admit significant numbers of Jewish refugees (p127). Yet Jews are credited with almost supernatural powers in the mental universe of the deniers. They manufacture reports by Nazi death squad commanders describing mass killings, they fabricate official documents from Nazi headquarters ordering further atrocities, they create false recordings of speeches by Nazi leaders glorifying the genocide, all the while planting this evidence in the correct locations to guarantee its discovery by the Allies. Lipstadt mercilessly debunks the absurd notion that without their scheme being discovered or exposed by anyone, the inventors of the "hoax" - working in Western and Eastern zones, with the acquiescence of American, British, French and Soviet officials - somehow managed, in an incredibly short space of time, to produce thousands of documents, all designed to prove that the Nazis intended to annihilate the Jews (p127).
However, Lipstadt has nothing to say about the primary source of Holocaust denial in modern times, namely the racist and fascist dictatorships of the Middle East. A full study of the subject would point out that in today's Arab world, the neo-Nazi rulers of Syria denounce "the myth of the Nazi ovens used for the destruction of the Jews" (Damascus Radio, November 7, 1998); Egypt declares that "claims that such crematoriums existed in the Nazi detention camps are jokes" (Al-Gumhuriya, March 4, 2000); the terrorist Palestinian Authority ridicules "the figure of 6 million Jews" as "a lie for propaganda" (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 13, 2001); while the Saudi apartheid regime mocks the "memory of the 6 million Jews, about whom Israel lies, saying that they were killed in the Nazi crematoriums" (Al-Riyadh, April 10, 2002). Of course, when they are not denying its veracity, these fanatics hasten to applaud the Final Solution, as in the case of Egyptian government, which offers "thanks to Hitler, of blessed memory," for his actions against "the most vile criminals on the face of the earth," namely the Jews, while conceding that "we do have a complaint" against the Fuhrer, in that "his revenge on them was not enough" (Al-Akhbar, April 18, 2001). Such matters pass unnoticed in these pages.
Unfortunately, this omission pales before Lipstadt's egregious errors of fact, manifest in her discussion of other genocides in relation to the Holocaust. She describes the Khmer Rouge bloodbath as "a means of subduing and eliminating those whom Pol Pot imagined had collaborated with the Americans" (p212), apparently unaware that Pol Pot sought to create "a new socialist man" who would renounce individual profit for the sake of "selfless dedication to the collective wellbeing," a goal requiring "the systematic eradication of those persons who embodied or perpetuated the notion of individualism" (Kenneth M. Quinn, "The Pattern and Scope of Violence" in Karl D. Jackson, ed., "Cambodia 1975-1978: Rendezvous With Death," p193). Even more incredible is her suggestion that the slaughter was "part of a brutalizing war that had destroyed much of Cambodia's moral, social and physical infrastructure" (p212), a fiction which is only one step removed from the views of Pol Pot apologists who depict Khmer Rouge atrocities as "the direct and understandable response to the violence of the imperial system" (Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman, "After the Cataclysm," p291).
Lipstadt also informs us that "[w]hereas Stalin's terror was arbitrary, Hitler's was targeted at a particular group" (p212), indicating that she has never heard of Stalin's forced famine in the Ukraine, in which 5 million died (Robert Conquest, "The Harvest of Sorrow"). Equally shocking is her claim that "no citizen of the Soviet Union" assumed that deportation and death were "inevitable consequences of his or her ethnic origins" (p212), an assertion which betrays ignorance of the murderous ethnic cleansing of millions of people from over a dozen national minorities, with hundreds of thousands killed (Robert Conquest, "The Nation-Killers"; Alexander Nekrich, "The Punished Peoples"; Otto Pohl, "Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937-1949"). Then there is her throwaway remark that the charge of Soviet genocide in Afghanistan "barely demands a response" (p213), casually dismissing the communist massacres which left 1.5 million civilians dead and 700,000 maimed by anti-personnel mines (Sylvain Boulouque, "Communism in Afghanistan" in Stephane Courtois, ed., "The Black Book of Communism," pp719, 725). These errors are disappointing.
Other important books on this subject include Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman, "Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It?" Pierre Vidal-Naquet, "Assassins of Memory: Essays on the Denial of the Holocaust" and Richard Evans, "Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust and the David Irving Trial."
Rating: 
Summary: Important book, not to be ignored
Review: I found this book to be an important one. Most people who read about history assume it to be true. It behooves us to question the veracity of facts. There are some who is genuinely interested in the truth and others who wish to change it to suit their philosophy and ends. Richard Evans and Deborah Lipstadt have put forth the topic backed by facts. Of course, if one is not rational, one can always question any views and not accept anything view except what one chooses to believe. It is a fine difference between the rational and the fanatic. One notices that in a number of the reviews of this book and of the trial of David Irving. I feel that while Holocaust should not be treated like religion, one should not ignore it. No one uses it to justify the existence of Israel, however one must use to to justify non-duplication of the errors of the past. A lot of people need to get this. It is surprising that after so many years this topic stirs up so much fervor among people, most of whom are not connected to the holocaust in anyway. I can understand if they are Germans or Jews whose parents/relatives where involved in the Shoah, but so much reaction from the others. It does not seem logical. Mangling history lead to a lot of wrongs in the world and should never be repeated.
Rating: 
Summary: An important book
Review: I recently reread "Denying the Holocaust" after reading "Lying About Hitler" by Richard Evans, who was one of the witnesses for the defense in the libel trial brought by British writer and holocaust denier David Irving against Deborah Lipstadt and her UK publisher Viking Penguin.Lipstadt provides here a valuable, concise, well-documented history of the phenomenon of holocaust denial, which was rooted partly in antisemitism and partly in the original World War I revisionism movement that between the wars attempted to prove that Germany was not responsible for WWI. After World War II, antisemitics, neofascists, and philoGermans gradually came out of the woodwork to peddle their wares cloaked in the guise of revisionist history. They are still active today. The book, which is 9 years old now, could really use an updated edition; it would be interesting to have Lipstadt's reflections on the David Irving trial, recent developments in denial, and, as a few other reviewers here have pointed out, for her to take a critical look at the subject of epidemic holocaust denial in the Arab world. I might add that holocaust denial among Arabs is not just a problem overseas, it unfortunately exists here as well. I work for a publisher that in a merger acquired a book about the holocaust aimed at advanced high school students. The decision was made to backlist the book in spite of the fact that it was at the time only a year old. When I asked why this had happened, I was told that it was to avoid complaints from Arab Americans (the book was eventually transferred to the college book division of our company. I have no idea what they have since done with it). An important book well worth anyone's time.
Rating:
Summary: examine these oddballs who spew out their vicious lies .
Review: Once the psychological insides of these people who are obsessed with publicsizing insanity are examined, that will be enough proof that the Holocaust occurred. Who say's that the Vietnam war never occurred? Who says that other genocides didn't occur. But when it comes to the Holocaust, there is always a bunch of
nuts that have the precise adgenda of horrific anti-semitism. Even Nazi's who were put on trial after the war admitted the Holocaust in horrific detail, even though so many of them couldn't care less. Holocaust denial should be considered a hate
crime in this world just like it is in Germany at the present time. Period!
Rating:
Summary: An impressive defense of the truth with recurring irritation
Review: This book deals with those who attempt to put an academic face on Holocaust denial. The main thrust of the book is that, while everyone is entitled to his or her own view, a view that goes against established historical facts does not constitute "the other side of the story." An allegory as explanation: those who try to mount a scientific defense that the tooth fairy exists are not engaging in an effort to uncover "the other side of the story." One is entitled to believe that said fairy exists, but the evidence strongly suggests (for lack of a better term) otherwise. The one problem I have with the book is the attention Lipstadt draws to Noam Chomsky's assertion that, from a political point of view, it is possible for Holocaust figures to have been exaggerated to serve the end of establishing a secure Israeli state. His summary of this possibility is that to deny otherwise is to suggest that the Israeli state is the first state in history not to have lied to promote its own aims. I believe the fact that most states deceive and lie at some point in their history was the more important point for Chomsky, and not the possibility of inflated Holocaust figures. That aside, the book is a good overview of revisionist history and the solid facts that show Holocaust denial to be a racist fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling expose of a well of falsehood
Review: This book has again been 'in the news' lately with the recent unsuccessful libel action of 'Revisionist' David Irving against the author - with that in mind I took the opportunity to read through it once more, and again I found a well- researched, strongly argued piece which with exquisite precision exposes the activities and motivations of those who would deny the existence of the holocaust, and contend that it is a gigantic fabrication designed to promote the nebulous concept of 'Zionism' ( a sobriquet for Israeli interests) Lipstadt's strength lies in the fact that she knows well the range of holocaust deniers. Men such as Ernst Zundel, A self-styled 'free speech martyr' who once appeared in a Canadian court with his face covered in shoe polish on the grounds that 'only blacks are entitled to freedom of speech' are fairly easily dismissed. Much more insidious are the work of three more 'respectable' revisionists, Arthur Butz, Harry Elmer Barnes and the late Paul Rassinier. Butz is an engineering professor - and thus knows well how to make his work appear cogent to the uninformed. Lipstadt brilliantly exposes his selctive use of evidence and seizure of isolated fragments of allied documents which 'jusify' Nazi actions. Barnes, whose work on destroying the myth of German War Guilt in the First World War is worthy, then decides to pursue a similar task with regard to the Holocaust, and the author again exposes the fallacies of his arguments with considerable cogency. Possibly the only revisionist who comes out only partially tarnished is the so-called 'father' of Holocaust denial - the original 'sinner who cast the first stone in this 'war'. Paul Rassinier is unique in that, unlike every other author, he was there - a French resistance fighter, he spent nearly a year in Buchenwald and as such, Lipstadt's observations on his motives are necessarily less convincing than on those of modern day deniers. That Holocaust denial is a monstrous aberration is not in question - and those that argue that by failing to engage these people in a debate, Lipstadt is somehow conceding credence to their views is laughable. The only thing I would say, is that from the tone of the views expressed previous to this review, there is an unhealthy obsession with keeping the holocaust on a pedestal, a sacred object which is unable to be debated in any degree. What would Lipstadt make of historians who say, postulate only FIVE million dead Jews, or who argue that some countries (Denmark,for example) escaped lightly due in some part to the somewhat lukewarm attitudes of certain German officers. Are those studying the Holocaust made aware of the many non-Jews that died (2 million Soviet Prisoners of War)? - As long as the Holocaust is treated as a uniquely Jewish tragedy, such people as are exposed in these pages will continue to seize on it as a cloak for attitudes which are either anti-semitic or concerned with the rehabilitation of the Nazi vision. That said, this is still a seminal work, and vital reference for educators and students of the Holocaust alike. I am informed, that in the wake of the Irving libel a New edition is planned - I would recommend purchase to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but read another book.
Review: This book is good, but one should really read another boook titled 'Denying History'. That book is a more thorough refutation on the Holocaust deniers.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but read another book.
Review: This book is good, but one should really read another boook titled 'Denying History'. That book is a more thorough refutation on the Holocaust deniers.
Rating:
Summary: ?Denying the Wholecaust? by RexCurry.net
Review: This book is helpful and well written, but it needs more info on deniers of the Wholecaust (written of elsewhere about why the media never mention the socialist trio of atrocities: the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 62 million deaths; People's Republic of China, 35 million; the National Socialist German Workers' Party, 21 million (According to R. J. Rummel's article in the Encyclopedia of Genocide (1999)). Let's hope the author does additional volumes to expand on the topic. "Denying the Holocaust" would be better if it were entitled "Denying the Wholecaust" and was part of a series, or included the broader topic. While the book does a spectacular job on the deniers of the Holocaust, the book says almost nothing about the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the People's Republic of China and the fact that they both independently killed more people than did the monstrous National Socialist German Workers' Party. Together, they committed the worst atrocities of all time. The book explores the mind of the Holocaust-deniers. It would be equally helpful to explore the minds that promoted all socialism and those who cover-up the hate-spewing radical paramilitary societies created in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the People's Republic of China, with the horrid National Socialist German Workers' Party. Many books that explore the mind of deniers of the Holocaust of the National Socialist German Workers' Party inexplicably fail to compare the mind of Wholecaust deniers that also included the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the People's Republic of China and all the other examples of socialist atrocities. The Union of Soviet Socialist had hatred for the bourgeoisie, inspired by Karl Marx, who himself intended to libel Jewish folks when he said they were the quintessential capitalists and worthy of total contempt, in his infamous essay, "On the Jewish Question." Marxists and socialists had no interest in "the weak," only in the loyal, and their "language of social justice" concerned a totalitarian plan for a socialist man, or more accurately ants in an ant hill. The book provides a lot of information that explains why most media use the word "Nazi" to cover-up for the horrid "National Socialist German Workers' Party," in a vain effort to rehabilitate socialism. Most media will not fully identify the atrocious "National Socialist German Workers' Party" and use the abbreviations "Nazi" & "Nazis" & "Nazism" in a hackneyed lazy manner, so that there is now rampant ignorance of the full phrase in the public, and now even in the media.
Rating:
Summary: The future of the holocaust.
Review: This is a carefully researched and well written study of what holocaust deniers and revisionists have been saying and writing since the late 1940s. Ms Lipstadt makes very clear their political agendas, sometimes hidden and sometimes not, such as anti-semitism and the political rehabilitation of nazism. Of course, a lot has happened since the book's publication in 1994: changes in the law on racial incitement and holocaust denial, the unsuccessful lawsuit of David Irving, amongst others, and the huge expansion of hate sites on the internet. Indeed, the internet is now (unlike in 1994) the main media outlet for those wishing to deny the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz or claiming that allied crimes were worse than nazi ones. The author suggests rightly that holocaust deniers will increasingly try to find a respectable and intellectual image for their claims. This the net allows them to do. It is perhaps desirable that a revised edition of this book appears soon to analyse more recent developments. Ms Lipstadt's account of the odd careers of many deniers, such as self-styled expert on gas chambers Fred Leuchter, is masterful. She really does know her enemies.
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