Denying History: Who Says Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It (Selection of the History Book Club S.)

Rating:
Summary: Destroying the Big Lie
Review: "Was it not Joseph Goebbels who observed that if you repeat a lie enough times, people will believe it?" (p.2) Denying History, written by Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman, confronts the outrageous claims of Holocaust deniers into easy to understand chapters with concrete evidence. Denying History also presents a historian's method of detecting "pseudohistory- the rewriting of the past for present personal or political purposes"- (P.2) or any historical events for that matter. "The Rape of History: Denial, Revision, and the Search for a True and Meaningful Past" closes this thoroughly written and perfectly organized book by comparing the similar actions and motives of Holocaust deniers and Nanking deniers. "Whatever else it might be, history is the primary story of the storytelling animal, the narrative of our past that offers meaning to our present and, ultimately, our future." (p.256)

Have had only learned about the Holocaust last year, I was astonished when I found that there were Holocaust deniers in the world. "Why the Holocaust happened is a question that all who encounters it as a deeply significant historical event must answer in the spectrum of their own vision of history and humanity. The question why eludes a consensus answer for the very reason that it is not for the consensus to reason why. It is for the individual." (p.256) I have gained extraordinary knowledge not only how to refute Holocaust deniers but have gained an understanding that life has a broader and deeper meaning to it. I proudly give Denying History five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Solid.
Review: 'Denying History' is a solid and thorough refutation of the Nazi Holocaust Deniers. It covers just about every subject in detail the deniers have argued, and demolishes those arguments one by one. A fantastic read.

Rating:
Summary: Solid.
Review: 'Denying History' is a solid and thorough refutation of the Nazi Holocaust Deniers. It covers just about every subject in detail the deniers have argued, and demolishes those arguments one by one. A fantastic read.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant example of history and historiography
Review: Denying History succeeds on two levels. First, it is a thorough demolition of the arguments of Holocaust deniers, presenting the overwhelming evidence for the systematic and deliberate murder of about 6,000,000 Jews by the Nazis during World War II. On this level, it is a very painful book at times, but clear and utterly convincing.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, it is an exploration of historical method intended to show how not only Holocaust deniers, but fringe groups of all kinds, distort and pervert history to make their points. The book is a virtual guide to BS detection, displaying the techniques used by pseudo-historians and how the conclusions drawn by these techniques evaporate in the light of a careful, objective evaluation of the evidence.

In a sense, it is too bad that the Holocaust, a very emotional topic (and this book can be quite angry at times), is the test case; less of a hot-button issue might have made for a calmer (and at times less disturbing) book. But the Holocaust deniers need to be denied, and Shermer and Grobman do a masterful job of it, without losing sight of the larger historiographical issues involved. Denying History is intense, readable, valuable, and for anybody who has ever been upset by bizarre historical claims, essential.

Rating:
Summary: An extremely important book.
Review: Everyone is a student of history and it is important to question and challenge the history that we are being taught. As James Loewen shows us in his book "Lies My Teacher Told Me", history can sometimes be inaccurate due to ideological reasons. And as the back cover of his book states, history can be "marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies.". So we must question what we are taught.

Another similar problem is confronted in this book, Historical Denial. Unlike true Revisionism which according to Webster's dictionary is an attempt "to look over again in order to correct or improve", Deniers attempt to bend and shape history to suit their own ideological beliefs and perspectives. The result that we are handed then is not revisionism but distortions and lies. But how do we know the good from the bad? They present their work as reputable scholarship with the title of "historical revisionism". Well luckily we have talented scholars and authors who in this book expose the Denier's methods and tactics.

Thank you Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman for such an accurate and well researched book on holocaust denial. Not only do these authors introduce you to the main Holocaust deniers and some of the claims they make but they also explain the differences between Revisionism and Denial. And this is where the book really succeeds. Shermer and Grobman are able to put it all in perspective and explain to the reader not only the differences between the two but also give some insight into why people deny. They also give other examples of Denial such as the Japanese deniers of the Rape of Nanking.

I've given the book 4 stars instead of five because I felt at times some of the writing was bit too dry and academic. I am familiar with Mr. Shermer's publication Skeptic magazine and I notice the writing style is similar to the magazine. The breadth of the research and it's accuracy is commendable and exemplay. But we are not reading the stories of a great novelist here. They are not good story tellers but rather excell at academic writing. From reading the book title I had expected to learn the well researched refutation of holocaust deniers from elaborate stories of the entire movement. But rather inside the book I felt that the Deniers and their Denial were only superfically introduced.

It is a good book nevertheless and it is highly recommended. My one caveat to those who expose Deniers: Do not become the "Thought Police". There were some examples at the beginning of this book where Deniers wanted to speak at campuses or have open debate. Unfortunately, they were shouted down by student groups or denied access to campus. The way to expose Denier's is not to deny them their voice. Like this book does, let's let them be heard and refute their lies and distortion through well argued and researched facts and refutation. Otherwise we are no better than they are when we prohibit free speech and open debate.




Rating:
Summary: Fascinating.
Review: The title of this book pretty much tells it all - it is an academic exploration into the people who deny the Holocaust ever happened and their motivations for making this claim.

Of course, you may be wondering why someone would make a claim like this, despite the film footage of newly-liberated camps, eyewitness testimony from both victims and perpetrators, the population records that show that, indeed, some 6 million Jews did not survive World War II and damning circumstantial evidence from Hitler and members of his inner circle that alludes to a "Final Solution" to the "Jewish problem".

Well, the deniers are a motley lot, some are educated and wel-spoken and others are not. Some feel that Germany has become a martyred nation to the cause of eradicating racism. Others are pro-fascist in politics and want to get rid of the taint that Nazi-ism gives to fascism, so they try to exonerate the Nazis.

Others are just plain anti-semites and sincerely believe the Jews somehow "cooked up" the population figures or even somehow managed to conspire to kill off 6 milion of their own people in order to create sympathy for the creation of a Jewish country, namely, modern-day Israel.

It was a fascinating book, a little deep at the beginning and the end with the different theories on how to approach history, but the middle was quite informative. I give this book a B+.


Rating:
Summary: A good introduction
Review: This book as an investigation of the phenomenon of denial is well-researched and interesting. In terms of its refutation of denial, it would probably make a decent introdution. The chapter on basic epistemology in history likely indicats that the authors were aiming at non-specialist/historian audience. Although for the specialist, there are more sophisticated books and articles out there, so in that sense, the arguments might seem somewhat simplistic (which is why I would give it 4 sintead of 5). I think one of the possible reasons this book was written was to make clear that the 'skeptic' mindset does not lend itself to skepticism about anything and everything, putting distance between skeptics of, for example, religious claims, and skeptics about the holocaust. I might also add that anything by Michael Shermer would definitely be recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Reader from the Bronx needs Help!!!
Review: This is an excellent book in not only the topic it deals with but the scholarship it reveals in showing how to do your own fact finding of historical events.

But hey...reader from the Bronx, get a grip. You need help. If you really believe half the "crap" you wrote then you either did not read this book and you're repeating some pet propaganda pitch, or you lack the ability to comprehend what you read so that your comments are a "masterpiece" of stupidity. There is help, namely get an education beyond the eighth grade and travel outside of the Bronx. You need to expand your intellect before you open your mouth. You know "the mind is a terrible thing to waste" that is if you ever had a mind to begin with. Also the others who find your review helpful, you too need help like this reviewer.

Rating:
Summary: Christopher Chow you poor poor man...
Review: This is the best introduction for the Holocaust (1939-1945). A serious and impartial book that deals with the many problems involved when we study past events.

You may also want to read it if you're curious about the incredible and preposterous bunch of men that call themselves "Revisionists" and, strangely enough, historians.

Rating:
Summary: Refuting holocaust denial - simply and effectively
Review: You will not find a more straightforward Holocaust book than Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened and Why Do They Say It. The authors' basic argument is this: The extermination of six million Jews during the Second World War is a historical fact. Those who deny it are wrong.

It's hardly a provocative thesis. But ask yourself this: Would you be able to refute a Holocaust denier? The fact of the Holocaust is like the spherical Earth: Every reasonable person accepts it, but few can prove it. That is why Skeptic magazine publisher Michael Shermer teamed up with historian Alex Grobman to write Denying History. They believe thinking people have a duty to fight Holocaust denial head on; and they want them to come to the battle armed with historical facts.

When the eyes of the public are upon them -- such as during the 1985 trial of Canadian Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, or the famous 1994 Donahue episode that pitted two Holocaust deniers against Shermer and an Auschwitz survivor -- deniers often get the best of staged confrontations. The most prominent deniers know a lot about the Holocaust, especially arcane subjects like the chemistry of Zyklon-B gas and the architecture of gas chambers. Many of the sound bites they spit out are quite true. It is a fact, for instance, that the Nazis never manufactured soap from Jewish bodies on a mass scale -- contrary to urban legend. Deniers are also correct when they claim that there is no known Holocaust order bearing Hitler's signature. David Irving, the on-again off-again denier who recently lost a defamation suit in Britain, has never had to make good on his $1,000 challenge to any historian who could produce such a document.

But, as Denying History makes clear, there is still a mountain of evidence proving the nature and scale of the Holocaust. The Nazis' use of gas chambers has been established by, among countless other sources, the 1946 Nuremberg confession of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, as well as the 250-page autobiographical manuscript he wrote while awaiting execution. The estimate of six million killed is supported by a spate of historical studies, and also by Nazi physician Wilhelm Hoettel, who testified at Nuremberg that: "In the various concentration camps approximately four million Jews had been killed, while about two million were killed in other ways." None of this evidence convinces the true denier, of course. He is, by necessity, a conspiracy theorist. To him, every confession was coerced, every photograph faked. As the authors of Denying History demonstrate in psychological profiles of today's most prominent deniers, they see the "holohoax" as a plot by Jews (or, "the traditional enemies of truth" as they are commonly referred to in denier circles) to discredit the Nazi regime and the German people. "There are certain aspects of the Third Reich that are very admirable [such as its eugenics and euthanasia programs] and I want to call people's attention to these," Zündel told Shermer and Grobman in an interview. What the Holocaust has done, he argues, is to "bar so many thinkers from re-looking at the options that National Socialism German-style offers."

It is tempting to mock these confused men (there is a great essay to be written on why there does not exist a single preeminent female denier). But Denying History betrays no contempt for its subjects. The authors believe everyone has a right to be heard; and they treat Holocaust deniers with clinical detachment. This attitude reflects the authors'position of intellectual strength. Hatred for Holocaust deniers is compounded by the helpless fear that the pseudo-historians' specious lies may spread. When one is armed with concrete knowledge, however, that fear is lessened and hatred gives way to pity.