Holocaust Denial

“Was German ‘Eliminationist Anti-Semitism” Responsible for the Holocaust?” is a fascinating and somewhat discouraging debate that explores the question of whether German anti-Semitism, instilled within citizens outside of the Nazi Party, played a vast role in the extermination of Jews during the Holocaust . Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, author of “The Paradigm Challenged,” believes that it did; and argues quite convincingly that ordinary German citizens were duplicitous either by their actions or inactions due to the deep-seeded nature of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country. On the other hand, Christopher R. Browning, who has extensively researched the Holocaust, argues that the arguments of Goldhagen leaves out significant dynamics which were prevalent throughout most of Western and Eastern Europe during this period of history.

The events which have become to be known as The Holocaust have caused much debate and dispute among historians. Central to this varied dispute is the intentions and motives of the perpetrators, with a wide range of theories as to why such horrific events took place. The publication of Jonah Goldhagen’s controversial but bestselling book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust” in many ways saw the reigniting of the debate and a flurry of scholarly and public interest. Central to Goldhagen’s disputed argument is the presentation of the perpetrators of the Holocaust as ordinary Germans who largely, willingly took part in the atrocities because of deeply held and violently strong anti-Semitic beliefs. This in many

Genocide is the destruction of an ethnic, racial, or religious group. The most famous genocide, conducted by the Germans, is the extermination of the Jewish population known as the Holocaust. There are other genocides such as the Armenian or Darfur genocide, but the Holocaust is the one talked about and studied the most around the world today. Museums exist in Washington D.C, Los Angeles, and parts of Europe that focus primarily on this dark time in history. Vast amounts of books, movies, and documents concentrate on the Holocaust. Why is this chapter, between 1939 and 1945, discussed and examined? The answer lies within people who experienced the Holocaust such as Elie Wiesel, Jay Frankston, and Franks Shatz. These men have gone through hell and back, but they believe in one thing. That is, the notion of never again. The goal is to educate future generations on what really happened, so history does not repeat itself. Never again should people of any race, religion, or ethnicity, go through the horrific past of the Holocaust. In their writing, Wiesel, Frankston, and Shatz do a great job using pathos, logos, and ethos to convey their message of never again for future generations.

Antisemitism, the hatred for the Jewish people, has been called the longest hatred in history. This history is deep rooted and has existed for thousands of years, taking different forms throughout its existence, and intensifying up until and through the Holocaust, to then diminish to an extent but still be prevalent in most societies. Antisemitism exists in different forms, religious, ethnic, and political. The presence of Christianity as the predominant religion in Europe can be noted as a driving factor in religious and ethnic antisemitism, as can the Holocaust. Whereas instances such as the Islamic view on Judaism can be

In the documentary “America and the Holocaust”, the view learns that anti-Semitism was prevalent in America. Many are unaware that

Deborah Lipstadt’s authority on the subject of Jewish history showcases the persuasive strategy of Ethos because she is presented as a trustworthy messenger. She was an assistant professor of Near Eastern Studies at UCLA from 1979 to 1985 before becoming an associate professor of religion and later Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Lipstadt to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Already a published author and columnist for The Jewish Spectator (Moore), Lipstadt talked in her TED Talk about being approached by two respected historians of the Holocaust who asked her to work on a project that included researching Holocaust deniers (Lipstadt 2:28). This research resulted in the book Denying the Holocaust: the Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, which was published in 1993 and received the National Jewish Book Honor Award in 1994 (Moore). In the book, Lipstadt exposes David Irving as being “one of the most prominent Holocaust deniers,” prompting Irving to sue her

There are many instances throughout this film where Bruno misinterprets the state of what’s happening around him due to his own childish ignorance. At Bruno’s age, it’s practically expected that a child so young wouldn’t fully comprehend an idea as complex as genocide, and furthermore the Holocaust. One of the first moments we see Bruno misinterpret the world around him is his confrontation with Pavel after falling off the swing. He doesn’t understand why Pavel would give up his life as a doctor to come peel potatoes. “Is it nice on the farm?”

Growing up, people learn about the past of their own kind and of the world they live in. One reads history in books, hears history from parents, and studies history at schools. Knowing the history of one's ancestors allows one to understand the past and change for a better future. Significant battles, civil movements, and reformations teach people valuable lessons and help the society to improve. The Holocaust, one of the most well-known history events, represents a perfect historical example of discrimination and racism. However, a number of people started to deny the known facts of the Holocaust and even the event itself. Despite of what these people say and how convincing their reasons are, this piece of history is to be protected from

Peter Longerich's Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews is a recent contribution to the contemporary scholarly literature on the subject. The book was originally published in 1998 in German, under the title Politik der Vernichtung, Politics of Destruction. This 2010 English-language release is, as the author claims, shorter in some areas and longer in others. The primary additions include a chapter on anti-Semitism in the Weimar Republic, which adds considerable meat to the contextual evidence that Longerich includes in his history of the Holocaust. Moreover, the author draws on the release of new primary source data from the archives in Warsaw and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, which have only recently been revealed, archived, and cataloged.

The Holocaust is consider one of the biggest hate crime that the world has witness. It is a hate crime due to the fact that is directed toward a specific group of people. Individual chosen or group chosen because they represent a group believed to represent a group that the perpetrator is biased against. Everything started when Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany, form 1934 to 1945. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. Hitler rose to power in German politics becoming the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Part; known as the Nazi Party. As the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945 he started WWII with the invention to Poland. Hitler was the orchestrated of the Holocaust, which resulted in the death of 6 million Jews. Hitler believes that Jews were an inferior race. According to Hitler Jews were an alien threat to German racial purity and community. “After years of Nazi rule in Germany, during which Jews were consistently persecuted, Hitler’s “final solution”–now known as the Holocaust–came to fruition under the cover of world war, with mass killing centers constructed in the concentration camps of occupied Poland “ (History 2009). Hitler’s symbol used to murder millions of people was the swastika. The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power,

“Germany's Holocaust Memorial Problem-and Mine” is an article that analyzes the complexities of creating a memorial that will represent a great amount of Jewish people that perished in the hands of the Nazi Germany during the 1930's and early 1940's. James E. Young author of this article, was part of a five member committee that would agree whether or not to build a memorial and the process was very difficult because they had to make sure that the jewish community accepted the memorial and the Germans would not feel offended or targeted. What made things awkward in a way was that Young was Jewish so he would be responsible of the criticism for either accepting or denying a memorial option. What was significant in the article was that the topic

Conspiracy Theories have always played a deceptive role in history. Conspiracy theorists have skewed proper historical inquiry in order to back up their political agenda. One famous conspiracy theorist, David Irving, known for his holocaust denial conspiracy theorist is no stranger to this phenomenon. Irving’s famous works such as, The Destruction of Dresden and the infamous case that surrounded it show how Irving’s thinking in terms of using facts and material from the past are used in order to fit his agenda of denying the holocaust and promoting his neo-Nazism. Due to his methods of historical inquiry through his works over the years, Irving does not contribute to the established scholarly works in the field of holocaust research.

Holocaust Denial is the belief that the Holocaust is false and didn’t ever happen, the 3 main theories that Holocaust Deniers believe prove that the Holocaust did not in fact happen are that the ‘Gas Chambers’ where not used for Mass Murder, the ‘Final Solution’ was actually an order to Deport the Prisoners and not to exterminate them, and the number of Jews Murdered is Significantly lower than 5-6 Million. The Evidence against these assumptions greatly over weigh the Evidence support these absurd and obnoxious Theories, aside from the evidence thousands of people worldwide still believe that the Holocaust was a Hoax and didn’t ever happen.

Denial: The War of Truth Mick Jackson’s film, “Denial” is a courtroom drama that recounts of a libel suit charged on Deborah E. Lipstadt, a university professor, by David Irving, a British pseudo-historian. Mr. Irving accused her of calling him a Holocaust denier attempting to distort the historical truth in her book, “Denying the Holocaust”. Dr. Lipstadt and her legal team had to prove the existence of Holocaust in the British Court. Under the UK legal system, the burden of proof rest in the hand of the defendant; therefore, Lipstadt and her team had to convince the judge that everything she wrote about David Irving in her book is true.

“One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example; it paints perfect men and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth.”