Holocaust Negation Research Paper

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

Eleven million individuals were victimized by the Holocaust. Six million of those victims were Jewish, while the other five million were groups targeted by the Nazi’s because they didn’t fit their discriminative criteria. Inhumane practices were used in attempts to purify and unify the German state (Novick, 225). When the Holocaust is discussed, the Jewish victims are usually the main focal point of the massive “genocide.”

“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.

Studies of the Holocaust have provoked passionate debates. Increasingly, they have become a central topic of concern for historians particularly since the early 1970s, as the Holocaust studies were generally limited. However, one of the most intense debates surrounding the role played by Hitler in the ’Final Solution’. That is, whether and when Hitler took a decision to initiate the extermination process. Of course, this issue has caused incredible controversy and naturally such a contentious topic of debate has radically produced large amounts of new data and literature. Conflicting, an interpretation has caused further disparities between historians over Hitler’s role in the Holocaust. For this

“A conspiracy that can deceive us about 6,000,000 deaths can deceive us about anything, and then it takes a great leap of faith for Holocaust Revisionists to believe World War II happened at all, or that Franklin Roosevelt did serve as President from 1933 to 1945, or that Marilyn Monroe was more ‘real’ than King Kong or Donald Duck” (Basham 98).

Many people know of the Holocaust and its outcome, but what of its resisters? Resistance in this time was risky because of the dangers of the Nazis finding, torturing, and killing the resisters. Despite these dangers, man people would still resist, armed, unarmed, and verbally. Many of the resisters were not caught because they were indirectly affecting the progress of the “Final Solution” as it was referred to. One such way was to convince others to resist and fight while you get others to aid in the fight. Another was displayed by Yvett Farnoux when “She was in charge of finding safe houses and food for resistance fighters, their families, and Jews in hiding” (Davison).

A common misconception about the Holocaust is that the world was naïve of the atrocities happening under the Nazi’s rule. The horrors of the Holocaust were not left undocumented. Unfortunately, many saw these malicious acts as insignificant to the global population; people only start sympathizing when the hindrance affects them. Hitler, with the help of his many allies, achieved to murder millions of innocent men, women, and children. After spending this semester studying the Holocaust, I have realized that the Nazis’ greatest ally was neither an individual nor a country; Hitler’s greatest ally was indifference.

Examining any issue pertaining to the Holocaust is accompanied with complexity and the possibility of controversy. This is especially true in dealing with the topic of Jewish resistance to the Holocaust. Historians are often divided on this complex issue, debating issues such as how “resistance” is defined and, in accordance with that definition, how much resistance occurred. According to Michael Marrus, “the very term Jewish resistance suggests a point of view.” Many factors, both internal such as differences in opinion on when or what resistance was appropriate, as well as external, such as the lack of arms with which to revolt, contributed to making resistance, particularly armed resistance, extremely difficult. When considering acts

The Holocaust was a dark period of time, occurring in the 20th century. It had began in the early 1930’s, and grew to become increasingly gruesome up until the mid-fourtees. The Holocaust was a mass murder of Jewish people, Romas, homosexuals, mentally and physically disabled, Jehovah’s witnesses, trade unionists and many other classes of people. Though the Holocaust was a very important part of history, there were many things distracting the German population, along with the rest of the world, leaving the Holocaust in the dark and left unknown.

Madison McBride A. Hall Language Arts: 2A 15 December 2014 Defining and Interpreting Holocaust Denial What is Holocaust Denial? Holocaust Denial is the belief or assertion that the Holocaust did not happen or was greatly exaggerated. Though many consider the Holocaust a monumental historic event, “Holocaust Denial” and conspiracy theories surrounding this event exist in today’s modern society. Although it may sound like a simple topic, Holocaust Denial is more complex than it seems.

The Holocaust was a terrifying and horrific feat in our worlds past as no one seemed to want to help the Jews escape there mass onslaught led on by the Nazi forces throughout WWII. They were rounded up like animals and treated as slaves going to camp after camp waiting their turn in the gas chamber. Did anyone know what was happening? Did people try to escape? These are just some of the many questions brought up by skeptics and some historians.

The Holocaust can be described with a number of words. The words that come to mind when I think about the Holocaust would be the discrimination towards many groups of people, hatred against these groups of people, and the forgiveness if any was forgave to the Nazis for the horrendous things they did to such innocent people.

As Hajime Tokuno describes it, “Deniers have subjugated science, in this case historical science, to a political agenda, creating a pseudoscience called Holocaust Denial” (Tokuno 2).

The Holocaust was one of the twentieth century's greatest tragedies that were made possible by anti-Semitism, the indifference of other nations, isolationism politics, and outright fear.

Anti-Semitism in Europe did not begin with Adolf Hitler. Though use of the term itself