Deborah E. Lipstadt

The denial of the Holocaust has no more credibility than the assertion that the earth is flat. Yet there are those who insist that the death of six million Jews and other persecuted people in Nazi concentration camps is nothing but a hoax perpetuated by a powerful Zionist conspiracy. In this first full-scale history of Holocaust denial, Deborah Lipstadt shows how – despite tens of thousands of living witnesses and vast amounts of documentary evidence – this irrational idea has not only continued to gain adherents but has become an internationally organized movement. Lipstadt argues that this chilling attack on the factual record not only threatens Jews but could dramatically alter the way that truth and meaning are transmitted from one generation to another.

The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory

Denying the Holocaust

"The award-winning author of The Eichmann Trial and Denial: Holocaust History on Trial gives us a penetrating and provocative analysis of the hate that will not die, focusing on its current, virulent incarnations on both the political right and left, and on what can be done about it. When newsreels depicting the depredations of the Holocaust were shown in movie theaters to a horrified American public immediately after World War II, it was believed that the antisemitism that was part of the fabric of American culture in the 1920s and 1930s was finally going to be laid to rest. In the ensuing decades, Gregory Peck received an Academy Award for playing a journalist who passed as a Jew to blow the lid off genteel Jew hatred, clauses restricting where Jews could live were declared illegal, the KKK was pretty much litigated out of existence, and Joe Lieberman came within five electoral votes of becoming America's first Jewish vice president. And then the unthinkable began to happen. Over the last decade, there has been a noticeable uptick in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents by left-wing groups targeting Jewish students and Jewish organizations on American college campuses. Jews in countries throughout Europe have been attacked by terrorists. And the re-emergence of the white nationalist movement in America, complete with Nazi slogans and imagery, has brought to mind the fascist displays of the 1930s. Where is all this hatred coming from? Is there any significant difference between left-wing and right-wing antisemitism? What role has the anti-Zionist movement played? And what can be done to combat this latest manifestation of an ancient hatred? In a series of letters to an imagined college student and imagined colleague, both of whom are perplexed by this resurgence, Deborah Lipstadt gives us her own superbly reasoned, brilliantly argued, and sure-to-be-controversial responses to these troubling questions"--

Here and Now

Antisemitism

In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called David Irving, a prolific writer of books on World War II, “one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.” The following year, after Lipstadt’s book was published in the United Kingdom, Irving filed a libel suit against Lipstadt and her publisher. She prepared her defense with the help of a first-rate team of solicitors, historians, and experts, and a dramatic trial unfolded. Denial, previously published as History on Trial, is Lipstadt’s riveting, blow-by-blow account of this singular legal battle, which resulted in a formal denunciation of a Holocaust denier that crippled the movement for years to come. Lipstadt’s victory was proclaimed on the front page of major news- papers around the world, such as The Times (UK), which declared that ‘history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory.’”

Holocaust History on Trial

Denial

In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called putative WWII historian David Irving "one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial." A prolific author of books on Nazi Germany who has claimed that more people died in Ted Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, Irving responded by filing a libel lawsuit in the United Kingdom -- where the burden of proof lies on the defendant, not on the plaintiff. At stake were not only the reputations of two historians but the record of history itself.

My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier

History on Trial

Examines the role of the American press in presenting the information known about the Jewish Holocaust during World War II to the American people in such a way that it fostered inaction and indifference.

The American Press And The Coming Of The Holocaust, 1933- 1945

Beyond Belief

Describes the capture and subsequent trial of Adolf Eichmann by Jewish authorities and examines the effects genocide has on survivors.

The Eichmann Trial

Holocaust: An American Understanding (Key Words in Jewish Studies)

Charles Gray

David John Cawdell Irving

Penguin (Firm)

Great Britain. High Court of Justice. Queen's Bench Division

Confidential to Counsel and Their Instructing Solicitors, But the Substance May be Communicated to Clients Not More Than One Hour Before the Giving of the Judgment, in the High Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division, Before the Hon. Mr. Justice Gray, Between David John Cadwell [sic] Irving and Penguin Books Limited, Deborah E. Lipstadt ... Mr. Justice Gray, 12 April 2000

Judgment to be Handed Down on Tuesday 11th April 2000 at 10.30 A.m. in Court 36, Royal Courts of Justice

Nesta história real, Deborah Lipstadt enfrenta no tribunal David Irving – um dos mais conhecidos negacionistas do Holocausto. Acompanhe todo o processo do julgamento enfrentado pela historiadora e seu empenho em ter que corroborar que um dos episódios mais cruéis da humanidade de fato aconteceu. David Irving é um autor inglês que usa métodos pouco ortodoxos de pesquisa histórica em seus inúmeros livros sobre a Segunda Guerra Mundial e o Terceiro Reich, nos quais ora atenua os impactos e as atrocidades dos campos de concentração, ora questiona a própria existência das câmaras de gás. Irving chega até mesmo a negar a existência do Holocausto, que descreve como “uma lenda”. São justamente essas alegações negacionistas que levam a historiadora americana Deborah Lipstadt a descrevê-lo, em seu aclamado livro Denying the Holocaust, de 1993, como “um dos mais perigosos porta-vozes do negacionismo do Holocausto”. Indignado, Irving decide abrir um processo por difamação contra Lipstadt. Agora, a historiadora se vê obrigada a enfrentar, na Inglaterra, uma batalha jurídica que não se restringe à reputação de dois estudiosos, mas que diz respeito ao registro da própria História. Amparada por uma competente equipe de defesa, Lipstadt inicia uma minuciosa análise do trabalho de Irving para mostrar como, a partir de uma postura ideológica, antissemita e racista, ele perverte documentos e registros históricos com o objetivo de “absolver Hitler”. Em Negação, livro que deu origem ao filme homônimo com previsão de estreia para março de 2017, Deborah Lipstadt narra os dias do julgamento em Londres e revela o drama que foi ter de seguir o conselho de seus advogados e ficar em silêncio enquanto seu objeto de estudo e seus princípios eram desvirtuados diante de um tribunal e da imprensa de todo o mundo.

Negação

Immediately after World War II, there was little discussion of the Holocaust, but today the word has grown into a potent political and moral symbol, recognized by all. In Holocaust: An American Understanding, renowned historian Deborah E. Lipstadt explores this striking evolution in Holocaust consciousness, revealing how a broad array of Americans—from students in middle schools to presidents of the United States—tried to make sense of this inexplicable disaster, and how they came to use the Holocaust as a lens to interpret their own history. Lipstadt weaves a powerful narrative that touches on events as varied as the civil rights movement, Vietnam, Stonewall, and the women’s movement, as well as controversies over Bitburg, the Rwandan genocide, and the bombing of Kosovo. Drawing upon extensive research on politics, popular culture, student protests, religious debates and various strains of Zionist ideologies, Lipstadt traces how the Holocaust became integral to the fabric of American life. Even popular culture, including such films as Dr. Strangelove and such books as John Hershey’s The Wall, was influenced by and in turn influenced thinking about the Holocaust. Equally important, the book shows how Americans used the Holocaust to make sense of what was happening in the United States. Many Americans saw the civil rights movement in light of Nazi oppression, for example, while others feared that American soldiers in Vietnam were destroying a people identified by the government as the enemy. Lipstadt demonstrates that the Holocaust became not just a tragedy to be understood but also a tool for interpreting America and its place in the world. Ultimately Holocaust: An American Understanding tells us as much about America in the years since the end of World War II as it does about the Holocaust itself.

An American Understanding

Holocaust

In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called David Irving, a prolific writer of books on World War II, “one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial.” The following year, after Lipstadt’s book was published in the United Kingdom, Irving led a libel suit against Lipstadt and her publisher. She prepared her defense with the help of a first-rate team of solicitors, historians, and experts, and a dramatic trial unfolded. Denial, previously published as History on Trial, is Lipstadt’s riveting, blow- by-blow account of this singular legal battle, which resulted in a formal denunciation of a Holocaust denier that crippled the movement for years to come. Lipstadt’s victory was proclaimed on the front page of major news- papers around the world, such as The Times (UK), which declared that “history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory.”

Deborah E. Lipstadt

About

Books

Join the club