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.
