Editing Historical negationism (section)

===Holocaust denial===
{{main|Criticism of Holocaust denial|Holocaust denial}}

Holocaust deniers usually reject the term ''Holocaust denier'' as an inaccurate description of their historical point of view, instead preferring the term ''Holocaust revisionist'';<ref>"Holocaust deniers often refer to themselves as 'revisionists', in an attempt to claim legitimacy for their activities". ([http://www.jpr.org.uk/Reports/CS_Reports/no_3_2000/index.htm The nature of Holocaust denial: What is Holocaust denial?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312050016/http://www.jpr.org.uk/Reports/CS_Reports/no_3_2000/index.htm |date=12 March 2012 }}, JPR report No. 3, 2000. Retrieved 16 May 2007)</ref> nonetheless, [[Scholarly method|scholars]] prefer "Holocaust denier" to differentiate deniers from legitimate [[historical revisionism|historical revisionists]], whose goal is to accurately analyse historical evidence with established methods.<ref group="note">To clarify the terminology of ''denial'' vs. ''revisionism'', see:
* "This is the phenomenon of what has come to be known as 'revisionism', 'negationism', or 'Holocaust denial,' whose main characteristic is either an outright rejection of the very veracity of the Nazi genocide of the Jews, or at least a concerted attempt to minimize both its scale and importance&nbsp;... It is just as crucial, however, to distinguish between the wholly objectionable politics of denial and the fully legitimate scholarly revision of previously accepted conventional interpretations of any historical event, including the Holocaust." Bartov, Omer. ''The Holocaust: Origins, Implementation and Aftermath,'' Routledge, pp. 11–12. Bartov is John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History at the Watson Institute, and is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on [[genocide]] ([http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=97 "Omer Bartov"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216115629/http://www.watsoninstitute.org/contacts_detail.cfm?id=97 |date=16 December 2008 }}, The Watson Institute for International Studies).
* "The two leading critical exposés of Holocaust denial in the United States were written by historians Deborah Lipstadt (1993) and [[Michael Shermer]] and Alex Grobman (2000). These scholars make a distinction between historical revisionism and denial. Revisionism, in their view, entails a refinement of existing knowledge about a historical event, not a denial of the event itself, that comes through the examination of new empirical evidence or a reexamination or reinterpretation of existing evidence. Legitimate historical revisionism acknowledges a "certain body of irrefutable evidence" or a "convergence of evidence" that suggest that an event – like the black plague, American slavery, or the Holocaust – did in fact occur (Lipstadt 1993:21; Shermer & Grobman 200:34). Denial, on the other hand, rejects the entire foundation of historical evidence&nbsp;..." Ronald J. Berger. ''Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach'', Aldine Transaction, 2002, {{ISBN|0-202-30670-4}}, p. 154.
* "At this time, in the mid-1970s, the specter of Holocaust Denial (masked as "revisionism") had begun to raise its head in Australia&nbsp;..." [[Paul R. Bartrop|Bartrop, Paul R.]] "A Little More Understanding: The Experience of a Holocaust Educator in Australia" in Samuel Totten, Steven Leonard Jacobs, Paul R Bartrop. ''Teaching about the Holocaust'', Praeger/Greenwood, 2004, p. xix. {{ISBN|0-275-98232-7}}
* "[[Pierre Vidal-Naquet]] urges that denial of the Holocaust should not be called 'revisionism' because 'to deny history is not to revise it'. ''Les Assassins de la Memoire. Un Eichmann de papier et autres essays sur le revisionisme'' (The Assassins of Memory – A Paper-Eichmann and Other Essays on Revisionism) 15 (1987)." Cited in Roth, Stephen J. "Denial of the Holocaust as an Issue of Law" in the ''Israel Yearbook on Human Rights'', Vol. 23, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1993, {{ISBN|0-7923-2581-8}}, p. 215.
* "This essay describes, from a methodological perspective, some of the inherent flaws in the "revisionist" approach to the history of the Holocaust. It is not intended as a polemic, nor does it attempt to ascribe motives. Rather, it seeks to explain the fundamental error in the "revisionist" approach, as well as why that approach of necessity leaves no other choice. It concludes that "revisionism" is a misnomer because the facts do not accord with the position it puts forward and, more importantly, its methodology reverses the appropriate approach to historical investigation&nbsp;..."Revisionism" is obliged to deviate from the standard methodology of historical pursuit because it seeks to mold facts to fit a preconceived result, it denies events that have been objectively and empirically proved to have occurred, and because it works backward from the conclusion to the facts, thus necessitating the distortion and manipulation of those facts where they differ from the preordained conclusion (which they almost always do). In short, "revisionism" denies something that demonstrably happened, through methodological dishonesty." McFee, Gordon. [http://www.phdn.org/archives/holocaust-history.org/revisionism-isnt/ "Why 'Revisionism' Isn't"], [[The Holocaust History Project]], 15 May 1999. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
* "Crucial to understanding and combating Holocaust denial is a clear distinction between denial and revisionism. One of the more insidious and dangerous aspects of contemporary Holocaust denial, a la Arthur Butz, Bradley Smith and Greg Raven, is the fact that they attempt to present their work as reputable scholarship under the guise of 'historical revisionism.' The term 'revisionist' permeates their publications as descriptive of their motives, orientation and methodology. In fact, Holocaust denial is in no sense 'revisionism,' it is denial&nbsp;... Contemporary Holocaust deniers are not revisionists – not even neo-revisionists. They are ''Deniers''. Their motivations stem from their neo-nazi political goals and their rampant antisemitism." Austin, Ben S. [http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/revision.htm "Deniers in Revisionists Clothing"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121021941/http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/revision.htm |date=21 November 2008 }}, The Holocaust\Shoah Page, [[Middle Tennessee State University]]. Retrieved 29 March 2007.
* "Holocaust denial can be a particularly insidious form of antisemitism precisely because it often tries to disguise itself as something quite different: as genuine scholarly debate (in the pages, for example, of the innocuous-sounding Journal for Historical Review). Holocaust deniers often refer to themselves as 'revisionists', in an attempt to claim legitimacy for their activities. There are, of course, a great many scholars engaged in historical debates about the Holocaust whose work should not be confused with the output of the Holocaust deniers. Debate continues about such subjects as, for example, the extent and nature of ordinary Germans' involvement in and knowledge of the policy of genocide, and the timing of orders given for the extermination of the Jews. However, the valid endeavour of historical revisionism, which involves the re-interpretation of historical knowledge in the light of newly emerging evidence, is a very different task from that of claiming that the essential facts of the Holocaust, and the evidence for those facts, are fabrications." [http://www.jpr.org.uk/Reports/CS_Reports/no_3_2000/index.htm The nature of Holocaust denial: What is Holocaust denial?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312050016/http://www.jpr.org.uk/Reports/CS_Reports/no_3_2000/index.htm |date=12 March 2012 }}, JPR report No. 3, 2000. Retrieved 16 May 2007.</ref> Historian Alan Berger reports that Holocaust deniers argue in support of a preconceived theory – that the Holocaust either did not occur or was mostly a hoax – by ignoring extensive historical evidence to the contrary.<ref>Alan L. Berger, "Holocaust Denial: Tempest in a Teapot, or Storm on the Horizon?", ''In Peace, in Deed: Essays in Honor of Harry James Cargas'', Eds. Zev Garber and Richard Libowitz: Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998, p. 154.</ref>

When the author [[David Irving]]<ref group="note">Further information of how Irving was discredited as a historian:
* "In 1969, after David Irving's support for Rolf Hochhuth, the German playwright who accused Winston Churchill of murdering the Polish wartime leader General Sikorski, The Daily Telegraph issued a memo to all its correspondents. 'It is incorrect,' it said, 'to describe David Irving as a historian. In future we should describe him as an author.'" Ingram, Richard. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060323205737/http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article347567.ece Irving was the author of his own downfall], ''[[The Independent]]'', 25 February 2006.
* "It may seem an absurd semantic dispute to deny the appellation of 'historian' to someone who has written two dozen books or more about historical subjects. But if we mean by historian someone who is concerned to discover the truth about the past, and to give as accurate a representation of it as possible, then Irving is not a historian. Those in the know, indeed, are accustomed to avoid the term altogether when referring to him and use some circumlocution such as 'historical writer' instead. Irving is essentially an ideologue who uses history for his own political purposes; he is not primarily concerned with discovering and interpreting what happened in the past, he is concerned merely to give a selective and tendentious account of it in order to further his own ideological ends in the present. The true historian's primary concern, however, is with the past. That is why, in the end, Irving is not a historian." Irving vs. (1) Lipstadt and (2) Penguin Books, [http://hdot.org/en/trial/defense/evans/6.html Expert Witness Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206151336/http://www.hdot.org/en/trial/defense/evans/6.html |date=6 December 2013 }} by Richard J. Evans FBA, Professor of Modern History, [[University of Cambridge]], 2000, Chapter 6.
* "State prosecutor Michael Klackl said: 'He's not a historian, he's a falsifier of history.'" Traynor, Ian. [https://www.theguardian.com/farright/story/0,,1714403,00.html Irving jailed for denying Holocaust], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 21 February 2006.
* "One of Britain's most prominent speakers on Muslim issues is today exposed as a supporter of David Irving. ... Bukhari contacted the discredited historian, sentenced this year to three years in an Austrian prison for Holocaust denial, after reading his website." Doward, Jamie. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1951773,00.html "Muslim leader sent funds to Irving"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 19 November 2006.
* "David Irving, the discredited historian and Nazi apologist, was last night starting a three-year prison sentence in Vienna for denying the Holocaust and the gas chambers of Auschwitz." Traynor, Ian. [https://www.theguardian.com/farright/story/0,,1714403,00.html "Irving jailed for denying Holocaust"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 21 February 2006.
* "Conclusion on meaning 2.15 (vi): that Irving is discredited as a historian." [[s:David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt/II|David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt/II]].
* "DAVID Irving, the discredited revisionist historian and most outspoken British Holocaust denier, has added further fuel to the controversy over his early release from an Austrian jail by recanting his court statement of regret over his views." Crichton, Torcuil. "Holocaust denier reneges on regret", ''[[The Sunday Herald]]'', 24 December 2006.
* "Discredited British author David Irving spoke in front of some 250 people at a small theatre on Szabadság tér last Monday." Hodgson, Robert. [http://www.budapesttimes.hu/?do=article&id=2273 "Holocaust denier David Irving draws a friendly crowd in Budapest"], ''The Budapest Times'', 19 March 2007.
* "An account of the 2000–2001 libel trial in the high court of the now discredited historian David Irving, which formed the backdrop for his recent conviction in Vienna for denying the Holocaust." [http://bbc.ask-adders.com/program-details/David+Irving%3A+The+London+Trial/20060226170000/ Program Details – David Irving: The London Trial 2006-02-26 17:00:00], ''[[BBC Radio 4]].''
* "Yet Irving, a discredited right-wing historian, was described by a High Court judge after a long libel trial as a racist anti-semite who denied the Holocaust." Edwards, Rob. "Anti-green activist in links with Nazi writer; Revealed: campaigner", ''[[The Sunday Herald]]'', 5 May 2002.
* "'The sentence against Irving confirms that he and his views are discredited, but as a general rule I don't think that this is the way this should be dealt with,' said [[Antony Lerman]], director of the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research. 'It is better to combat denial by education and using good speech to drive out bad speech.'" Gruber, Ruth Ellen. [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/28480/edition_id/541/format/html/displaystory.html "Jail sentence for Holocaust denier spurs debate on free speech"], ''[[J. The Jewish News of Northern California]]'', 24 February 2006.
* "Deborah Lipstadt is Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies and director of The Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University. She is the author of two books about the Holocaust. Her book ''Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory'' led to the 2000 court case in which she defeated and discredited Holocaust denier David Irving." [https://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/understanding/justice.html Understanding Auschwitz Today], Task of Justice & Danger of Holocaust Deniers, ''[[Public Broadcasting Service]]''.
* "After the discredited British historian David Irving was sentenced to a three-year jail term in Austria as a penalty for denying the Holocaust, the liberal conscience of western Europe has squirmed and agonised." Glover, Gillian. [http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1087&id=277732006 "Irving gets just what he wanted – his name in the headlines"], ''[[The Scotsman]]'', 23 February 2006.
* "...&nbsp;is a disciple of discredited historian and Holocaust denier David Irving." [[David Horowitz|Horowitz, David]]. ''The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America'', Regnery Publishing, 2006, {{ISBN|0-89526-003-4}}, p. 175.
* "If the case for competence applies to those who lack specialist knowledge, it applies even further to those who have been discredited as incompetent. For example, why ought we include David Irving in a debate aiming to establish the truth about the Holocaust, after a court has found that he manipulates and misinterprets history?" Long, Graham. ''Relativism and the Foundations of Liberalism'', Imprint Academic, 2004, {{ISBN|1-84540-004-6}}, p. 80.
* "Ironically, Julius is also a celebrated solicitor famous for his defence of Schuchard's colleague, Deborah Lipstadt, against the suit for of libel brought by the discredited historian David Irving brought when Lipstadt accused him of denying the Holocaust." [http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/pressreleases/tseliot.htm "T S Eliot's anti-Semitism hotly debated as scholars argue over new evidence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024024743/http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/presspr/pressreleases/tseliot.htm |date=24 October 2007 }}, [[University of York]], Communications Office, 5 February 2003.
* "Irving, a discredited historian, has insisted that Jews at Auschwitz were not gassed." "Irving vows to continue denial", Breaking News, ''[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]'', 7 February 2007.
* "David Irving, the discredited historian and Nazi apologist, was on Monday night starting a three-year prison sentence in Vienna for denying the Holocaust and the gas chambers of Auschwitz." [http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=264817&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/ "Historian jailed for denying Holocaust"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001011110/http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=264817&area=%2Fbreaking_news%2Fbreaking_news__international_news%2F |date=1 October 2007 }}, ''[[Mail & Guardian]]'', 21 February 2006.
* "Irving, a discredited historian, has insisted that Jews at Auschwitz were not gassed." [http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13464 "Irving Vows To Continue Denial"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070102022947/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13464 |date=2 January 2007 }}, ''[[The Jewish Week]]'', 29 December 2006.
* "The two best-known present-day Holocaust deniers are the discredited historian David Irving, jailed last year in Austria for the offence, and the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who wants Israel wiped off the map." Wills, Clair. " Ben Kiely and the 'Holocaust denial'", ''[[Irish Independent]]'', 10 March 2007.
* "[Irving] claimed that Lipstadt's book accuses him of falsifying historical facts to support his theory that the Holocaust never happened. This of course discredited his reputation as a historian. ... On 11 April, High Court judge Charles Gray ruled against Irving, concluding that he qualified as a Holocaust denier and anti-Semite, and that as such he distorted history to defend his hero, Adolf Hitler." Wyden, Peter. ''The Hitler Virus: the Insidious Legacy of Adolf Hitler'', Arcade Publishing, 2001, {{ISBN|1-55970-532-9}}, p. 164.
* "Now that holocaust denier David Irving has been discredited, what is the future of history?" Kustow, Michael. [http://www.redpepper.org.uk/cularch/xirving.html "History after Irving"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070416193052/http://www.redpepper.org.uk/cularch/xirving.html |date=16 April 2007 }}, ''[[Red Pepper (magazine)|Red Pepper]]'', June 2000.
* "In Britain, which does not have a Holocaust denial law, Irving had already been thoroughly discredited when he unsuccessfully sued historian Deborah Lipstadt in 1998 for describing him as a Holocaust denier." [[Agnes Callamard|Callamard, Agnès]]. "Debate: can we say what we want?", ''[[Le Monde diplomatique]]'', April 2007.
* "Holocaust denier and discredited British historian David Irving, for example, asserts. ... that Auschwitz gas chambers were constructed after World War II." [http://www.psychiatricnews.org/pnews/01-02-02/hate.html "Hate-Group Web Sites Target Children, Teens"], ''Psychiatric News'', [[American Psychiatric Association]], 2 February 2001.
* "Holocaust denier: An Austrian court hears discredited British historian David Irving's appeal against his jail sentence for denying the Nazi genocide of the Jews.", [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6183173.stm "The world this week"], [[BBC News]], 20 December 2006.
* "Discredited British historian David Irving began serving three years in an Austrian prison yesterday for denying the Holocaust, a crime in the country where Hitler was born." Schofield, Matthew. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/02/21/1140284069021.html?from=rss "Controversial Nazi apologist backs down, but still jailed for three years"], ''[[The Age]]'', 22 February 2006.</ref> lost his [[Irving v Penguin Books Ltd|English libel case]] against Deborah Lipstadt, and her publisher, [[Penguin Books]], and thus was publicly discredited and identified as a Holocaust denier,<ref>"Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory" by [[Deborah Lipstadt|Deborah E. Lipstadt]]. {{ISBN|0-452-27274-2}}</ref> the trial judge, [[Charles Gray (judge)|Justice Charles Gray]], concluded that "Irving has, for his own ideological reasons, persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence; that, for the same reasons, he has portrayed Hitler in an unwarrantedly favorable light, principally in relation to his attitude towards, and responsibility for, the treatment of the Jews; that he is an active Holocaust denier; that he is anti-semitic and racist, and that he associates with right-wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism."<ref>David Pallister ''[https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,3604,510058,00.html Author fights Holocaust denier judgment]'' in [[The Guardian]] 21 June 2001</ref>

On 20 February 2006, Irving was found guilty, and sentenced to three years imprisonment for Holocaust denial, under Austria's 1947 law banning Nazi revivalism and criminalizing the "public denial, belittling or justification of National Socialist crimes".<ref>Oliver Duff ''[http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article346741.ece David Irving: An anti-Semitic racist who has suffered financial ruin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070422204331/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article346741.ece |date=22 April 2007 }}'' 21 February 2006</ref> Besides Austria, eleven other countries<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4734648.stm Holocaust denier Irving to appeal] [[BBC]] 21 February 2006. "Austria is one of 11 countries with laws against denying the Holocaust."</ref>&nbsp;– including Belgium, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, and Switzerland&nbsp;– have criminalized Holocaust denial as punishable with imprisonment.<ref group="note">Laws against denying the Holocaust:
* Philip Johnston "[https://web.archive.org/web/20051220094335/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/02/18/nxeno18.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/02/18/ixnewstop.html Britons face extradition (to Germany) for 'thought crime' on net]" in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 18 February 2003
* Brendan O'Neill [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4578534.stm "Irving? Let the guy go home"] [from Austria] [[BBC]] 4 January 2006
* Malte Herwig ''[http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,395810,00.html The Swastika Wielding Provocateur]'' in ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' 16 January 2006
* {{cite news | title=German neo-Nazi revisionist Zuendel goes on trial | publisher=European Jewish Press | date=12 February 2006 | url=http://www.ejpress.org/article/5768 | access-date=12 February 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222032427/http://www.ejpress.org/article/5768 | archive-date=22 February 2006 | url-status=dead}}
* [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=JUSX9010223L 14 July 1990 Act prohibiting racist, antisemitic and xenophobic acts – ''loi Gayssot'']
* {{cite news | title=Row over anti-revisionist laws | date=4 January 2006 | url=http://www.ejpress.org/article/5044 | access-date=12 February 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060302094146/http://ejpress.org/article/5044 | archive-date=2 March 2006 | url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news | title=Belgian Holocaust denier held at Schiphol | publisher=Expatica News | date=5 August 2005 | url=http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=22551&name=Belgian+Holocaust+negationist+held+at+Schiphol | access-date=12 February 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516043308/http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=22551&name=Belgian+Holocaust+negationist+held+at+Schiphol | archive-date=16 May 2006 | url-status=dead }}
* [http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw99-2000/switzerland.htm About Switzerland laws] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025055218/http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw99-2000/switzerland.htm |date=25 October 2007 }} by the [[Stephen Roth Institute]] for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism
* Philip Johnston, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20030520020125/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/2000/01/21/nazi21.html Blair's pledge on Holocaust denial law abandoned]" in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 21 January 2000 and Lithuania.</ref>