Difference between revisions of "Holocaust denial"
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'''Holocaust denial''' says that the Nazi [[Holocaust]] did not occur. Holocaust deniers assert that the Nazis did not attempt to exterminate the [[Jews]] (as well as political opponents, Gypsies, Catholics and other Christian church members opposed to his policies, mentally retarded, etc.) during [[World War II]]. | '''Holocaust denial''' says that the Nazi [[Holocaust]] did not occur. Holocaust deniers assert that the Nazis did not attempt to exterminate the [[Jews]] (as well as political opponents, Gypsies, Catholics and other Christian church members opposed to his policies, mentally retarded, etc.) during [[World War II]]. | ||
Revision as of 02:55, May 1, 2007
Holocaust denial says that the Nazi Holocaust did not occur. Holocaust deniers assert that the Nazis did not attempt to exterminate the Jews (as well as political opponents, Gypsies, Catholics and other Christian church members opposed to his policies, mentally retarded, etc.) during World War II.
A variation of holocaust denial admits that the Nazis did these crimes against humanity but denies that Hitler gave the order to do so, such as the theories propounded by David Irving and given scholastic credence by Wikipedia. [1]
The holocaust denial view point has no support amongst any significant scholars. This denial is partly a result of a growing number of existentialist thinkers who refer to history as simply a myth as well as the result of the efforts of history revisionists and anti-Zionists.
As denial of the holocaust is nonfactual, another common strategy of history revisionism is to relativate the holocaust by comparing it to other genocides, the death toll of Germans in WWII, persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, or the number of abortions.
One of its main purposes is to discredit the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. Questioning the historicity of the Holocaust is considered gravely offensive to Jews [2], and anti-Semitic in nature. Denying the Holocaust is illegal in a number of European countries. Recently, historical revisionist Ernst Zündel was sentenced in Germany to five years in prison for Holocaust denial. [3]
Recently, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has made many public statements condemning Israel and Jews in general, has questioned the existence of the Holocaust and hosted a conference designed to cast doubt on the idea of its historicity. [4]
Holocaust Denial in Japan
A base of anti-semitism is observable in the liberal news medias of Japan in which news sources (Shukanshi) including the popular Shukan Bunshun has repeatedly published articles denying the German holocaust of European Jews[5].
References
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Wannsee Conference," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference#_note-8 (accessed April 19, 2007).
- ↑ http://skepdic.com/holocaustdenial.html
- ↑ http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,466785,00.html
- ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236014,00.html
- ↑ Adam Gamble & Takesato Watanabe - A Public Betrayed - An Inside Look at Japanese Media Atrocities and Their Warnings to the West, 2004.
