Christopher Hitchens: “The Holocaust has become a secular religion, with state support in the form of a national museum.”
David Irving is arguably one of the most controversial historians of the modern era. He has been characterized by critics as an “anti-Semite,” a “neo-Nazi,” and a “Holocaust denier.” In 2010, former news anchor Keith Olbermann went so far as to include Irving among the “world’s worst” individuals.[1][http://www.youtube.com,/]www.youtube.com, 09/16/10. Michael Shermer and Alex Grobman call him “the most historically sophisticated of the [Holocaust] deniers.”[2] Richard J. Evans, a historian who was a witness at the Holocaust trial, denounces Irving’s writing as......
Irving’s Fatal Error: Taking Lipstadt to Court
I have argued for years that Irving made a fundamental error in suing Lipstadt, as there was little chance of victory—particularly given the substantial financial support organized by Jewish organizations for her defense. Even Hollywood mogul Steven Spielberg contributed thousands of dollars to the case.[60] One can reasonably argue that Irving’s decision to take Lipstadt to court was the very event that ended up rescuing the Holocaust establishment. Had the matter remained in the arena of scholarly debate—rather than being shifted into a courtroom shaped by political and ideological maneuvering—the establishment would likely have been dealt a serious intellectual blow, perhaps even a fatal one. Although it remains intellectually vulnerable, it regained a veneer of political respectability because its defenders were able to claim a courtroom “victory.” That outcome fostered a kind of hubristic confidence—an implicit belief that the archives and the historical record no longer pose a threat to their narrative. They are, of course, mistaken. But the perception of having prevailed has allowed them to marginalize Irving and, to a degree, silence him in the broader public sphere.
Lipstadt admits that when Rabbi Herbert Friedman heard about the case, he pulled Lipstadt aside and said, “It’s time to get organized. Irving set his sights on you, but it’s the entire Jewish community and historical truth that he is aiming at.”[61]
In a similar vein, Leslie Wexner, chairman and CEO of Limited Brands, declared, “This is not Deborah’s issue. It’s our issue.”[62]
Lipstadt declared that Wexner “then relayed a message to me that I was not to worry about funds…All this was done quietly and without any publicity or fanfare.”[63]
In my personal view, Irving would have been better served by writing a book aimed at systematically challenging the central claims of Lipstadt and the broader Holocaust establishment. Such an approach would have been both more intellectually rigorous and historically damaging to Lipstadt’s position than pursuing a court case. I know people who attended his conferences and spoke with him about this very issue, and they told me that he regretted taking Lipstadt to court.
