False Prophets, fake skeptics: Holocaust denial in our time
by Hajime Tokuno, MD
The Connecticut Skeptic Vol.1 Issue 3
Spring 1996

Part I: The political basis for Holocaust Denial

How does a responsible citizen in a free society respond to the man who comes forth to state: "The earth is a flat entity, not spherical, as has been so often proclaimed throughout history." And furthermore he says to you, "Without the benefit of technical data (because I myself do not believe in the utility of such things), prove to me decisively that the world is not flat." You might at first think that he was being ignorant or delusional or irrational. On the other hand, you might also suppose that he knows the truth of the matter but prefers to state otherwise. He perhaps despises the prestige or elitism of modern science and wishes therefore to insult and defy its defenders with outrageous remarks.

Those who deny that there ever was a Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II have used a similar style of arguing. Deniers have subjugated science, in this case historical science, to a political agenda, creating a pseudoscience called Holocaust Denial. Whether they are cognizant con artists, or true believers duped by their own illogic, they distort facts to a desired end in the guise of skepticism. This two part article will examine first the political goals of Holocaust deniers, and then in a subsequent issue will delve into the various strategies of deception.

The Holocaust deniers come from the most extreme fringes of the political spectrum; they are (for now) mainly far right or far left wing demagogues: radical anarchists, so-called "libertarians", extreme "conservatives" and most of all dedicated fascists and neo-Nazis. Not all of them, however, have kept their distance from the mainstream in American politics. David Duke, the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, the founder of the NAAWP [National Association for the Advancement of White People], a self-proclaimed disciple of Adolf Hitler, garnered nearly 40% of the popular vote in Louisiana during his bid to become a United States Senator in the late 1980's. Patrick Buchanan, though not overtly a Holocaust denier, has in his earlier days as a right-wing columnist, cast doubts on certain specifics about the history of the Holocaust and questioned the validity of survivor stories in general. Talk show hosts have regularly invited and interviewed Holocaust deniers and have given them somewhat excessive exposure on daytime TV. Invariably, they have subjected tens of thousands of American viewers to vulgar and abusive campaigns of hate and bigotry...
SEE: http://www.theness.com/articles/holocaust-cs0102.html

Hajime Tokuno, M.D., is a Yale Research Fellow and the Attending Neurologist and Director, Neuromuscular Diseases & EEG / EMG Clinics, of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Haven, Connecticut.
SEE: http://www.vard.yale.edu/staff/tokuno.html

Dear Editor,

Dr. Tokuno's article on Holocaust denial (the Connecticut Skeptic, vol. 1 issues 3-4), scholarly though it is, contains a bothersome statement: that, among others, it is "so-called libertarians" who deny the Holocaust. So-called by whom? If, by "libertarian," he is referring to the Oklahoma City bombing types, then he is correct in fact but misleading with regard to the label. If he means actual libertarians, such as Milton Friedman, Stephen Crane, Doug Bandow, Virginia Postrel, etc., then he is terribly wrong...

Kimball Atwood, M.D.



Dear Dr. Atwood.

Thank you for your response. I was glad to hear your criticism. But first, I am very sorry if I ever implied that libertarians are holocaust deniers. (I do have a newer version of this same article which removes the stated clause).

I certainly did not mean to say such a thing. Nor did I mean to say that Communists are holocaust deniers. In fact, I added the vague phrase "so- called" because I do not know if: 1.) these folks really are libertarian in their overall beliefs and incidentally also practice holocaust denial or 2.) they are only labeling themselves libertarian in order to legitimize their views and associate themselves with the ideas of "free-speech" and "open- mindedness."

...I think that since we allow neo-Nazis to advertise their "substance" on videos, websites and shortwave radio, we should as concerned citizens take initiative to teach whatever we can in all the available forms of modern media to counteract their impact.

I'm not sure that everything about the Holocaust is true, and I don't know whether I am allowed to question it. Is it legal to dispute that Jews were rendered into soap and skinned for lampshades?

Would I be allowed to disbelieve statements that "geysers of blood" were shooting up from the ground at Auschwitz?

I have been taught that 4 million died at Auschwitz, but now people are saying that only 1.5 million died there. Does that mean that there were still 6 million killed in all. I'm sorry, but the math doesn't add up. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I can't force myself to believe that 2+2 = 5.

If I say these things in public should I go to jail, just like the people who said that the earth revolved around the sun during the days of religious tyranny?

If I were in Germany, I would go to jail for mentioning these things. I hope that doesn't happen here...

Holocaust Denial on the Internet

The following are some typical examples of homepage sites belonging to so-called revisionists. I included brief summaries of their contents. All these sites can be accessed quickly and easily via the Netscape Navigator on keyword "HOLOCAUST." I have listed here only a few entries from the first 100 addresses.

Of "Jewish Soap" and veiled hatred
-----------------------------------
Synopsis: proposing that the myth of Jewish bodies being made into soap was a "malicious" lie designed to generate hatred against non-Jews
address: http://www.io.com/~wlp/aryan-page/holo-soap.html

CODOH Advertisements
--------------------
The Holocaust Story: How much is false?
A Revisionist Challenge to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Synopsis: ridiculing the criticism by Holocaust historians as thought-policing and McCarthyism, they restate the claim that Nazi gas chambers were not responsible for 6 million jewish deaths during WWII, failing to mention that 4 million were killed by military operations and 2 million by gas chambers.
address: http://www.valleynet.com/~brsmith/ads/ads.html

Zundelsite-Nizkor Corr
---------------------
Synopsis: calling the critics of Holocaust denial "abusive & unfair," presenting the usual three postulates of a typical revisionist: 1. gas chambers never existed, 2. Hitler never ordered the killing of Jews, 3. The number of dead was grossly overestimated.
http://www.webcom.com/~ezundel/english/zzz.deail.ooza.html

None of your links work. Are you trying to make a point?

Do you mean to say that skepticism is somehow illegitimate?

Please stop playing with my mind. I already have a difficult time believing in the Holocaust stories, and God knows I try. I just want to be a good person, but I can't make the doubts go away. If only the story had been a bit more consistent and less fantastic, then it might be easier. I don't want to go to hell, so please make the story easier to swallow.

The original article appeared in the Spring 1996 Issue of The Connecticut Skeptic, as can be clearly read at the top of the page. During the past seven years the original links have been remove, but these very same articles still circulate the web and are still all too easy to find...

TRANSCRIPT OF ZUNDEL DETENTION HEARING, FEBRUARY 28, 2003
IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE BOARD

Record of a Detention Review under the Immigration Act, concerning
ERNST ZUNDEL

...MR. STEWART: ...For an extended period of time in Canada, until his departure, I understand around August 2000, Mr. Zundel lived in the Toronto area and was viewed as a leader and in fact a patriarch of the WHITE SUPREMACIST Movement in Canada.

...MR. STEWART: I believe this is from an interview that was conducted by Victor Malorek (ph) during a program that was aired on the CBC in 1993.

MR. STEWART: This is a lengthy document and a lengthy interview, and at risk of taking some of these portions out of context, I will just recite some of the pages that have come to my attention here.

Mr. Zundel says, "I have SUPPORTED young groups in Germany, yes absolutely, I have organized speaking tours for what I call Ernest Zundel's foreign legion, the intellectual foreign legions. That's where the money went, information campaigns." Mr. Malorek asks, "this is what Germany's NEO-NAZI'S call," excuse me, this is a statement from Mr. Malorek, "this is what Germany's neo-Nazis call an information campaign. This is an annual rally in honour of RUDOLPH HESS (ph), if there's furor marketed on a video by Zundel's company Samistad (ph). Organizer Christian Vork (ph) seen in the middle of the stage stays, "Zundel contributed its funds for these events."

...MR. STEWART: I understand that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rules that the web site controlled by Mr. Zundel violated sections of the Canadian Human Rights Act, and in January, I believe of 2002 he was ordered to removal material, extensive portions of material from that web site.... My understanding of it is that the web site still contains material that was determined by the Canadian Human Rights Commission to be in violation of its statutes.

...MR. STEWART: As I say, Mr. Zundel's web site is extensive, has a list of articles that are available. He has a table of contents. He has lists of items, documents, videocassettes, and audiocassettes, that are for sale. He has an extensive list of information related to, and I'll cite a few just from the table of contents, a revisionist challenge to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Nuremberg the Crime That Will Not Die, JEWISH SOAP, the Liberation of the Camps; Facts Versus Lies, Put Holocaust Denial in it's Place By Publishing the Evidence, What is Holocaust Denial.

This is bullshit. I don't care whether Zundel is a "nazi" or not. Where are your facts? I am getting sick of this shit.

PROVE the lampshades and soap story. Political affiliations have nothing to do with physical evidence, which is what you owe us.

If we are payiong Israel trillions of dollars for a lie, people like yourself WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

Now stop smearing dissenters and give us some hard proof. I want to see the ashes, the bones, and the logistics. It's there in Rwanda and Cambodia, so why can't you find it in Poland? Eh?

You are a privileged ivy-league elitist, yet you can prove nothing but political affiliations. You don't desertve to call yourself "doctor."