I think another big factor in Holocaust denial is that people are opposed to the state of Israel and Israel’s creation flowed in large part from the Holocaust. Look at Iran’s Ahmedinejad for an example of this.
People often take hold of conspiracy theories if the facts conflict with their world view. Israel has no right to exist so the Holocaust is a myth. America is the source of all evil so 9/11 was an American plot. Burning fossil fuels is beneficial so global warming is a fraud. The Bible says God created the world in six days so the scientists who say otherwise must be in cahoots. And so on and so forth.
And the tired claim that history is written by the winners is so bogus. History is a living study. It is never finalized. Understandings of past events are constantly evolving. Sure, the victors put their spin on things, but so do the losers. It’s not like we take an unreservedly admiring view of Rome because they were such champs on the battlefield.
Had that eperience with my dad. Both my parents are survivors and my father has a number tatooed on his arm. We were at a NY style deli where the waitstaff likes to give the folks a hard time. The guy was going through his gruff NYorker bit when he saw my dad’s arm.
He stopped mid sentance, looked at him and said “you’ve had a hard enough time” (or such, I paraphrase) and was the model of respect for the rest of meal.
I had grown up with the number, but I never wittnessed its effect on someone else before. It was a profound moment.
Yes, many organizations are working on recording the stories of Holocaust survivors. I used to work at a Holocaust museum, and when large groups (mostly schoolchildren, it’s mandated in the state of Florida that the Holocaust be part of the curriculum) scheduled tours they’d have a survivor speak to the children. Most of them are of course quite advanced in age, so in order to preserve their stories the museum has asked as many as feel comfortable sharing their stories on film to make a video. When all the survivors are gone, they plan to share the videos with the children.
They also commissioned a local photographer to photograph the survivors, who then wrote a memory or thought on their photographs. That exhibit is quite powerful, to see several rooms full of local survivors, some of whom you’ll run into at the admissions desk or in the gift shop.
I met many amazing survivors there. It’s incredible, really, seeing the letters on display in the “Hidden Children” part of the exhibit, then walking into the gift shop to see Marie, whose mother wrote those letters to her when she was in hiding in Belgium. Or to think that when Marie was denounced and arrested, she escaped the camp with the help of the French resistance.
Man, now I miss them all. I need to start volunteering there, no matter how shitty your life is, talking with them about their grandkids (or anything really) makes you realize how strong they are, to have had such a horrible, traumatic past and be so normal.
One of the hardest parts of working there was when someone said, “I’m a survivor.” I never knew what to say to that. For example, I was working the reception desk for our Kristallnacht vigil, and guests were asked to sign in as guests, members, staff, etc. Survivors that I did not know would reply that they were survivors when I asked what category I should mark them down as, and I always felt so awkward. “I’m sorry” seems like the correct response, but not really. These people have had 60+ years to greive the loss of their loved ones, and deal with their trauma, so I doubt my condolences would mean anything, and might be insulting. I dunno, sorry about the hijack.
Speaking from my parents experience, a nice response is “thank you for being here tonight”. My parents appreciate when someone cared that they came out to an event be a visible sign. For them it was a deliberate decision to participate in Holocaust memorial events because of the trauma. However, they knew they must to keep the memory alive.
Having grown up in a town that’s about 30% Jewish, I unfortunately have to agree with this. Bigotry usually has very little to do with experience and logic.
With regards to the reason why people buy into conspiracies, I was recently discussing the conspiracy crazies who think that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job. Someone suggested that one of the reasons why otherwise reasonable people believe things like that is because it in some way makes it more comprehensible to them. “A global network of terrorists murdered thousands” is just hard to wrap your mind around; if you twist that into “Our government [a familiar entity] murdered thousands”, it’s somehow easier for some people to understand. Fill in an existing group you’re a little bit scared or intimidated of, but they’re not totally foreign.
I think that some holocaust deniers are in fact using similar ‘logic’. There’s no way that so many millions could be killed, because, well, that’s just too scary. So you tell yourself that They twisted facts, and They faked evidence, and all that, and suddenly it’s not some incomprehensible horror, it’s just another Us vs. Them mentality type thing.
Hm, maybe so. One other thing that I notice about 9/11 truthers and moon hoaxers is that many of them are attracted to knowing the “real story”–they like having this secret knowledge and feeling like they’re clever to see through the deception that we other sheep have swallowed whole. The Da Vinci Code played on this same love of knowing the secret, real truth.
But I don’t really see how that character element applies to Holocaust deniers. Does anyone have thoughts on this particular side of the question?
There was definitely an element of all this with the guy I was talking to, a nudge nudge wink wink ‘I know the real score’ attitude. As I said he struck me as reasonably (or unreasonably ) intelligent but maybe that idea of secret knowledge or even just contrarianism appealed to him and appeals to other deniers.
phouka! That’s the quote I have wanted to find! Thanks so much!
samclem, the Holocaust Museum (or Memorial) – I’ve forgotten which it is called now – is overwhelmingly well-done. It is like no place we have ever been.
Maybe it’s because I was an adult when Kennedy was assasinated and that sometimes makes a difference, but I wouldn’t dream of putting conspiracy theorists about his assasination in the same category with people who think the moon landing was rigged. The people who first began to ask questions about Oswald, Jack Ruby and their associates were not nutcakes.
I don’t think I knew of any academicians who didn’t eventually question the Warren Report. Do you think we should just believe whatever our government tells us? Johnson? Nixon? [/hijack]
I’ve always assumed that Holocaust deniers are bigoted. Is that a mistake?
Agreed. They’re in fact often well-informed about the subject matter and need to be to carry out their political agenda, which make no mistake about it is to rehabilitate fascism.
I still think if the Cambodian “killing fields” had any kind of political/social importance to Americans, as the Holocaust does, there would be deniers. Sometimes even I have trouble wrapping my mind around the sheer quantity of death that was dealt there.
) intelligent but maybe that idea of secret knowledge or even just contrarianism appealed to him and appeals to other deniers.