Holocaust Denial 1 Masaryk University Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature Holocaust Denial Bachelor Thesis Brno 2010 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. Ladislav Vykoukal Holocaust Denial 2 Prohlášení: Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci zpracoval samostatně a použil jen prameny uvedené v seznamu literatury. .................................. Podpis Holocaust Denial 3 Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Zdeněk Janík for his valuable advice and help. Holocaust Denial 4 Annotation This bachelor thesis deals with the phenomenon of the Holocaust Denial. It provides a detailed rendering of historical events leading to Holocaust as well as contradictory statements of the protagonists of Holocaust Denial. The chief aim of this research is to indicate potential consequences of such claims and to provide a warning for the new generations of the danger of racial hatred and intolerance. The first chapter is dedicated to the introduction of this occurrence as such. The second chapter deals with the ideology behind Holocaust. The third chapter is about the topic of Holocaust itself based on historical evidence. The fourth chapter provides a summary of the most common assertions of supporters of Holocaust Denial and their tactics. The fifth chapter deals with the education of Holocaust as prevention to future displays of racism and intolerance. Polemics about potential as well as existent consequences resulting from denials of this historical event are found in conclusion. Holocaust Denial 5 Table of contents 1. Introduction 7 2. Ideology Behind Holocaust 10 2.1. Race Science 10 2.2. Eugenics 11 2.3. Anti-Semitisn 12 3. The History of Holocaust 15 3.1. Social Life 15 3.3.1. Bureaucracy 16 3.2. Proceedings against the Enemies of the State 17 3.2.1. Race Laws 17 3.2.2. Kristallnacht 18 3.3. Final Solution 18 3.3.1. Mobile Killing Squads 20 3.3.2. Ghettos 20 3.3.3. Concentration and Extermination Camps 21 3.3.3.1 Special Detachment 22 3.4. Historical Evidence of Holocaust 22 3.4.1. Thievery of the Nazi Regime 23 3.4.2. The Reaction of the World 21 3.5. The Reaction of the World towards Holocaust 24 3.6. Personal Responsibilities 24 4. The Denial 29 4.1. Identity of the Deniers 30 4.2. The Methods of Deniers 30 4.2.1. Relativism 32 4.2.2. Revisionism 33 4.3. Danger of Holocaust Denial 34 5. Education 36 5.1. Practical Suggestions 36 5.2. Situation of Holocaust Education in Czech Schools 37 5.3. Conclusion 42 6. Conclusion 44 Holocaust Denial 6 List of References 47 Appendices 50 Holocaust Denial 7 1. Introduction Young people living all their lives in a democratic system take it for granted without hardly any notion about the persistence in effort of the previous generations to achieve this, however “much of world history documents the struggle of people to build societies that include and protect everyone” (Strom 52). The struggle to maintain democracy will never cease. There is always a tendency to deteriorate due to amnesia. There are also various extremist movements at work which spread their ideologies, searching for a willing listener. It is no surprise that it is always young people who are targeted as they do not have the experience of the consequences of totalitarian regimes. The young generations should always be able to take a lesson from the mistakes made by the previous generations so that they make the best in preparing life for themselves as well as for their descendants. This is the concept how education should work and it is the duty of us teachers to pass on children and young people this message. We do not have the right to keep silent and not to share with them the information of the achievements as well as of the mistakes of ourselves and our forefathers because their future could be thus endangered. It has to be viewed as our privilege to provide testimony about the long and persistent effort to build a democratic system. The burden of this enormously important responsibility does not lie on the educational system only. Parents should be well aware of the interests of their children and of the philosophies they are influenced with. Also the ability to distinguish right from wrong is to be taught consistently and commenced with as soon as possible. One of the strategies of the most active and dangerous extremist groups is to attack this concept of retrospection by means of suppressing memory which is denying that certain historical events ever happened. No matter how ludicrous it may seem, these strategies are rather effective and the number of listeners as well as new followers is growing every day. For certain reasons, which will be dealt with later on in the text, their main interest lies in denying the Jewish genocide – Holocaust which was one of the most gruesome chapters in the history of mankind where 6 000 000 of human beings were ruthlessly and systematically killed and liquidated. The chief aim of this bachelor thesis is the following: by studying in detail the Jewish Genocide, light will be shed on the fundaments of racial and religious hatreds and their possible consequences. Some of the most important historical instances connected with the Holocaust will be brought into focus and after all the important facts Holocaust Denial 8 about this occurrence have been viewed, further investigation will be necessary to ascertain what made it happen. The circumstances leading to Holocaust will be explored and compared with the world of nowadays where the risk of recurrence of these events is even more acute due to the claims and activities of Holocaust Deniers. The more we delve into the phenomenon of Holocaust the more we should empathize with people afflicted by this horrible tragedy and in this sense we should consider it our responsibility never to let it happen again. In this respect the education of children and young people should comprise empathy towards other people and their suffering. Denying that evident crimes committed against an individual, a group of people or a nation ever happened is very cruel and it is in fact a criminal attitude in itself. It is very difficult for the ones that have not experienced all the Nazi horrors to imagine what pain and humiliation is caused to the victims of genocide who suddenly become imposters. Every government must protect the memory of the victims and such claims should be placed beside the law. All the prejudices ought to be examined, lies challenged and the motives of deniers investigated. The education about Holocaust, to which is dedicated the last chapter, is to be included into the curriculum and young people should be well equipped with all the necessary facts. The current situation regarding this kind of education in the Czech schools will be also brought into focus. Why is it so important that all these historical events be retold? It is necessary that people take a lesson from their mistakes of allowing and tolerating the horrible crimes to be perpetrated. According to journalist Judith Miller, there is a big danger that they might be committed again if people are ignorant of history: Knowing and remembering the evil in history and in each of us might not prevent a recurrence of genocide. But ignorance of history or the suppression of memory removes the surest defense we have, however inadequate, against such gigantic cruelty and indifference to it (Strom 471). The realization of the Jewish Genocide was only possible with the participation of the whole nation making use of science and implementation of the most modern inventions. The answer how it was possible that large masses of people were indoctrinated with hatred towards certain group of people even with the justification of Holocaust Denial 9 their murder and liquidation, lies in education as it was misused to the advantage of destruction of democratic system of law and order. According to Albert Einstein “the pre-war schooling system was interested rather in creating mental machines than human beings” (Strom 128). The notion that science and technological progress can only serve for the good of humanity had once and for all been shattered. It should be considered as our chief aim that education always serves for the benefit of humanity. Dear Teacher: I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness: Gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. So I am suspicious of education. My request is: Help your students become human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns. Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if they serve to make our children more human (Strom 519). Holocaust Denial 10 2. Ideology behind Holocaust 2.1. Race Science The reason for the extermination of the Jews is found in the ideology of “race betterment” and “racial hygiene” called the Race Science which means upholding the purity of the Aryan race as set by the study of Eugenics which will be dealt with further in the next subchapter. The race scientists based their hypothesis on the findings of Samuel Morton a surgeon and anthropologist interested in craniometry who supported his views of the distinction of the white race by measuring the size of sculls he gathered from all over the world. He came to the conclusion that the white (Caucasian) race is superior due to the fact that it possesses the largest brain cavity.