Holocaust Denial: David Irving
A popular lecturer and revered "authority" within the Holocaust-denial
movement, Irving established a reputation as a chronicler of World War
II history before adopting the extreme tenets of Holocaust denial. At
the CODOH site, visitors can find portions of several of Irving's books,
information about how to purchase them, and issues of his "Action
Report" newsletter. Now Irving has a Web site of his own, listed
under the name of his British publishing company, Focal Point Publications
(FPP). Echoing the depiction of Bradley Smith at CODOH's site, the FPP
site presents Irving deceptively as a historian fighting for intellectual
freedom.
The FPP site contains a biography of Irving, copies of his correspondence,
and transcripts of his speeches. His biography paints him as an intellectual,
the author of over 30 books. He is pictured as a father figure, sitting
with the youngest of his five daughters. The text of over 20 letters penned
by Irving to various newspapers, published and unpublished, appears in
the correspondence section. Of the seven transcripts of his speeches at
the site, two record talks Irving gave at IHR conferences. At a 1989 IHR
convention, Irving announced to loud applause his total "conversion"
to Holocaust denial, declaring "I too now believe fully in the myth
of the Holocaust!"
Sections of the site entitled "The Legal Battles" and "The
Controversies" offer a biased account of Irving's conflicts with
organizations that he feels have violated his rights. He provides extensive
documentation of his libel action against Penguin Books and Holocaust
historian Deborah Lipstadt, his "illegal expulsion" from Canada,
and the attempts of "German Public Prosecutors" to jail him
for denying the Holocaust. Irving also devotes space to the "St.
Martin's Press Scandal," in which that publisher cancelled its contract
to publish his 1996 book Goebbels: Mastermind of the Third Reich
in the United States after his ties to the Holocaust denial movement were
publicized. Chapters from this book and some of Irving's other works,
such as the as-yet unpublished second volume of Churchill's War,
can also be found at his site.
The Focal Point Publications site includes a book catalog that sells
"rare books": titles by Irving such as Apocalypse 1945: The
Destruction of Dresden and Nuremberg: The Last Battle. As with
many other Internet book sellers, customers need only specify the books
they want from a menu on their computer screen; type in an address; provide
a credit card number and click on a hotspot to submit this information.
Irving's book catalog highlights the importance of the Internet to extremists
as a way to sell items that would not normally be available in mainstream
stores.
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