American Jewish Committee Applauds Launching Of Website Combating Holocaust Denial

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 2 November 2000

The American Jewish Committee today applauded the launching of the new website, HolocaustDenialOnTrial.org. The site, housed at Emory University, was established with the help of the American Jewish Committee in the aftermath of this year's highly publicized London-based Holocaust denial trial.

British author David Irving had sued leading American academic Dr. Deborah Lipstadt for libel after she labeled him a Holocaust denier in her book Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. Ruling in Dr. Lipstadt's favor, the British judge called Irving a "Holocaust denier," a "racist," an "anti-Semite," and a "right-wing pro-Nazi polemicist" who "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence."

Kenneth Stern, AJC's expert on anti-Semitism and extremism, was a key advisor to the defense in this trial, and one of the main architects of the website.

"The material prepared for trial," said Mr. Stern, "was too important to be used simply to help one judge in one courtroom in one country. This website – appropriately housed at Emory, where Dr. Lipstadt teaches – will help people around the world better understand the inner workings and the historical manipulations of the denial movement."

Mr. Stern noted that there were volumes of information introduced in court, some from Mr. Irving's own diaries, which document his deep and close connections with some of the most notorious white supremacists around the world, including American groups such as the neo-Nazi National Alliance, and individuals such as former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

"Deniers play on people's ignorance," said Mr. Stern. "This site will give researchers, students, and others the tools to see Holocaust denial for the anti-Semitic political movement it is, and understand how it manipulates history by mistranslation, distortion, misquotation, and outright lies."

Finally, Mr. Stern continued, "many people have had a hand in creating this important site. But it would not exist without the inspiration of Dr. Lipstadt and the support of Eli Evans of the Revson Foundation."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org