David Irving

Full name: David John Cadwell Irving
Year of Birth: 1938
Place of residence: London, U.K.
Web site: Focal Point Publications

As the most prominent of all Holocaust deniers in the world at the beginning of the 21st century, it is somewhat ironic that David Irving does not consider himself to be one - or, for that matter, a 'revisionist'. Indeed, as he is quick to state, he has never written a book on the Holocaust and alleges to find the field boring. Furthermore, given his long writing career, Irving's entry into the Holocaust denial movement came relatively late - in 1988 - and since this time, his views have varied considerably, although he has remained firmly a Holocaust denier.

Born in 1938 in England, Irving is the son of a naval commander. He was educated at a small grammar (private) school, at which he achieved reasonable academic success. Upon completion, he enrolled in physics at a London University college, but withdrew and became a steelworker in Germany's Ruhr industrial area. Whilst here, Irving claims he first heard about the Allied bombing of Dresden on February 13, 1945, and was inspired enough to write a book about it, which became the first of several publishing successes. However, as historian Richard J. Evans has shown, the book contains factual distortions and errors - a common thread that runs through many of Irving's books. A second abortive attempt at university followed his stint in Germany, but by this time, Irving was earning enough as a writer to survive.

Irving has published over thirty books, most of which have been translated into other languages and have on occasion been published as second editions. Whilst most have earnt respect for the level of research Irving conducted, the nature of the historiography contained in them has drawn criticism. At the forefront in this regard is Irving's 1977 book Hitler's War. Described by Irving as being written from Hitler's perspective, the most sensational claim contained therein was that not only did Hitler not endorse the extermination of European Jewry, he also did not know about it. Although refuted almost immediately, Irving continued to propagate this lie until the mid-1990s. Indeed, the 1991 edition of Hitler's War went even further, as Irving excised all references to the Holocaust from its pages.

Having lurked on the fringes of the Holocaust denial movement since the late 1970s, Irving entered the movement in 1988, when he testified on behalf of Ernst Zundel at the latter's re-trial in 1988. The defining document that swayed him down the path into outright denial of Holocaust historiography was the pseudo-scientific 'report' of self-proclaimed execution technology expert Fred Leuchter. Although Irving admitted in 2000 that he only glanced through Leuchter's publication the night before he was due to testify, and subsequently did not seek to verify independently the claims contained in it, Irving nonetheless publicly supported the so-called Leuchter Report.

In the years following the Zundel re-trial, Irving was a leading protaganist in the 'International Revisionism Campaign'. In 1989 he published the British edition of the Leuchter Report, for which he wrote the preface. He spoke frequently on his views on the Holocaust - not infrequently in offensive terms. For instance, in front of an audience in Calgary, Canada, Irving stated that

[..]

I don't see any reason to be tasteful about Auschwitz. It's baloney, it's a legend. Once we admit the fact that it was a brutal slave labour camp and large numbers of people did die, as large numbers of innocent people died elsewhere in the war, why believe the rest of the baloney? I say quite tastelessly, in fact, that more women died on the back seat of Edward Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than ever died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz. Oh, you think that's tasteless, how about this? There are so many Auschwitz survivors going around, in fact the number increases as the years go past, which is biologically very odd to say the least. Because I'm going to form an Association of Auschwitz survivors, survivors of the Holocaust and other liars, or the ASSHOLS."

[..]

During the 1990s, Irving found himself banned from several countries, primarily as a result of his Holocaust denial activities. He was expelled from Canada in 1992, as he had violated the terms of his visa, banned from Germany in 1993, having been convicted for a Holoaust denial-related offence, and on the basis of these two events, was denied a visa to enter Australia.

In the late 1990s, Irving became increasingly litigious. He accused Penguin Books and American academic Deborah Lipstadt of libel, on the basis of what she wrote about him in her book Denying the Holocaust. The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (New York: Penguin, 1993). The case came to trial in early 2000, and following thirty days of proceedings, his case was rejected, and the defence was awarded costs. He appealed, and in early 2003, the case was still ongoing. The 2000 trial attracted worldwide media publicity, which on the one hand gave Irving the publicity he was seeking, but on the other hand destroyed any remaining reputation he may have had, as the ruling against him was severe. Irving also has a case pending against the British newspaper The Guardian and his longtime nemesis Gita Sereny.

Irving maintains an extensive web site, on which he publishes material from a wide range of sources and which addresses a similarly broad range of topics, although, it must be said, antisemitism is the common thread that links much of the site's content.