Fred Leuchter
Whilst Fred Leuchter was only active for a relatively short time in the Holocaust denial movement, his contribution to it has long outlived his presence. His 'expert report', known as The Leuchter Report attempts to show that the gas chambers at the main Auschwitz camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek could not have operated as such. Leuchter completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in History, in 1964 - a feat almost unique among Holocaust deniers, and to reveal itself as being rather ironic in the late 1980s. He shot to the forefront of the Holocaust denial movement in 1988 as an expert witness as the re-trial of Ernst Zundel in Toronto. Touted as an expert in execution technology, Leuchter was due to present an expert report on the gas chambers at the main Auschwitz camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Majdanek. He has been previously hired, at the suggestion of Robert Faurisson, by Zundel to travel to the camps to 'research' the technical impossibilities of the gas chambers operating as such. Whilst the report purported to show that the gas indeed were technically impossible, a two types of issues arose. Firstly, the report was full of glaring errors. Secondly, his academic qualifications did also not exist. This second point is perhaps illustrated by quoting directly from the trial transcript. The questions are being asked by Prosecution Attorney Pearson:
Given the massive problems with the Leuchter's report, it was not accepted as evidence. Following the trial, further allegations emerged about Leuchter's professional credentials emerged: he did not have any. He had not been employed by any United States prison as he had claimed, and he had been fraudulently practicing as an engineer in Massachusetts. For several years following the Zundel re-trial, Leuchter was a prominent individual on the Holocaust denial speaking circuit across the globe, and included appearances at the so-called 'Revisionism Campaign' meeting on the steps on the German Museum in Munich in March 1991 and at Gunter Deckert's Weinheim meeting in November of the same year, and was scheduled to appear on a German television show, but was arrested before given the chance. When released on bail, Leuchter promptly fled the country. Leuchter produced three more reports; however, it is his first the remains the most influential within the Holocaust denial movement. He has long since left the movement (publicly, at least), but his influence remains. The Leuchter Report is credited as being the document that brought David Irving from the fringes of the movement into its core. |
Full name: Fred A. Leuchter, Jr