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Top Takeaways

Holocaust denier claims run the gamut. Some鈥痮f these falsely say that most Jewish people were not killed in a World War II systematic genocide but instead were the victims of disease, starvation鈥痮r other indiscriminate hardships. Other Holocaust-denial group members鈥痚mbrace鈥痗laims that鈥痶he gas chambers did not exist or were used only to鈥痙elouse prisoners.鈥疢any deniers claim the gas chambers could not鈥痟ave鈥痥illed as many victims as historical research shows,鈥痯ropping up鈥痶heir arguments by highlighting discrepancies in the number of recorded casualties. Others suggest that the gas chambers were built after the war as a way of extracting reparations from the Germans and/or to justify the creation of Israel.

Holocaust deniers and revisionists also promote antisemitic tropes common within the broader white power movement, including conspiracies that Jewish people control the media and political systems through powerful behind-the-scenes networks. In all its forms, the antisemitism of these groups and individuals delegitimizes the suffering of Jewish people and exacerbates intergenerational traumas by denying Holocaust history and codifying antisemitic propaganda under the guise of academic research.

What鈥檚 Next

Holocaust deniers and revisionists mask antisemitism and racism under the guise of free speech and鈥�鈥渁sking questions.鈥濃�疢ajor revisionist organizations including the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust are producing online content, books and other publications鈥痶o push the message that the current understanding of the Shoah has been drastically overblown because of Jewish control of media and academics.鈥疪ecent publications such as鈥�Riddles of the Jew鈥檚 Success听补苍诲 Sin Against the Blood, produced by Clemens and Blair, an鈥痑ntisemitic hate group and publisher,鈥痷nderscore deniers鈥� attempts鈥痶o portray themselves as scholars and truth seekers rather than purveyors of hate and antisemitism. Moreover, Committee for the Open Debate of the Holocaust (CODOH), an organization known for Holocaust鈥痳evisionism and denial, has unveiled a free online encyclopedia that lacks credible evidence and distorts historical facts by deploying half-truths and baseless speculative inquiries, while Castle Hill,鈥痶he鈥痝roup鈥檚 publishing arm,鈥痗ontinues to sell鈥痑ntisemitic鈥痓ooks masquerading as academic inquiry.

Background

Holocaust denial has long been an essential manifestation of antisemitism in the radical right. 罢丑别鈥�Institute for Historical Review聽(IHR), formed by Willis Carto in 1978, became the first major Holocaust-denial group to develop a substantial membership base, though deniers had been active prior to its existence. As the founder of numerous far-right groups and a campaigner for several conservative political candidates, Carto had varied and far-reaching influence. Following his ouster from IHR for fraud and financial mismanagement, Carto went on to鈥痜ound鈥�The Barnes Review鈥� 鈥� a leading U.S.-based Holocaust-denial publication 鈥� and the鈥�American Free Press,聽a newspaper peddling Holocaust denial and other conspiracy theories.

Carto鈥檚 contemporary, German-born鈥�Ernst Z眉ndel,鈥痳emains鈥痑 seminal figure in Holocaust denial鈥痚ven after鈥痟is death in 2017. In 1977 he founded the now-defunct鈥疭amisdat鈥疨ublishers in Toronto to print texts promoting Nazism and Holocaust denial. Most notably, Zundel sponsored and published the Leuchter Report, a biased study of the chemical contents of gas chamber walls in Auschwitz, as part of his defense for spreading Holocaust-denial material in Canada. Author and self-described historian David Irving, himself a figurehead within the denial scene, testified on Z眉ndel behalf. Irving鈥檚 writings devolved into open denialism in the 1980s with claims that Hitler was unaware of the systematic extermination of European Jewish people. His defense of Z眉ndel鈥檚 views and the Leuchter Report further confirmed his antisemitic beliefs. Irving has been banned from entering Austria, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and most recently Lithuania.

Irving鈥檚 cohort,鈥�Mark Weber, also remains active in the movement as the director of IHR. While IHR no longer publishes鈥�The Journal of Historical Review,鈥痑nd Weber himself made waves with a 2009 essay advocating a shift in attention from denying the Holocaust to the 鈥淛ewish-Zionist power,鈥濃�痟is website continues to publish and sell denialist material. More recently, Weber received notice that he had been鈥痓anned from entering the U.K. on April 28, 2015, due to 鈥渦nacceptable鈥痓ehaviour.鈥�

Another significant group that promotes Holocaust denial and revisionism is the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust (CODOH). Founded by Bradley Smith in 1987, it became a more significant online platform at the end of the 20th century and into the 21st. Focusing on faux-academic publishing,鈥痵peeches鈥痑nd interviews, CODOH has carved out a sphere of authority in far-right spaces. The organization disingenuously presents its antisemitism as 鈥渢ruth-seeking.鈥�

In 2014, CODOH began publishing Holocaust handbooks and documentaries to support revisionism. In 2015, CODOH became the publisher of a quarterly鈥痮nline鈥痬agazine titled An Inconvenient History: A Quarterly Journal for Free鈥疕istorical Inquiry, which purports to be a legitimate academic endeavor.

By 2022, with the incorporation of Castle Hill Publishers鈥�鈥撯�疌ODOH鈥檚鈥痮nline bookshop 鈥撯�疌ODOH鈥痺ill remain a publishing force for antisemitism and Holocaust denial. With Smith鈥檚 death in 2016, revisionist Michael Santomauro has risen to be a prominent member of CODOH. Santomauro鈥痠s CEO of Castle Hill Publications鈥痑nd is a primary contact for another of its publishing affiliates,鈥疌lemens鈥痑nd Blair.

Holocaust Denial and the Radical Right

Despite many influential Holocaust deniers aging out of relevance, the tenets of denial have become embedded in other segments of the movement. Examples of denying the Holocaust abound in neo-Nazi circles. On the Daily Stormer website, founder and editor鈥�Andrew Anglin鈥痟as described the Holocaust as a 鈥渞idiculous fake shower room bug-spray death chamber hoax鈥� that forms 鈥渢he core of [Jewish people鈥檚] identity.鈥� His vitriolic antisemitism alleges that white people are being duped into complacency under a Zionist-controlled government.

Holocaust denial has also manifested within white nationalism and the鈥�Ku Klux Klan.鈥�Greg Johnson, the editor-in-chief of the white nationalist publishing company鈥疌ounter-Currents, credits David Irving as instrumental in his conversion to white nationalism. Johnson is wary of Holocaust deniers鈥� bellicose and spurious claims in his publications, stating in a July 2012 article that 鈥淗olocaust revisionism is a legitimate field of historical research鈥� but it 鈥渋s simply not necessary to the white nationalist project.鈥� However, he continues to support this segment of the far right by speaking alongside Holocaust deniers at exclusive forums in the United States and Europe.

Similarly, one of the longest enduring Klan groups, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, questions the validity of the Holocaust. These unfounded claims about the Holocaust are residual ideological underpinnings from when鈥痜ormer Grand Dragon鈥�David Duke鈥痜ounded the group in 1975 In his rise to leadership, Duke was influential in expanding the Klan ideology from strictly anti-Black to also include antisemitism.

Beyond organized white supremacy, Holocaust denial has recently been in the political spotlight. Eight-time U.S. House of Representatives candidate Arthur Jones of Illinois, whose membership in the American National Socialist Workers Party gained significant media attention, has belligerently dismissed the Holocaust as 鈥渢he biggest, blackest lie in history.鈥� Jones failed to make it into office in the November 2018 midterm elections, receiving 26.5% of the votes in the general election after running unopposed in the Republican primary.

However, others in the far right who have disputed the Holocaust have garnered attention in the halls of political power. Chuck C. Johnson denied the existence of gas chambers at Auschwitz and greatly obscured the number of casualties in an early 2017 Reddit post. Johnson has since recanted his denial of the Holocaust and dismissed these comments as simply trolling. He has, however, been instrumental in raising legal defense funds for avowed neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin. On Jan. 16, 2019, Johnson met with then-U.S. Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland. Previously, Johnson attended the 2018 State of the Union with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and was part of a meeting with U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Furthermore, in the debate regarding free speech in the era of social media, Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg came under scrutiny in 2018 for stating that Holocaust-denying speech should be allowed to remain on the company鈥檚 Facebook platform, because he said he believed that deniers aren鈥檛 鈥�intentionally鈥痝etting it wrong.鈥� While Zuckerberg initially failed鈥痶o distinguish between inadvertently inaccurate information and bigotry aimed at degrading and vilifying Jewish people, he reconsidered his stance and banned Holocaust denial on the platform in October 2020.

On the social media platform Gab, however, distinctions between First Amendment rights and violent hate speech remain convoluted. Robert Bowers, a man radicalized on Gab,鈥痺as indicted for鈥痜ederal hate crime indictments in the killing of 11 Jewish people in a Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018.鈥疧n Jan. 29, 2019, the Justice Department indicted Bowers for 13 violations of the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.鈥疧n June 16,鈥�2023,鈥痑 jury found Bowers guilty of鈥�63 counts, including hate crimes. The jury鈥�.

In the wake of the attack, Gab founder and CEO Andrew Torba promised 鈥渢o keep Gab online and defend free speech and individual liberty for all people.鈥� While Bowers never explicitly refuted the Holocaust, his antisemitic posts were bolstered by a community鈥痺here denying the Holocaust continues to excuse and diminish violence against Jewish people.

Most recently, some individuals have invoked the imagery and history of the鈥疕olocaust while seeking to build a narrative of victimization around COVID-19鈥痸accine campaigns and mask mandates. While the U.S. government has not mandated vaccines for the American population, numerous far-right figures have undermined the gravity and lasting impact of the Holocaust by comparing the genocide of 6 million Jewish people with efforts to increase vaccination rates in the country.

Prominent figures such as U.S.鈥�鈥痮f Georgia and鈥痜ormer鈥疐ox News host鈥�鈥痟ave compared mask mandates to the Holocaust and the COVID-19 vaccine to Nazi experiments. On Jan. 23, 2022, Robert Kennedy Jr.鈥�鈥痬easures to contain the virus to Nazi-era restrictions instituted as part of a genocidal campaign. In鈥�, the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum remarked that Kennedy鈥檚 exploitation of 鈥渢he tragedy of people who suffered, were humiliated, tortured and murdered by the totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany鈥� was a 鈥渟ad symptom of moral and intellectual decay.鈥�

罢丑别鈥�Antisemitism Ideology File鈥痠ncludes a list of Holocaust denial hate groups that were active in 2023.