CCC Denies Hosting Holocaust Denier
The leader of the (CCC), a hate group descended from the segregationist White Citizens Councils, says that his group did not host an infamous Holocaust denier鈥檚 speech in Alabama, although one of its officials promoted it. Hatewatch had reported on Sept. 2 that the CCC hosted the Aug. 26 event in the Montgomery area.
鈥淭he Council of Conservative Citizens has never hosted, held, sponsored or promoted any event or meeting at which David Irving has been the speaker,鈥� wrote CCC head in a letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Nonetheless, Larry Darby, chairman of the Alabama Capital Region chapter of the CCC, promoted Irving鈥檚 lecture. While there, Darby handed out copies of the CCC鈥檚 racist publication, the Citizens Informer.
It wasn鈥檛 the first time that Darby 鈥� a Montgomery lawyer who has stated publicly that the Holocaust 鈥渘ever happened鈥� 鈥� attended an event with the world鈥檚 most notorious Holocaust denier. Darby hosted Irving鈥檚 2005 appearance at a Holiday Inn just north of Montgomery. (That was back before Darby, the father of two biracial girls, began hanging around with neo-Nazi leaders and assorted other white supremacists.)
Irving鈥檚 most recent appearance in Prattville, Ala., was part of a U.S. speaking tour that includes stops in 60-plus cities nationwide. For $20 at the door ($15 advance registration online), those in the know could attend the private after-dinner talk at the same hotel where Irving spoke three years ago.
The 19 people who showed up at the Holiday Inn heard Irving鈥檚 rambling remarks on the theme of his persecution, including the dramatic tale of his arrest in Austria in 2005 on charges related to disputing the Holocaust. The British citizen, who famously sued American Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt for calling him a Holocaust denier (he lost), also repeated his familiar refrain that Hitler wasn鈥檛 to blame for whatever happened to the Jews during World War II. 鈥淗itler was being deliberately kept out of the loop,鈥� he told the all-white, mostly male audience.
During an intermission, Irving signed his books to the soundtrack of a Nazi rally. (Leni Riefenstahl鈥檚 1933 propaganda film 鈥淰ictory of Faith,鈥� depicting a huge rally in Nuremburg, was playing on a TV screen.) Those who hadn鈥檛 yet acquired a collection of Irving鈥檚 oeuvres could purchase his books for a $10 dollar discount.
鈥淗istory鈥檚 amazing when you hear a little truth,鈥� said a clean-cut, blond-haired man as he approached the book table. 鈥淣ot the government-censored version like we鈥檝e been brainwashed with since childhood.鈥�
But attendees hoping to hear Irving鈥檚 version of what happened to the Jews during World War II may have come away disappointed. Irving, who once said that more people died in the backseat of Sen. Edward Kennedy鈥檚 car at Chappaquiddick than in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, generally stayed away from hard-core Holocaust denial. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to talk about that,鈥� Irving brusquely told a man seeking validation for his belief that 鈥渢he Holocaust was not possible to have taken place the way they make it sound.鈥�
Still, no one left the talk unsure of Irving鈥檚 feelings toward Jews.
When the same man asked whether there was 鈥渁 major conspiracy against the common people of the world鈥� and gave Irving鈥檚 treatment in Austria as an example, Irving offered the following anecdote:
鈥淚 think that just proves they鈥檙e under the sway of a certain group of people,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n fact, as I was being conveyed from the court of appeal after our victory back to the prison to pick up my possessions [the Austrian court released Irving before he had completed his three-year sentence for Holocaust denial], the police officers in the van with me, no longer handcuffed to me, they said: 鈥楳r. Irving, you do realize of course that you鈥檝e been a victim of a certain religious group here in Austria.鈥� I didn鈥檛 say a thing. I thought when you鈥檙e in this position about to be set free, you don鈥檛 start talking about that kind of subject. But they knew.鈥�
