What is the Truth in Holocaust Denialism?
Historical Investigation Project
India Dwyer
Synopsis
This essay will fundamentally be an investigation of the movement known as Holocaust denialism. This investigation will be conducted in light of the growing numbers and supporters of Holocaust deniers in the past decade. Essentially, this essay will use sources to evaluate whether or not the histories of Holocaust deniers hold any valid or truthful claims. To evaluate this, this essay will first examine one of the leading Holocaust deniers today, David Irving. It will use a number of sources to carry out an investigation into the life and career of David Irving, and the political-social climate in which he lived (context), and then look at the effect his context has had on his beliefs na dhis bias. The essay will then go on to outline the ways that Irving researches and writes his histories, (how history is recorded) and use the views of other historians who have done much research into the topic, and make a judgement on whether his method is academically sound. Furthermore, this essay will explore the relationship between his strong bias and his methodology, and determine whether the close link between the two will affect the conclusive truth found by Irving. The essay will then go on to repeat the above method of investigation for the historian, Arthur Butz, looking at his context and methodology. This essay will make reference to both modern and ancient historians to give it depth in historiography. Sources used in this essay will be predominantly secondary. At the end of the essay a judgement will be made on whether there is any truth in the works of both Irving and Butz, and whether the whole Holocaust denial has some truth or is simply the fictional work of...