The Holocaust Historiography Project

Arthur R. Butz archive

Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s remarks on the Jewish 'Holocaust'

by Arthur R. Butz

December 18, 2005

Recently I was asked for my opinion on the recent remarks of Iran’s President Ahmadinejad on the subject of the Jewish Holocaust. Here they are. I base my comments on the reports on these remarks that I have read in the Western press.

In 1976 I published a book, entitled The Hoax of the Twentieth Century, in which I argued:

  1. The alleged slaughter of millions of Jews by the Germans, during World War II, did not happen.
  2. The extermination allegation is properly termed a hoax, that is to say, a deliberately contrived falsehood. It was not at its source an honest misunderstanding or accidental falsehood.
  3. The hoax had a Zionist provenance and motivation. That is, while some of the original obscure stories did not come from Zionist sources, the elevation to allegations repeated by the American and other governments, and major institutions, was due to Zionist circles within those countries, who acted with Zionist motivations.

I continue to maintain those three theses, which have become core features of what is called Holocaust revisionism. Apart from some nuances of wording, the three theses were repeated by President Ahmadinejad. Therefore, there can be no question that I endorse his remarks in those respects.

In the years since the publication of my book in 1976 there were two developments that I did not expect:

  1. Western countries undertook a massive repression of revisionism. In some cases, particularly in Europe, legally formulated persecution has sent revisionists to prison, in blatant contradiction of the sermons we have given the rest of the world on human rights and freedom. In other cases, revisionists have been ruined professionally with the cooperation of government bodies.
  2. The cognizance of the Holocaust in the West was transformed into a loud, never-ending series of ceremonies that can only be interpreted as religious in nature.

President Ahmadinejad’s remarks also included the last two observations, so of course I also endorse the remarks in those respects. I congratulate him on becoming the first head of state to speak out clearly on these issues, and regret only that it was not a Western head of state.

His political remarks receive no comment on my side. By political remarks I mean those that deal with questions of what ought to happen now.

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