R. Hilberg began his work in 1948 (« My work began in 1948 », 1st edition, p. VI). He published it in 1961. In 1985 he published the « revised and definitive edition ».
In January 1985, at the Zündel trial in Toronto, he had to admit that he had not visited even one German concentration camp (except Auschwitz once in 1979 for a one-day ceremony).
« Basically I am an empiricist » : that is what he claimed to be when he was examined in June 1984 (Transcripts of the Preliminaries, p. 108, line 24). The context shows that he meant : « My reliance for information rests upon documents, testimony, more than it does on questions I ask of people » (lines 24-26).
R. Hilberg, like Pierre Vidal-Naquet, is a kind of what I call a « paper historian ».
Now, how does he read papers and words (without paying any attention to other items which in this particular matter should perhaps interest an empiricist) ? Does he act normally or with what Art. Butz called a « remarkable cabalistic mentality » ?
At the beginning of his own book, the latter went on writing :
Still possessing my lingering doubts I sat down, early in 1972, and started to read some of the « holocaust » literature itself rather more systematically than I had previously, in order to see just what claims were made in this connection and on what evidence. Fortunately, one of my first choices was Raul Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews. The experience was a shock and a rude awakening, for Hilberg's book did what the opposition literature could never have done. I not only became convinced that the legend of the several million gassed Jews must be a hoax, but I derived what turned out to be a fairly reliable « feel » for the remarkable cabalistic mentality that had given the lie its specific form (those who want to experience the « rude awakening » somewhat as I did may stop here and consult pp. 567-571 of Hilberg) (The Hoax , Foreword, p. 7).
I agree that pages 567-571 are most characteristic. I should say that by the way they are also the climax of the entire demonstration coming from Hilberg that there was a « destruction of the European Jews ». And even the « heart of the heart », the « core of the core », the exact center of this demonstration is to be found in a 82-word set on top of page 570. (In the 1985 « revised and definitive edition », the 82-word set is to be found on pages 890-891.) See enclosure, from : « Almost the whole Auschwitz supply (of Zyklon B) was needed for the gassing of people ; very little was used for fumigation », to : « From the Dessau Works, which produced the gas shipments were sent directly to the Auschwitz Extermination and Fumigation Division (Abteilung Entwesung und Entseuchung) ».
One morning, as R. Hilberg was on the witness stand, we told him that « Entwesung » meant « Extermination of vermin ». On the afternoon, he came back with a German/English dictionary which had not the word « Entwesung » but the common word « Wesen » and Hilberg claimed that « Ent-Wesung » meant the suppression of any « living being ». That is an unhoped-for example of a « remarkable cabalistic mentality ». Etymology is one thing, meaning is another thing. « Entwesung » means « extermination of vermin » and nothing else (see in the same context « exterminator » for « disinfector »).
The author wants us to believe that the Germans had in Auschwitz an « Extermination and Fumigation Division ».
1986
We have an augmented and revised version dated 30 December 1988,
published as "L'auto-destreuction de Raul Hilberg",
in Ecrits révisionnistes, vol. IV, 1999, p. 1892-1895.
First displayed on aaargh: 2 April 2001.
This text has been displayed on the Net, and forwarded to you
as a tool for educational purpose, further research, on a non
commercial and fair use basis, by the International Secretariat
of the Association des Anciens Amateurs de Recits de Guerres et
d'Holocaustes (AAARGH). The E-mail of the Secretariat is <[email protected].
Mail can be sent at PO Box 81475, Chicago, IL 60681-0475, USA..
We see the act of displaying a written document on Internet as
the equivalent to displaying it on the shelves of a public library.
It costs us a modicum of labor and money. The only benefit accrues
to the reader who, we surmise, thinks by himself. A reader looks
for a document on the Web at his or her own risks. As for the
author, there is no reason to suppose that he or she shares any
responsibilty for other writings displayed on this Site. Because
laws enforcing a specific censorship on some historical question
apply in various countries (Germany, France, Israel, Switzerland,
Canada, and others) we do not ask their permission from authors
living in thoses places: they wouldn't have the freedom to consent.
We believe we are protected by the Human Rights Charter:
ARTICLE 19. <Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.>The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, in Paris.
You downloaded this document from <http://aaargh-international.org/engl/FaurisArch/RF86xxxx.html>