We have not seen the film but the review here tells a lot about ZÛndel himself. He once decribed himself as a "schwabisch farmer boy". Well, even old foxes may have bouts of enthusiasm. In this very case, we would rather call for caution.
For months, the US media channels were abuzz with tremorous reports
-_ all
with an undertone of trepidation, it seemed to me -- about a most
unusual
documentary film by one of America's best-known documentary film
makers, Errol Morris, of Boston's Fourth Floor and Bulldog Productions.
The topic? The tragic story of Fred Leuchter, American execution
technology expert and author of the four world-famous "Leuchter
Reports"
about the alleged "Nazi gas chambers" of World War II.
Morris chose the title -- "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of
Fred Leuchter."
Jewish by background, Morris is an established and acclaimed documentary
film maker -- maybe the foremost of his generation. He gained
the respect
of his peers for producing such films as "The Thin Blue Line"
and several
documentaries acknowledged to be exceptional. He has, thus, impeccable
credentials as a craftsman and is in command of this genre of
film. He has
developed some quirky, unique-to-himself ways of creating a tapestry
of
images at once dazzling and persuasive, designed to probe and
penetrate not
only the psyche of his subjects but also to evoke in the viewer
a feeling
of being the "person behind the camera."
Morris achieves that effect chiefly through a technique invented
and
perfected by himself of shooting through a see-through 45 degree
angled
piece of glass plate on which he projects his own face as he probes,
fathoms, questions and cajoles his interview subjects. During
an
interview, the person interviewed does not get to see Morris in
person --
only his face, projected on that piece of glass, right in front
of the
camera lens, a lens the subject cannot see, a camera man hidden
in the dark
whose contours one can barely make out in the glare of the lights.
This
produces the startling effect of the interviewee gazing directly
into the
eyes of the viewer of the final product, a technique which gives
Errol
Morris films a penetration right into the viewer's heart and soul
- his
subconscious, if you will.
I noticed this at once, after I arrived at the studio where my
sequence in
this memorable film was videotaped - to my astonishment on small,
High-8
digital video camera, later to be transferred to film, another
Morris
innovation which allows for compact unintrusiveness. The person
interviewed soon forgets that he or she is being filmed at all.
Another smart technique: Morris refuses to meet his interview
subjects for
any preliminary briefing before an interview shoot to guarantee
spontaneity
in the answers of his subjects. He is one of the best interviewers
I ever
worked with -- with a pleasant, very human but firm manner, flexible,
curious, seemingly unprejudiced and thus capable of forming spontaneous
follow-up questions, made possible by answers which virtually
percolate out
of the subconscious to the surface of the mind being probed, coaxed
and
prodded by Morris with his quiet manner. Morris would have made
a superb shrink because he himself has the air of a quixotic iconoclast
who dares to ask the oddest questions from weird vantage points
and thus often astonishes even his subject. To be interviewed
by Errol Morris is an
experience in itself!
I stubbornly resisted that "experience" fiercely for
about two years and
gave the Morris staff blast after blast and reason and explanation
sometimes bordering on the insulting why I chose not to cooperate
in their
Leuchter film. I simply had been deceived, used, abused, insulted
and
compromised by one too many film makers over the years. I had
been lied to by producers and lied about by interviewers so many
times in my long career that I simply had enough - and I told
that to the staff of Errol Morris at Fourth Floor and Bulldog
Productions whenever they called and pleaded with me to cooperate
-- for more than two years running.
They, for their part, did not give up. They desperately wanted
footage of
Fred Leuchter at work in Auschwitz - footage to which only we
had the
copyright. The same was true of the Zündel trial footage
from Toronto,
trial footage of Leuchter's own trial in Boston -- and, above
all, original
footage shot by Jürgen Neumann, Samisdat cinematographer,
inside the "gas chambers" of Auschwitz, Majdanek and
Birkenau.
I told them we had lots of footage. I tantalized them by sending
black-and-white and color photographs of Fred in action, and excerpts
of
videotapes of Fred on location, but I drove a hard bargain, and
the project
dragged on because I owned those rights to that crucial footage.
I had
undergone an attitude change when it came to German-Jewish cooperation,
especially after the arson and bomb of 1995. My enemies had gone
too far!
By then, I had determined that if this was their response to my
decades of
trying to find a negotiated, cooperative solution to their idee
fixe
Holocaust victimhood lollipop - then I had simply run out of cheeks
to turn
in response to abuse, and that from now on I was not going to
go the extra
mile to stretch out my hand in reconciliation and in trying to
find common
denominators to bridge the "Holocaust" chasm that seemed
to divide us. I
did not care how famous a Jew this film maker Errol Morris was.
I was
through being abused and vilified. I, too, had my limits -- and
enough was
enough! Even some of my closest associates were and are still
perplexed by
my new attitude and resolve.
Enter a new Morris associate, Michael Williams. Williams was one
in what seemed an endless association of Morris flunkies, as I
had disdainfully pegged them in my mind, who called me one day
- one more time trying to pry loose from me that precious Leuchter
footage for their use! I gave him my usual acerbic brush-off at
first. However, this time the Morris pitch seemed different.
There was something about that man's persuasive insistence and
human
interest angle that touched me. He conveyed a sense of history
he
translated into our conversations. He pointed out the unique opportunity
this project represented for Fred Leuchter to tell his side of
the story, a
story which had never been explained sympathetically, much less
honestly,
by the mainstream media. It was always invectives and caricatures,
accusations and wholesale vilification of Leuchter!
I argued heatedly: "What has Morris ever done to help an
underdog?" and
Williams told me calmly: "Well, he has helped one interview
subject, who
was falsely accused and railroaded and was on death Row in Texas,
to get a
new, fair trial -- a trial after which the man was found innocent!"
I don't know if Michael Williams knew, or if he just calculatedly
told me
this story. It paralleled, in a way, Fred's story, a man falsely
accused
and convicted by an orchestrated media vilification campaign in
the court
of public opinion -- after he had gone to Auschwitz, and after
he produced
his, by now, famous Leuchter Reports and testified for me in Toronto.
I
saw myself in the same situation as Fred and that poor convict
on death row
in Texas - railroaded by my enemies and a hostile media.
I, too, had been falsely accused and relentlessly persecuted through
numerous prosecutions in Canada by a vicious campaign grounded
in hate and prejudice, which had brought me face to face with
near death on numerous occasions by bombs, arson and assassination
attempts for over 30 years. At that very juncture in my life,
I was once again before a so-called "Human Rights" Tribunal,
dragged there by the same Jewish elements who had so viciously
and relentlessly hounded me for years already in the courts,
Additionally, the Canadian spy service had recklessly and falsely
accused
me of being a "security threat to Canada" because of
my perfectly legal,
non-violent, peaceful, protective-of-my-German-heritage anti-Holocaust
campaign. If my opponents succeeded with their latest campaigns,
I knew
that I faced near-certain deportation to Germany, where eager
prosecutors
were already waiting to put me behind bars and then throw the
keys away for a decade -- if not the rest of my life.
That was my situation as that call came in from Michael Williams.
When he told me in a calm voice that Errol Morris had spent not
only his talent as a researcher/interviewer/film maker on that
falsely accused and convicted death row inmate, but also used
his own funds to make that film and finance the campaign which
led to a new trial, I was impressed! Could it be that Errol Morris
was the key to liberate my people I had been praying for and hoping
for? Could he breach the curtain of censorship which had closed
around Leuchter's devastating findings of no deadly Zyklon B in
the "gas chambers"? Could a Jew succeed and break the
ring of censorship?
It had been ten years since that dramatic, ground-breaking Leuchter
expedition to Auschwitz to test the rocks and mortar for Zyklon
B allegedly
used to genocide the Jews of Europe -- and the censorship grip
on the media
was such that most of what that decade had netted was ever more
vilification and destruction of his name -- and mine -- but no
real
breakthrough into the mainstream consciousness, the way I had
hoped for in 1988. We needed a different vehicle to deliver the
truth to a world in a
grip of a cunning, organized, all-pervasive historical deception.
Could
this documentary be such a vehicle?
I asked Williams to send me more biographical information on Errol
Morris's other projects he had done, his career, and interviews
with the media -- about his life, himself, his thoughts etc. Williams
was prompt. FedEx envelopes, bulging with information, arrived
at my office in short order. Enclosed were color copies of photos
of Morris, an imposing giant of a man with penetrating and expressive
eyes and interesting body language. I
liked what I saw and read and decided to talk to him myself. We
talked at length. I warmed to him -- and, in the end, I promised
him some of the footage he needed for his Leuchter project, which
we prepared promptly and Morris reviewed in Boston. I had decided,
one more time, that I would rather light yet one more candle of
truth than merely curse the darkness.
Morris requested more specific material and asked additional questions.
Back and forth went the negotiations, much like in another thousand
business deals I have been involved in during my 40 year business
career.
Williams, and in the background, Morris, seemed to be competent
men,
dedicated to his Leuchter project. There was not a hint of double
dealing.
They promised -- not an "anti-Holocaust" film but a
documentary of Fred's
life and views, warts and all. And I am pleased to say that they
delivered. There was no undue haggling about prices. I understood
fully
the risks involved, for I completely comprehend the world we live
in and
what any movie maker would face trying to sell this story, with
Shylock
hovering in the shadows and getting his pound of flesh as well.
I had no
illusions but saw an opportunity to break out of the vice my enemies
had
thrown around me and the story. It looked like we were going to
have a
mutually satisfactory deal.
Then somewhere along the way, either Morris or Williams floated
the idea
that I should share some inside information about this unusual
story in
front of the camera - insights only I possessed. By then I had
heard enough about the background work that had already gone into
the film and the direction the project seemed to be going that
I felt that if Morris could get past the censors with part of
the story intact -- in other words, get past his fellow Jews who
have a vice grip on the electronic and film media in America --
perhaps there was a long shot chance that at least part of Leuchter's
story (and riding on his coat tails, my story, my lifelong quest
for truth in history and, yes, part of my own sacrifices in this
struggle) could be brought to a greater audience than I could
ever hope to reach with my own quasi semi-underground publications
and videotapes, radio and TV programs via satellite and Public
Access.
I told Williams and Morris I would seriously think about their
suggestion
to be interviewed in person. I did just that. I thought about
it. Hard. For several more months, Williams kept quietly insisting.
I was still reluctant. I told him that burned children feared
the fire. I said I had been hurt so many times and compromised
so ruthlessly by distorted and slanted films - like the 60 Minutes
character assassination by Mike Wallace in America or the W5 program
in Canada before it with the film "Profession Neo-Nazi"
in Germany - that I wasn't going to subject myself to that kind
of treatment lightly one more time.
Williams, never giving up, told me that Fred Leuchter was totally
cooperating, and that they had already filmed him for days. He
told me how
well Fred did and how pleased Morris was. He told me that David
Irving was going to fly to Boston to be interviewed -- within
days! Next, David Irving sent an e-mail to Ingrid Rimland urging
my cooperation, saying that the project had, in his opinion, merit.
He felt Morris was a straight-shooter, a man of his word.
That e-mail finally was the deciding factor! I agreed I would
subject
myself one more time to an interview. I would put my head one
more time on a Jew's block -- and hope that the blade would not
fall. I called Williams who was off at some film festival in another
part of the world, and we made arrangements between Human Rights
Tribunal hearings, dates, court appearances etc. that I would
fly to Boston to do the interview with Errol Morris. At first,
we had planned to do the taping in Toronto, but time ran simply
out.
Everything proceeded smoothly. Williams picked me up at Boston's
Logan
Airport. He recognized me instantly from the film footage. We
drove to
the hotel. I found him to be pleasant, intelligent, straightforward
and
efficient.
Next morning he picked me up and we drove to the studio. I met
Morris, who surprised me by his size and by the way he moved.
I must confess I did feel a small jolt because Morris was the
spitting image of Egon Krenz, the German Communist party leader
who presided over the collapse of the Berlin Wall. It was like
I was being interviewed by Egon Krenz! Eerie, I thought! Why was
it that I always had to deal in my life in historic moments like
this with Jews? Never Gentiles?
I did not have much time to reflect on this strange karma of mine.
Errol
Morris motioned me towards the hot seat before the camera - but
not before
telling me that he considered the interview he had done several
weeks
before with David Irving one of the best and most memorable ones
in his
life! He was clearly impressed and genuine in his respect, even
awe, of
Irving's brilliance, recall of facts and figures, eloquence and
demeanor.
I knew he was not, as they say, "flim-flamming" me.
This did not surprise me because I knew from interviews I had
done with
Irving that he could be a class act when he was in good form -
quick on his
feet, smooth in his delivery, fluent in his subjects and speaking
without
hesitation, with an astonishing capacity for instant recall of
facts and
figures. I agreed with Morris that to meet Irving at his best
was a treat
-- what with his charisma and polished showmanship!
Morris allowed me to set up my own superb little High-8 video
camera on a
tripod, off to the side, so I would have an historical record
of what I
said, and film the interview on automatic. Then we settled down
to the
business at hand and got going.
The minutes turned into hours -- only to be broken up by tape
changes and
washroom stops! Lunch time came. By then, we had approximately
4 hours of film on tape. When we stopped, Errol Morris came over
from behind some partition where he had been sitting before another
camera while questioning me, out of sight from me, to shake my
hand. He told me, visibly moved, that he was shocked by some of
my revelations and details of my struggle for truth in history.
He said he was surprised about many of the things I said -- especially
my telling of beatings, bombs, arson, violence, even
murder the other side had committed against Revisionists like
Francois
Duprat, Dr. Faurisson, Christophersen and myself. Morris paid
me what I
still think is one of the nicest compliments ever made to me:
He said that
I had not only matched Irving's performance -- but had topped
him by ". . .
being so human."
After lunch- - which I ate alone, away from everybody so as not
to dilute my
concentrated thought force-- I went back inside the studio. Morris
alias
Krenz greeted me effusively. He said that he and his staff had
reviewed
his questions and my answers, and that they had concluded that
what they
had gotten on tape already was "just right" and sufficient
for the project.
Then we shook hands, I signed some releases and packed up my tripod,
camera and water bottles. Williams flagged down a cab for me on
a busy Boston street. Off I drove to the airport, secure in the
knowledge that I had done one of the very best interviews of my
life and had witnessed one more time before history - to the truth
as I knew it, had found it and lived it.
I felt sure that in Errol Morris I had found an artist who would,
to the
best of his ability - and conscious of the powers that run America's
film
industry - guide and shepherd that Leuchter Project around the
cliffs of
the censors. He did admit to me before we parted that he was apprehensive
about his own fate after what he had just heard happened to others
who
found and told the truth about the "Holocaust." How
much he could save -
how much or how little would survive of the things Leuchter, Irving
and I
had said, or would end up on the cutting room floor -- would now
entirely be in the hands of this Jewish movie maker. I was conscious
of the irony that the direction of at least part of history was
now going to be determined by this artistic non-historian -- to
boot, a member of the tribe!
As for myself, I had witnessed one more time -- before my God
and history --
to the facts as best as I knew how, and that now it would be up
to Errol
Morris to fight for his film, sequence by sequence and image by
image, with
his censorious fellow tribesmen who did not want this story told.
Asked about the project later, I would answer all and sundry that
I liked
Errol Morris and thought that with some luck and help from the
gods, we
would be able to achieve a breakthrough into the mainstream of
society with our ideas. We would raise doubts and hopefully, find
open minds. I knew that this project, and Fred Leuchter's unusual
story in Errol Morris's artistic and qualified hands could be
the means by which we could achieve
this breakthrough.
Saturday, September 18, 1999 will be etched into my consciousness
for many
years to come! This was to be a "first" -- the day when
I would attend the premiere of a film in which I not only "acted"
or appeared as an interview partner; no, in a way I was responsible
for the film itself having come into being, even though I was
not the producer and did not have to pay a dime for its production.
It had its origins in my 1988 trial -- for, thanks to Dr.
Faurisson, my French advisor, mentor and friend who had told me
a decade
earlier that to solve the "homicidal/genocidal gas chamber"
story, we had
to find a man in the profession in order to confirm the total
physical and
chemical impossibility of the "homicidal/genocidal gas chamber"
story. In Fred Leuchter of Boston, a decade ago, we finally found
such a man.
The film, "Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter"
is the story of
that quest for truth in history and of that man I sent to find
that truth --
sensitively and movingly told and documented by Errol Morris,
a Jewish
documentary movie maker of exceptional talent.
For months, reports had appeared in the mainstream press and in
movie trade magazines about Errol Morris's "quirky"
project about this weirdo, wacko "Holocaust Denier"
and gallows' builder named Fred Leuchter - hired by that other
strange tilter-at-windmills and modern Don Quixote, Ernst Zündel,
whose sole aim was to set the historical record straight. The
movie reviews were an odd mix of "reviewer angst" and
what seemed to me almost a near-panic helplessness by all the
writers to come to grips with and focus on the story at hand.
What was this story all about? I had never seen any reviews like
it. Especially World War II topics are always presented as one-dimensional
-- as "good versus evil" -- where no sane person would
contradict the obvious "moral" that Hitler was a genocidal
maniac who "gassed six million Jews."
In these pre-premiere reviews, published in some of the most prestigious
publications in America, there was not the usual shrill, out-of-hand
condemnation of me, the "evil Holocaust Denier" or even
of Revisionism --
or, for that matter, of Leuchter or David Irving, both of whom
had
willingly participated in the making of this film. I was guardedly
optimistic. Intuitively I had taken a liking to Errol Morris,
the man who had had the idea to make this documentary about Fred
Leuchter and his trials and tribulations as a result of that pack
of censors that started hounding Leuchter after he dared to go
after historical truth with a hammer and chisel on a cold winter
day in then still Communist Poland.
When I was told that the film would be officially introduced at
Toronto's
International Film Festival on the 16th and 18th of September
'99, I tried
to get advance tickets early, for I thought there were going to
be throngs
of Jewish movie goers snapping up the seats. What I had overlooked
was
that the premiere date fell smack into Rosh Hashanah and the week
of Yom
Kippur! As it happened, this was to keep the more devout and fanatical
Jewish elements away. At least that's my guess -- or could it
be that
there is now a policy shift in Jewish quarters and a realization
that the
genie is out of the bottle?
What greeted me and my friends, as we approached Toronto's elegant
and
superbly restored Elgin Theater on famous Yonge Street at noon
on a
beautiful, crisp and sunny Fall day, was a line-up of almost exclusively
young, well-behaved people in the 18-23 age range, mainly white.
My
supporters and I were pretty much the oldest people in sight,
except for
our younger friends and body guards. Surprising also was the orderliness
and civility of the group and the neat dress of both males and
females -- a
pleasant sight in these days of artificial, in-your-face sloppiness
of torn
jeans, dirty running shoes and baggy, down--to-your-knee pants.
The theater filled quickly. As I walked along the brass-railed,
red-carpeted floor with its Gothic pillars, with gold trim and
gold leaf
motifs sparkling in the subdued, tastefully lit theater, my mind
wandered
back to the Second Great Holocaust Trial of 1988 -- and the censorious
media
blackout. Who would have, a decade ago, predicted I would see
the story
re-created on the silver screen?
There must have been some 500-600 people seated in plush, comfortable
seats. There was heavy security everywhere -- beefy men carrying
walkie-talkies, lining the walls and stairs. I was recognized
by a few
passersby and bystanders as well as guards and ushers. To my surprise,
there were no incidents -- no heckling, no cat calls, no insults.
Just
quiet, polite civility.
Soon the lights dimmed -- and to my shock we were treated to an
eardrum-assaulting cacophony of horrific sound, of lightning bolts
crashing
with the harsh crackle of static electricity and a wild and frantic
display
of lights and images dancing on the screen -- with an image of
Fred Leuchter
hoisted up in a cell-like cage -- much like the Jew "Jud
Suess" was hoisted
in that famous classic. It looked like Fred was being electrocuted
before
the movie had even begun!
I thought: "Oh my God! This is going to be a rape of the
senses by some
doped-out, freaky producer! " That whole, horrifying introduction
lasted all of three to four minutes, when the ruckus stopped as
suddenly as it had begun - and an unusual sound, almost reminiscent
of Nazi rally newsreel sound track, permeated the room as the
most incredible story I have ever seen in a documentary movie
unraveled before my eyes!
From that moment on, the musical score and the background music
and sound were non-intrusive and non-offensive - if anything,
I would have to call them tastefully composed, even touching and
tender, at times so fitting it can only be called poetic. Perhaps
Errol Morris wanted to contrast the
overwhelmingly boisterous society of today with what took place
in the
quiet of a quest, for decades away from society's eyes, thanks
to the
simple commitment of very plain people like Leuchter.
The story of Fred Leuchter unfolds from his childhood, with faded
clippings
and photos of his father, a prison official, and rare, grainy
but very
interesting home movie still footage of Fred and his father and
prisoners
horsing around in the prison yard where his father worked. There
is
footage from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, masterfully utilized by
Morris.
There is even the electrocution of an elephant in footage so grainy
it must
have been shot before WWI. No wonder reviewers call Errol Morris
"quirky."
Fred, a highly competent, self-taught professional who holds a
number of
impressive patents for execution equipment and navigation devices,
finally
gets to tell his story in a very human, fluid way, supplemented
by images
of him at work repairing electrical chairs, helmets used in electrocutions,
weird gadgets and complicated consoles. Switches and syringes
for a lethal
injection machine invented by Fred Leuchter are being woven into
a tapestry of images, as Fred takes a walk through one of the
prisons where the machine has been installed. His then wife shows
him on home videos working in his crowded basement, tinkering
away, practicing his macabre craft to make the execution of society's
worst elements less painful and more human. Fred is shown testing
gallows in prisons, performing fake executions with ropes tied
around bags of sand as they hurl down a trap door. At times, the
audience snickers and laughs lightheartedly when Fred makes some
self-deprecating remarks about what has to be one of the eeriest
lines of work in the world.
Suddenly the screen goes pitch black -- and in stark, bold, white
type the
message appears on the screen: "The Trial of Ernst Zündel
in Toronto,
Canada" -- accompanied by a subdued, now serious musical
score!
Abrupt is the word!
The room fell totally silent at that moment! It was so silent
you could
hear a feather drop -- and the mood of the audience, from that
moment on,
never changed back to the frivolous giggles or nervous laughs
that
punctuated the first part of the film! This change in mood was
so telling
-- and startling! -- that it must send shivers up the spine of
traditional
Holocaust promoters and beneficiaries. That silence signaled very
clearly
that serious business and issues are at hand!
The next moment was even more startling: Filling the entire screen,
edge
to edge, in the most vivid red, with striking bold black type,
was the
cover of that fateful booklet "Did Six Million Really Die?"
This
provocative image surely must sear itself, in this extreme close-up,
filling the entire screen, into the consciousness of the most
casual
viewer.
Next followed an equally startling, brilliantly colored sequence,
shot by a
camera man for a Toronto TV station, of me being hoisted on the
shoulders
of my friends on January 18, 1988, at the beginning of the trial,
as I
unfurl a huge banner reading "The Holocau$t is a Hoax!"
-- holding it up for
the entire world to see! Next to me stand supporters who hold
up similar
slogans and signs, saying "The Holocaust is a Racket!"
"The Holocaust is
Hate!" etc.
That image sat there for what seemed like an eternity to me! I
was utterly
stunned by that opening scene! Wow! I could not believe it! I
did not think that I could trust my eyes! Errol Morris had gone
out of his way to dig up that provocative footage, because our
own amateur photographer, I later found out, had pushed the "gain"
switch on his video camera at the time, which burned out and ruined
that crucial, memorable scene in our own videos of the day.
Man, was I pleased! What an opening statement to a story challenging
the
Holocaust! And not a word had yet been said!
Then followed video footage of newscasts of my 1988 trial, good
excerpts of
my statements to the press -- one better than the next! -- and
all that on
the huge silver screen in a spectacular theater in downtown Toronto,
where
a decade ago I had been beaten and spat at by hissing, howling
Jewish
Defense League thugs!
One could write page after page to go through this fast-paced
presentation
of the trial, which had the entire audience enthralled with rapt
attention.
Gone was the laughter. There were no snickers. Only a somber silence
permeated the theater as the Revisionist drama unfolded.
The audience watched the Leuchter trip to Poland, then still under
Communist rule, illustrated with scenes at the airport, Fred on
the plane
and in Warsaw, filmed in dramatic angles, and the startling but
for me
familiar footage out of one of the most famous films of the Nazi
era,
"Triumph of the Will".
It is hard to describe what I felt as I saw it all fill the screen.
It is
the famous series of sequences of Adolf Hitler, winging his way
to
Nuremberg like in some ride of the Valkyries, high above the clouds
over
Germany. Then the clouds break and reveal the old medieval town
of
Nuremberg from a birds-eye's view, with a swastika flag slowly
moving in
the breeze as it hangs there languidly from a tall church tower
below -- as
if some god had filmed it!
The pace picks up as Leuchter lands in Poland and arrives in Auschwitz
to
begin his work in earnest. The on-the-ground investigations in
the ruins
of the various buildings and in the "gas chambers" are
interestingly
presented. One practically smells the rot and mildew, now that
fifty years
have passed. Fred's hammer blows echo eerily through the dimly
lit "gas
chamber" as his chisels bite into the mortar and bricks --
soon to reveal a
falsified and distorted history! -- while Fred narrates dispassionately
but
with a quiet and steady voice, what he is doing, step by step
-- and why!
For some of the close-up sequences, Morris skillfully employed
professional
actors, who immeasurably heighten the drama and enhance the on-the-ground
footage I gave him permission to use. The scenes of Auschwitz
with the ground fog rising, the barbed wire, rusty and dripping
wet, the decaying buildings -- image piled upon image in an unhurried
and purposeful way -- these sequences are simply exceptionally
done and interwoven skillfully!
This film must have a profound effect on newcomers to the subject
of Revisionism -- pro or con -- for years to come!
Somewhere midway through this sequence, my face gets blended in
with some telling commentary by me, filmed in Boston. Then Fred
Leuchter comes on with his Boston accent and continues with the
narration of the story. There is never a dull moment in this film!
Not one! For instance, Morris could not pass by the opportunity
and temptation to bring my "Adolf Hitler's birthday present"
to the screen. This is my very own private gesture to this Leuchter
story. Unbeknownst to my lawyers and even to Fred Leuchter and
his wife, I had timed the introduction of the Leuchter Report
and his court appearance on the 99th birthday of Adolf Hitler
on the 20th of April 1988. It was my "gift" to history
and to the late Chancellor of the German Reich -- and to my German
people -- to present what David Irving called "this shattering
document" on this very day.
It was my gift of hoped-for liberation. I knew that if properly
wielded by
Germany's leaders and its media, the Leuchter Report would be
the sword the Germans could swing to cut the Gordian Knot of the
entangled Holocaust lie that has imprisoned them and kept them
on the defensive for more than half a century on the world's stage!
In this documentary there are, of course, politically correct
concessions --
without it, films such as this one are doomed at the box office,
if they
ever make it to the silver screen at all. There are the expected
Holocaust
promoter interspersions like Shelly Shapiro and others -- about
Fred and I
being "racists" and "anti-semites" etc. --
but one can sense that Morris put
these sequences in to get his documentary past the censors and
to secure
the distribution for his film in the perfunctory way he presents
them,
clearly announcing in stark white text -- "Zionist Activist"
- before they
appear on the screen. His heart or his artistic hand are obviously
not in
these perfunctory nods to the Holocaust Lobby.
For instance, just when Revisionism is about to triumph, when
our forensic examination of the alleged "murder weapon"
and "murder site" are about to reveal the falsification
of Holocaust history, when Fred Leuchter, applying Dr. Faurisson's
blue print for his search for clues and samples should bear fruit
-- because they did reveal the lack of Zyklon B in the samples
taken! -- in steps who else but Dr. Roth?!
Dr. Roth was our horrendously expensive expert witness of the
1988 trial,
the man who had analyzed Leuchter's Auschwitz-Birkenau samples
in a blind analysis test, as empirical tests of this kind are
supposed to be done
according to the scientific method. I remembered Roth as an imposing,
proper scholar -- well-spoken, nattily attired. His testimony
in the trial
transcript is unequivocal and to the point.
Well, that was then -- and now is now. In this film, Roth looks
like the
cadaverous, almost mummy-like alien we have gotten to know in
X-File and "Incident at Roswell" UFO flicks - with his
elongated turkey neck, his eyes that are narrow as slits, and
his mouth a mere thin horizontal line across his face, his skin
texture hardly human. I was appalled - as much by his looks as
I was, seconds later, by the words that came out of his mouth!
What this man said there on the screen was in glaring contrast
to what he
had said under oath in front of Judge Thomas in the witness box
in 1988 in
Toronto! What happened?
It isn't hard to speculate. Now Roth has had 11 years of experience
under
his belt of how ruthless the Lobby is towards all those who rattle
the cage
of the Holocaust taboo. What Dr. Roth delivers now is gibberish
-- and has
been competently refuted, as surely he must know, by three additional
forensic investigations, more detailed than Leuchter's. His "reasoning"
can be refuted by any high school chemistry student. As I was
listening to
him, he reminded me of the testimony of all those who testified
in the
witches trials, all of whom had seen the devil have sex with the
accused
witches, all of whom had minute details to add to what we know
today were
blatant lies. Today we know how witch trial testimonies come about,
how
people feared that if they did not say what was expected of them,
they
stood themselves under suspicion of having cavorted with the devil
and
could themselves be accused next -- for they had been, self-admittedly,
in
the very presence of the devil!
Morris dazzles the viewer with beautifully filmed scenes of bubbling
cauldrons, gurgling Bunsen-burners, scores of glass bottles, flasks
and
scientific apparatus -- to camouflage, or reinforce, Roth's situational
ethics chemistry? I found these scenes at once angering and disturbing,
for we, the victims of the Holocaust lie, were victimized once
more -- this
time by Errol Morris. Was it necessary for Morris to get the film
passed
to include this disingenuous perjury? Who, at this point, is to
say? We
were not in on the negotiations.
Next enters Jan van Pelt, a self-satisfied, smug and equally oily
representative of Holocaust orthodoxy, who waxes eloquent and
as expected
in theological phraseology -- who talks about "holy ground",
"sacred sites",
"religious shrines" etc. being violated by the infidel
Fred Leuchter. He
turns the pages of some brittle documents and palms off on the
viewers as
new "discoveries" such terms as "Vergasungskeller"
-- a term that was
discussed and explained by Dr. Faurisson decades ago! He lets
forth the
usual streams of invectives and customary vilification, while
he engages in
what he knows to be the falsification of German texts and documents
-- in
full and plain view of the audience. He assigns sinister meanings
to texts
which are perfectly harmless and normal, such as "Gasprüfer"
(gas sniffer)
-- a device every Canadian Consumers Gas employee dangles from
his belt when he goes out on a call where a gas leak is suspected.
Every normal viewer cannot help but wonder at this point: "Is
the Canadian Gas Company" also secretly running an underground
"extermination of six million Jews" campaign?
Bizarre. Cheap. Unethical to boot. Unworthy of Errol Morris, I
thought.
Still, my heart froze and a cold shiver overcame me when I saw
the
performance of van Pelt who delivered his lies and distortions
of German
words and intentions and texts with a convincing if somewhat sarcastic
tone
of voice so as to once more try to con the gullible -- and to
prevent the
truth from sinking in: That the Germans had no genocidal program
using
homicidal "gas chambers".
However, there too, Morris's artistry, when document folders are
opened in
the Auschwitz archives with blueprints and elaborate building
plans, is
superb, the lighting masterful. It cannot camouflage the deception
to all
those who still can think. From the sound of the brittle papers
being
amplified to the cropping, lighting and perspective -- I must
say that
seldom have I seen such a sensitive treatment of documents found
in any
other film -- including our own.
Overall, the sound bytes and scenes chosen by Morris are good.
David
Irving makes a few appearances in the film. In spite of the discordant
note of the shrill insertion of sound bites by "Zionist activists"
--
declared as such by Morris before or after they make their appearances
--
the film winds its way to its very haunting conclusion, at times
accompanied by narration from Fred's former wife, Carol, about
her life
with Fred, their harrowing trips to Poland, and their work on
their
honeymoon in Auschwitz. Fred's "six packs of cigarettes and
40 cups of
coffee" a day get a "Sonderbehandlung" -- special
treatment. Even Mark
Weber of the Institute for Historical Review" makes a brief
appearance,
introducing Fred at an IHR convention.
For the rest of the film, Fred gets star billing -- and makes
the most of
it, given the chance presented to him. He walks away as a true
Anti-Hero.
Fred Leuchter never sold himself. This man was not for sale.
I was moved by Fred's tragic story and felt empathy for him, for
I had
gotten to know him and developed an appreciation of his rock-bottom
honesty and simplistic goodness while I worked with him.
In summary: Fred Leuchter had his say! The van Pelts will distort
texts and facts of history a little while longer. The Roths will
backslide out of fear and terror, thus risking charges of perjury.
The censors and keepers of the gates of Holocaust orthodoxy may
even be able to cow and browbeat Jewish film makers like Errol
Morris into compromising themselves to get at least part of the
message out -- a message of quiet resolve and civic heroism, of
courage, of painful abuse endured in the service of a truth once
found and understood.
What does it really matter? The truth will out. It will. This
film,
despite its minor genuflecting to please the Noisy Lobby, proves
it.
The one man who did not yet have his say, who was not there, who
took more abuse than any one of us and who was, and is, a central
figure in this
drama -- a drama he has coined the "great intellectual adventure
at the end
of the 20th century" -- is my dear friend and mentor, Professor
Robert
Faurisson. He is the man who ultimately found Fred Leuchter. A
latter day
Diogenes, he took his intellectual lantern and found one honest
man --
walking the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
And this planet was never the same! It was, and is, Dr. Faurisson's
achievement that this film was even possible -- for Fred Leuchter,
Dr. Roth, Shelly Shapiro, van Pelt, David Irving and I were only
actors on the stage of history -- with small bit parts to play.
He was the man who set it all in motion. To him, the world owes
thanks and honor! I pray and hope that he will find his Errol
Morris to let him tell his story in his own words in his own lifetime.
I predict this documentary will become a cult film among the young
generation. It will be talked and written about for many years
to come.
Other film makers and documentary producers will pick up where
Errol Morris left off. With the increasing technological perfection
and sophistication of the Internet, these future film artists
will not have to make the compromises Errol Morris still had to
make to get this project finished and distributed by standard
film distributors.
This film is a true milestone -- and even with its ethical flaws,
more than
we have ever dared to hope. Dr. Faurisson, Fred Leuchter, David
Irving,
the Institute for Historical Review, Ingrid Rimland and I -- we
could not
have done it without our supporters! All of us were nothing but
mere
instruments of fate, for God works through plain men and women.
This
breakthrough is your breakthrough! Mankind and truth are the winners!
The floodgates have been opened, and a torrent of truthful information
is about to wash away decades, if not centuries, of lies! The
Age of Truth, the new millennium, is now upon us -- and you, my
supporters and donors far and wide, have made it possible by your
donations, large and small. You gave us not only the means, but
also the will and determination to carry on this fight against
great odds -- and even greater evil! It was your love and devotion
to truth that made us stay the course!
Ernst Zundel
SEE Revisionist Catches
Jewish Film Maker in Flim Flam, BY MICHAEL HOFMAN
+++++++++++++++
Zgram circulated by Ingrid Rimland, 6 and 7 October
1999.
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.