Abstract

Please join the Leverhulme-funded Conspiracy & Democracy research project when Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, will speak about ‘Holocaust Denial: A Flat Earth Theory or a Clear and Present Danger?’

MONDAY , 5th May at 5pm – SG1 , Alison Richard Building (Sidgwick Site)

Holocaust denial, the attempt to deny that the Third Reich engaged in the annihilation of approximately six million Jews, has been depicted as a serious threat to historical truth. Others have dismissed it as the equivalent of the theory that the earth is flat, i.e. absurd, illogical, and unworthy of serious consideration. In this presentation Professor Lipstadt will explore these two contradictory perspectives on Holocaust denial. In addition, she will explore the difference between “hardcore” or traditional Holocaust denial and the more recent phenomenon of “soft core” denial.

The event will be followed by a wine reception.

Deborah E. Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. In 1996, David Irving sued Professor Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books, for libel for calling him a Holocaust denier and falsifier of history in her book “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory” (published in 1994). Irving lost the case. Professor Lipstadt’s book about the trial, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving” (2006), is currently in production as a film with Participant Pictures and the BBC . Her most recent book is “The Eichmann Trial” (2011).