Holocaust Denial?

[flobadob]

Apparently Holocaust denial is a crime? Is this only in certain countries or in all countries? Also wjy is it a crime, surely it comes under freedom of speech.

[jomifl]

I didn't realise it was that many Sandy, it must be the brain cells giving up the unequal battle with the vin du pays

[AlBags]

TBH, I always assume denial is caused by some sort of phsycological illness.
Bit like the mad theorists who think the moon landings were rigged.

[cassa333]

Aren't the countries that make holocaust denial a crime the ones that lost the most to the holocaust?

[Ankou]

i think they should be free to say what they think and then face any consequences.

as said above i am of a mind to think that most of the deniers believe that something happened, just not to the extent claimed, and that the holocaust is some sort of jewish sympathy media machine. mostly that the camps were built and used for forced labour and re-education rather than mass murder.

my thoughts are otherwise having seen a couple of the camps (also khatyn memorial as well), and as said here there is plenty of historical evidence of operation reinhard including written, videographic, photographic and personal.

[jno]

freedom of speech is a fine thing, but there are other candidates for freedom as well, some of them conflicting - for instance, Jews might have benefited from a ban on people advocating their extinction. As an American jurist put it, freedom of speech shouldn't extend to allowing you to yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theatre.

[Ankou]

unless there is a fire of course.

[jno]

possibly even then. The ideal response, I suppose, would be to announce it calmly and direct people to the nearest exit. All this is about balancing competing rights, threats and possibilities. Will more people be killed in a fire than in a stampede?

[flobadob]

I wouldn't say it didn't happen but would have a notion that the numbers have been blown out of proportion, not saying I'm right, just think it's possible. Also it seems to be a handy way for people to plead oppression. It's very easy to be labelled anti-semitic. I've never fully understood why so many people are against Jews but I've noticed that it is very difficult to argue a point in relation to them without very quickly being vilified. Weird, as most other religions are there to be ripped apart.

[Ankou]

jno, in the event it would be likely that i would scream it out loud, just as i was exiting the building. is that sooooo bad ?

flobadob, i guess it depends on context. what point would you like to argue about the jewish faith ?

[jno]

I don't think anyone except the resident atheists has anything against the Jewish religion as such; the prejudice is against the Jewish people. Historically, Christians were banned from being moneylenders, so Jews filled the slot; but everyone hates moneylenders and if a king got himself deeply in debt to them it was easier to proclaim that they sacrificed Christian children in their rituals

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel

and expel them from the country, or kill them, than to repay them.

[daffy654]

My son met a Holocaust survivor at school a few months ago. His name is Rudy Oppenheimer. He was very moved by the story Mr. Oppenheimer had to tell.
http://i452.photobuck...us/HOLO_web_Small.jpg

[naomi24]

I don't think the Jews are disliked purely because they were moneylenders. The whole of their history and the history of other people's hatred towards them stems from their assertion that they are God's Chosen People and their claim on the so-called Promised Land. Because of that, even though they spread throughout the world, they remained united and independent from the society around them - which is why they were the moneylenders.

Daffy, nice picture. I think children should be taught about the Holocaust.

[Snafu03]

Holocaust denial is often taken well out of context. Alot of people question the figure of 6 million, it doesnt mean they dont beleive it happened at all.

[Ankou]

as jno said, the prejudice is against the people.

[missnemesis]

The Reverend Ernest Levy was indeed a holocaust survivor and although I am not a religious person I found him to be an absolute inspiration. He showed the true spirit of humanity and the world is a much sadder place without him.

http://www.timesonlin...es/article6899916.ece

[Booldawg]

To quote SandyRoe

'Only an idiot would deny The holocaust. The Jews weren't the only people to suffer, 20 million Russians died in the war.
Why treat one set of outrages as special?'

Very true and I would like to elaborate on that by metioning the Russian Revolution where under Stalin 30 million lost their lives a large proportion of which were civilians. The holocaust wasnt the largest genocide of the 20th century but is the most spoke about. Why is that?

My theory is that alot of big players in the media are Jewish and happy to keep the momentum going because it goes some way to allow 'slight discrepencies' in the middle east to carry on little intervention from the West. This has been going on long before Islam was viewed as a threat.

[jomifl]

Booldawg if you are saying that the zionists in israel are using the holocaust as a smokescreen to get away with a similar crime of genocide in palestine then I agree with you.