The Case for Auschwitz: Evidence from the Irving Trial

by Robert Jan Van Pelt

Book Overview

From January to April 2000 historian David Irving brought a high-profile libel case against Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt in the British High Court, charging that Lipstadt's book, Denying the Holocaust (1993), falsely labeled him a Holocaust denier. The question about the evidence for Auschwitz as a death camp played a central role in these proceedings. Irving had based his alleged denial of the Holocaust in part on a 1988 report by...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253340160
• ISBN13: 9780253340160
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 3.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 7.4" x 10.4"

Customer Reviews

An exceptional contribution to Holocaust understanding

Robert Jan Van Pelt's contribution to helping win the Irving trial can only be matched by the excellence of "The Case for Auschwitz." I have read extensively about the Holocaust over the past twenty years, and heard about this book in Krakow, Poland two months ago. My wife and I visited the camps, where she was born, and other WWII Jewish sites during that trip. Having recently seen Auschwitz I, II, and III first hand with an excellent guide, I was prepared with high expectations to learn new insights when I opened up this book. My expectations were exceeded. In fact, this contained much of the trial content and interpretations that I was expecting in the Deborah Lipstadt book that she authorized after the trial. Having heard her speak in Chicago four days after the trial, she shared a number of fascinating experiences related to the trial and getting the guilty verdict that were all missing from her book. What this author has done is capture a wealth of fascinating facts, verbatim transcript portions of what various witnesses said at the trial and rebuttals, and lots more about Auschwitz II and its management. Everything about this work makes for fantastic reading...and on many levels. The illustrations and photos are meaningful and the final chapter is particularly memorable. For someone who wants to know what really went on in the trial, its meaning, the tactics of the twisted minds of Holocaust deniers and specifically why their denial premise gets a following, this is a true value for the cost.

Essential Reading

You would like to think that one of the central historical events of the 20th century would be beyond dispute, but nevertheless some manage to deny the holocaust. In 2000, Holocaust denier David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt and her publishers Penguin Books in the High Court for libel, and Robert Jan van Pelt was called as an expert witness for the defence. Essentially, his task was to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court that the facts related by Lipstadt in [i]Denying the Holocaust[/i] were, to the best of current knowledge, true. This book relates how van Pelt came to be called upon for this role, his researches and preparation for the trial, followed through with the story of how the trial itself went; from opening statements to Irving's eventual defeat. On the way, the available evidence is thoroughly examined and assembled into a coherent narrative of the appalling events at the Auschwitz death camp. Arguments and evidence presented by Holocaust deniers is dissected, and their errors exposed in clear, logical prose. This book is not cheap, but thorough and densely packed it is nonetheless good value.

Well worth the money

Shermer and Grobman's _Denying History_ whetted, but did not completely satisfy, my appetite to learn more about the historical evidence for the Holocaust, so I bought and read van Pelt's book. I know that in this book van Pelt covers only a portion of the information that was in his reports for the Irving trial, but it was certainly enough to convince me that Judge Gray's verdict was the proper one. This book covers a lot of technical information that would possibly be hard to digest or be boring if it were presented by another author, but van Pelt writes very well, and I had trouble setting his book down. The author comes across as a very reasonable figure who is able to resist the urge to over-rely on either sentimentality or sarcasm. Perhaps I will need to read something else to internalize the horror that was the Holocaust, but I don't need to read anything else to see that it really did happen.Finally, let me say that I was unprepared for what a big, handsomely bound, handsomely typeset book this would be. (I know that talking about the attractiveness of a book about the Holocaust is probably as bad as Jerry Seinfeld making out during "Schindler's List", but I figured that there might be some other bibliophiles out there who care about such things.)

One of many good books

This is one of many good books on the Irving trial in which a holocaust denier was allowed, because of englands biased legal system, to sue an author for libel only because she referred to him as what he was, a holocaust denier. This book is not the best on the subject but it does a job job of explaining the farce of Irvings moronic statements. At one point in the trial Irving even referred to the Judge as 'mein Fuhrer', comical and amazingly disturbing. Seth J. Frantzman

Brilliant and long-overdue

A fascinating look at a trial which brought to light the nefarious and underhanded way in which Holocaust deniers and revisionists twist the facts of history. A must-read for history buffs, truth seekers, and legal eagles.