Denial

No, nay, never
No nay never, no more

- Traditional Irish song

The Jewish Holocaust is, for many people, a defining period in Jewish history.  Under the hand of Adolf Hitler, approximately six million Jews were murdered.  It isn't the worst massacre in history.  Stalin murdered around twenty million people.  It was not the last such horror with genocide attempts across Africa, in the Balkans and beyond haunting is to this day.

So what makes the Holocaust so memorable?  Perhaps it is that the German people, civilised westerners, calmly and coldly accepted it and, in some cases,  joined in.  We cannot rely on stereotypes of "barely civilised Africans" or other such excuses.  These were people just like us.  It challenges us: what would I have done in the circumstances.  It is not a comfortable feeling.

Thus it is not surprising that we feel deeply affected when somebody denies that the Holocaust ever happened.  It seems to defy logic as there were many witnesses.  I have met some myself.  We cannot comprehend what thought processes lead somebody to that belief.  Yet Holocaust Deniers undoubtedly do exist.

A common response is anger and a desire to stop the denier spreading their malicious beliefs.  Prominent British denier, David Irving, has tried on a number of occasions to organise lectures in Australia.  The immigration officials have refused to allow him into the country.  Sadly, this generates accusations of censorship and he possibly gets more publicity in being thwarted than he might have received had the lectures gone ahead.

I have come with a better response to Mr Irving's distasteful message.  Let him speak where he wants, and treat him with the respect he deserves.   You point your forefinger in his general direction and laugh out loud.