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Forgetting the Führer: the Recent History of the Holocaust Denial Movement in Germany
Author(s) -
Long Anthony
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8497.00253
Subject(s) - denial , the holocaust , german , publicity , forgetting , movement (music) , law , politics , political science , history , world war ii , sociology , psychology , psychoanalysis , aesthetics , art , archaeology , cognitive psychology
The crimes committed by National Socialist Germany during the Second World War place Germany in a unique position for the Holocaust denial movement, and combine its so‐called “academic” aspect with its political core. In no other country has the movement attracted so much publicity for its pernicious mixture of lies, distortions and half‐truths as it has in Germany since the late 1980s. The introduction of laws in 1985 and 1994 that target “ die Auschwitzlüge ” (Auschwitz‐Lie) changed the frequency of Holocaust denial in German public life, if not its nature. This article is an analysis of the German Holocaust denial movement since 1988, with an emphasis on the most important individuals and events that have influenced the movement's direction in this period. It also includes an examination of the laws that seek to stop its spread.