It is estimated that 5 to 6 million Jewish and other people who were considered inferior were killed. 5 million people, is an absolutely astonishing amount of people-imagine seeing that many people in a room. This act of genocide was named the holocaust. During the holocaust millions of primarily Jewish people were killed in concentration camps by deliberate carbon monoxide poisoning, starvation, and in gas chambers containing the zyclon-b chemical, a chemical that if used properly, is one of the most lethal chemicals in the world (Gottfreid 12).

Imagining a visual of the number of people killed in the holocaust is almost impossible-all I could ask is how could that happen? It brought me back to a quote from George Santange, which states that,” Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”(Gottfreid 13) That is why many feel so strongly about learning history. Because if we do not have an understanding of how past events, like the holocaust happened, and the effects of the Nazi movement, a similar incident could very well happen again.

The holocaust is a unique subject, because most people have learned, studied, or at least heard of these horrible actions committed by the National Socialist German Workers Party, better known as the Nazi party that was run by Adolph Hitler. It seems that in some parts of the world today, everyone knows the basics of the holocaust. This is obviously a good thing because we must protect minorities from history’s madmen so that nothing like this happens again.

A true madman in history, many consider Hitler to be the worst criminal who ever lived, and it is doubtful that there are many people who view him as a good person. Michael H. Hart ranks the 100 most influential people in history, which includes Hitler, in his book “The 100.” “He writes,” I must confess that it is with a feeling of disgust that I include Adolph Hitler in this book. His influence is entirely pernicious, and I have no desire to honor a man whose chief importance lies in having caused the deaths of some thirty-five million people.” (205) Mr. Hart ranked Hitler as the 39th most influential person in history. Hitler was ranked before Plato (ranked 40), Alexander Graham Bell (ranked 42), John Locke (ranked 44), Thomas Jefferson (ranked 64), Niccolo Machiavelli (ranked 79), and Mohandas K. Gandhi (who was not even in the book!). This proves how well known Hitler, and his cause, has been throughout history.

So it is understood without much debate that the majority of the people understand what the holocaust was about, and the effects of it. We as a human race are doing our job in learning the facts about our history in order to prevent another genocide. It is in my opinion that the holocaust was the most intensely horrendous act in history, and it makes me question how anything or anyone would let something like this happen. Unfortunately there are people out there who question wither the holocaust even happened.

Let me state that I have no doubt that the holocaust happened; I simply question how it could have happened. I do not question that it happened, however there are people and organizations that do. It is important to understand that there are people who deny that the holocaust ever happened, and more importantly, the fact they are using “half truths,” and sometimes complete lies, to make their points. Even though it is a small minority that believes the Holocaust was a hoax, they are voicing their opinions-and people are being influenced.

Michel Shermer notes a quote from Joseph Goebbek in his book, “Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened.” He states, “If you repeat a lie enough times, people will believe it.” (2) This is absolutely true, especially in the age of holocaust denial. If people continue to not only doubt that the holocaust happened, but lie and twist facts in an attempt to cloud the truth, then people will be influenced away from the truth. Some would argue that denying the Holocaust is good for the sake of discussion. According to Bradley Smith, publisher of the Smith’s Report, which is an American monthly newsletter on revionism of the Holocaust, “Students should be encouraged to investigate the Holocaust controversy the same way they are encouraged to investigate every other controversy.”(13)

I am a proponent of the American ideal of free speech, and I feel that discussion is the best way to solve any controversies, especially in history. However, the problem I have with Mr. Brady’s passage is that he inferred that there is some kind of doubt whither the Holocaust ever happened. He is entitled to his own opinion, but his opinion that the Holocaust never happened is insane. Yes, anyone who denies the holocaust must either be insane, completely misinformed, or as naïve as someone who thinks everyone is perfect. My guess is that the man is insane. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind as to whither the Holocaust happened or not.

The problem is how we can stop the bizarre message of holocaust denial from spreading. Do we passively ignore those who speak against the Holocaust, and hope it goes away? Or do we try in some way to limit the speech of those who deny it. I say neither. The best way to prevent the Holocaust denial message is to be active in speaking and teaching facts, not limit the speech of the deniers. In the United States, the first amendment of the United States says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Basically this amendment protects everyone’s right to argue whatever they want, no matter how bizarre the argument. Even if the argument is destructive to a specific group of people, e.g. people who are of Jewish faith. They can argue even if the argument is destructive to the facts of history. Anyone can argue anything even if the argument is something is as ignorant as say, Holocaust denial.

Let me say that I believe in the 1st amendment, and as bizarre as it sounds, I believe very strongly that those who deny the holocaust should be able to say so. They should absolutely have the right to say whatever they feel because after all, certainly no one would want anyone censoring their ideas just because they cause conflict with certain group of people. Imagine if the majority of the people in the world felt the holocaust did not happen. By speaking out against the popular idea, they could arrest and condemn those who were trying to prove it happened. This is the exact same situation except that the majority is correct and the minority is wrong, at least in my slightly biased opinion.

According to Shermer, it is highly illegal in other countries to speak about the holocaust as a myth. (10) This is because these countries do not have the freedoms as we do in this country. A well-known British historian, David Irving, has recently been sentenced to 3 years in jail in Austria for denying the Holocaust. He in fact has been barred from entering Germany, Austria, and Canada because of his insane claims.

Holocaust deniers claim many things. They argue that the Jewish people were responsible for Germany’s economic misfortune before and during World War I. They also claim that once Hitler came to power, the Jewish people claimed war on the Germans, as if the Jewish people were their own country. They claim that the Jewish people “invented” the idea of extermination in order to gain sympathy from the western world, and they claim they turned the western world on the German’s. (Perry 176) Listening to these arguments is frustrating to anyone with half a clue, but there is some truth to their arguments. The idea that Jews influenced the western world to hate the Germans is true except the Germans were the ones that brought it on themselves. They tell the truth in the sense that the western world was turned against them, however, what they fail to admit is the fact that the German’s hostilities against the Jewish people was what really sparked the hatred.

According to Marvin Perry, denying the Holocaust ever happened would be like telling Americans that slavery never happened. (177) the following is an excerpt full of sarcasm from his book “Anti-Semitism: Myth and Hate from Antiquity to the Present.”

I have written this book because I feel that I have a moral duty to expose a great hoax that continues to do great harm to the American people. Contrary to everything we have been told, bondage slavery never existed in the United States. Blacks invented the myth that their ancestors were enslaved in order to wrench welfare payments and affirmative action programs from the government…Unlike European immigrants, Africans, many of whom still retained their savage ways, were unable to fend for themselves…they asked to be placed with caring families who provided them with food, shelter, and work…It is unfortunate that the North, whipped into a frenzy by the lies and distortions of black rabble-rousers and their Abolitionists dupes, launched an unjust war against the South…they have cunningly forged documents and planted misleading information that continue to deceive gullible historians. (Perry 177)

Obviously Perry was being sarcastic, but that is almost how I feel when I read the ideas that the deniers continue to preach as the truth.