Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Chapter 1: Trials, Jews and Nazis
nificant circulation. Aretz carries the case against the exterminations only slightly
beyond Rassinier. He depends heavily on Rassinier in this respect, although he
provides some new material. A major function of his book is the presentation of a
remarkably bold and forthright general defense of the German nation.
The unreasonable continuation of war crimes trials in West Germany and the
absence of any statute of limitations with respect to alleged war crimes by Germans
have had a seldomly remarked implication: people who “were there” have
been afraid to come forward and report what, to their knowledge, actually happened.
They would rather not call attention to the fact that they “were there.”
However, it was inevitable that a few courageous individuals would come forward
nevertheless. The most important of these, to date, has been Thies Christophersen,
author of the booklet Die Auschwitz Lüge (The Auschwitz Lie). Christophersen
was at Auschwitz from January to December 1944. In 1973, he published his recollections
and his firm view that no exterminations ever took place there. An English
translation of Christophersen’s booklet, to which some colorful announcements
had been added, was published in 1974. Christophersen was followed by
Dr. Wilhelm Stäglich, a retired Hamburg judge, who had been assigned to an antiaircraft
unit near Auschwitz during 1944 and had visited the camp on a few occasions.
For such honest reporting of his recollections, Stäglich was punished with a
five year, twenty percent reduction of his pension. 19
In late 1973, Austin J. App, a retired English professor in Maryland, published
a short booklet, The Six Million Swindle. Early in 1974, Wolf Dieter Rothe published
the first volume of his study, Die Endlösung der Judenfrage, and later in
1974, Richard Harwood published in England his book, Did Six Million Really
Die Harwood’s booklet is quite good in convincing power, although it has some
weak points, and the reader is referred to Rassinier for a definitive treatment of
the subject. It was favorably reviewed by Colin Wilson in the November 1974 issue
of the influential British monthly Books and Bookmen, setting off a monthslong
controversy in the pages of that journal.
In early 1975, Harry Elmer Barnes’ translation of one of Rassinier’s books,
The Drama of the European Jews, was issued by a small publisher in the United
States.
How Many Jews
In this introductory chapter, we quickly review the principal problems that
arise when demographic questions are asked. We then indicate, how demographic
problems are resolved in this book, but indicate that the specific task of resolution
must be deferred until later in the book.
The problems inherent in a demographic study are formidable. First, all
sources of post-war primary data are private Jewish or Communist sources (exclu-
19
Nation Europa, vol. 23 (Oct. 1973), 50; vol. 25 (Aug. 1975), 39. The Ginsburg beating incident is
well known and is mentioned by App, 20.
27