Wikipedia's and RationalWiki's Holocaust articles

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Wikipedia

Photograph of an alleged "Bone Mill" that was allegedly used by a "Sonderkommando 1005" unit at the Lemberg labor camp in Ukraine. The photograph was frequently used as evidence by the Soviet Union at the IMT trial. The revisionist Klaus Schwensen has argued that research shows that the machine was nothing but a normal ball mill and that the Soviet story was a fabrication.[1] See also the article on the controversial Soviet Extraordinary State Commission, which was involved in this allegation.

More recently, the photograph has been cited by the leftist Wikipedia as evidence in several article. Regarding other Holocaust photographs in Wikipedia, see this regarding examples of revisionist criticisms of claimed Holocaust photographs: External link.

Wikipedia has a few articles specifically on "Holocaust denial" and many on topics such as individual Holocaust "witnesses" and "confessors". There are various problematic descriptions of Holocaust revisionist arguments. Some examples are mentioned below, there are many others.

"Confessions" and "testimonies" in various Wikipedia articles

"Holocaust denial" article

"Criticism of Holocaust denial" article

  • Many of the arguments are repetitions on those in "Holocaust denial" article. See the separate section on this article regarding these.
  • "In December 1942 Hitler received a document from Himmler entitled, "Report to the Führer on Combating Partisans", stating that 363,211 Jews had been killed by Einsatzgruppen in August–November 1942." See Einsatzgruppen: 29 December 1942 report.
  • "In addition to the Posen speeches, studies have shown that the mass of ordinary Germans at the time knew about the existence of the death and concentration camps". See Holocaust awareness.
  • "Felix Kersten wrote in his memoirs'". See Felix Kersten.
  • "Heinrich Himmler wrote: As the affairs now stand, there are no objections against doing away with those Jews who are not able to work, with the Brack remedy." Actually a claimed draft by Erhard Wetzel.
  • "Joseph Goebbels". See Joseph Goebbels.
  • "Alfred Rosenberg". See Alfred Rosenberg.
  • "Pery Broad". See Pery Broad.
  • "Johann Kremer". See Johann Kremer.
  • "Georg Konrad Morgen". See Konrad Morgen.
  • "The delivery of anti-social elements from the execution of their sentences to the Reich Fuehrer of SS to be worked to death." See Otto Georg Thierack.
  • "International Committee of the Red Cross". See International Committee of the Red Cross.
  • "World Almanac". See Holocaust demographics. This (and the Red Cross criticisms) is an example of the article criticizing an old argument from Did Six Million Really Die?, while ignoring later revisionist research and publications.
  • "Yad Vashem". See Yad Vashem.
  • "Deniers claim that these documents are based on Soviet propaganda, primarily from Ilya Ehrenburg's Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, and are therefore unreliable." Unclear what documents are referred to, but Soviet propaganda came from many sources, with one example being the Extraordinary State Commission, which made many allegations now admitted to be false also by non-revisionists, such as 4 million being killed at Auschwitz.
  • "Nazi documentation spells out their plans to murder the Jews of Europe (see the Wannsee Conference)". See Wannsee Conference.
  • "the Nazis methodically recorded the ongoing reduction of the Jewish population, as in the Korherr Report" See Korherr report.
  • "The Höfle Telegram was sent by SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle on January 11, 1943 to SS-Obersturmbannführer Adolf Eichmann in Berlin and detailed the number of deaths of Jews in the concentration camps." See Höfle Telegram.
  • "The complete status reports of the Einsatzgruppen death squads were found in the archives of the Gestapo when it was searched by the U.S. Army, and the accuracy attested to by the former Einsatzgruppen members". See Einsatzgruppen.
  • "Sonderkommandos provide another key piece of testimony." See Sonderkommando.
  • "eyewitness testimonies documented by Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews describe the burning process used in Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec to have carried out in multiple open-air grills where stacks of bodies were burned on top of metal bars. These grills were operated by burning piles of wood underneath. It has been questioned by Holocaust deniers if it would have been possible to burn hundreds of thousands of corpses using the method as documented by Hilberg, especially when the low efficiency of such burning process, the high amounts of wood required [...] By means of a special process which Wirth had invented, they were burned in the open air without the use of fuel." See Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka camps: Corpses.

"Nuremberg trials" article

  • The article actually has some very selective criticism of the trials. However, this largely consists of that the Allies may have committed some war crimes for which they were not tried, giving the false impression that this is the main criticism, and that the trials themselves were largely fair and just. See Nuremberg trials.

"Posen speeches" article

  • One problem, out of many, is that Wikipedia's article makes no mention of that critical parts of Himmler's speeches have been "retyped". See Posen speeches.

"Wannsee Conference" article

  • The Wikipedia article states regarding the "Wannsee Protocol" that "nothing too explicit appeared in them", but insists that "code words" were used. Some of Eichmann's statements on the conference are treated as undisputed truths. No mention is made of the criticisms of Eichmann's statements on the conference (or other topics) or that every other surviving conference participant stated that nobody talked about killing Jews. See Wannsee Conference.

"Rudolf Höss" article

  • The Wikipedia article states nothing on the various criticisms of the "confessions" of Höss, such as Höss being tortured, despite this being stated even by various non-revisionist sources. See Rudolf Höss.

"Leuchter report" article

"The Holocaust" article

  • Wikipedia's main Holocaust article states nothing on Holocaust revisionism/Holocaust denialism in the main text. Furthermore, it only presents the now politically correct "standardized" version. No mention is made of even "non-standard" "politically correct" Holocaust versions, such as a report by the Polish government, which alleged homicidal steam chambers at Treblinka, and which was accepted as valid evidence at the Nuremberg trials.
  • Continuing one of the oldest Holocaust misrepresentations, the description and photograph of corpses at Bergen-Belsen falsely give the impression that this camp was an "extermination camp". See Western Holocaust camps.
  • Even when there is some debate among non-revisionists, the Wikipedia article always implies that the most negative view is the correct one, such as by prominently quoting this view. Examples include
    • regarding superior orders ("there was no coercion to murder Jews and others, and all who committed such actions did so out of free will.")
    • regarding claimed Holocaust awareness among the German civilian population (""passive complicity" would be a better term than "indifference."")
    • regarding the German opposition to the National Socialist regime (""the majority of the anti-Nazi national conservatives were antisemitic [...] did not intend to restore civil rights to the Jews"").
    • regarding claimed Holocaust uniqueness among mass killings ("Unlike all the others it was bounded neither by space nor by time.")

"Functionalism versus intentionalism"

  • Wikipedia usually explicitly states or implicitly implies that "Holocaust intentionalism" is the correct view. This despite the recent popularity of "Holocaust functionalism" among "mainstream" historians. Wikipedia articles such as "The Holocaust" and "Adolf Hitler" state nothing on this prominent "mainstream" debate. The rather obscure Wikipedia article titled "Functionalism versus intentionalism" is one of the few articles discussing the debate. See Holocaust intentionalism and Holocaust functionalism.

Terminology

  • Wikipedia only uses the words Nazi and derivatives, despite not using the word "Commie" and derivatives, and so on.
  • Wikipedia has an article titled "German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war" and a corresponding article titled "German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union", despite mistreatment occurring on both sides.

Missing articles

RationalWiki

"Holocaust denial" article

RationalWiki's article "Holocaust denial" has been given "GOLD status for quality" and is a "Cover story article". This supposedly means that this is the best article quality RationalWiki has and that the "standards are nosebleedingly high!"

  • Generally, RationalWiki repeats many of Wikipedia's arguments, see above regarding this. Notably, RationalWiki also gives prominent place to Eisenhower's visit to the Buchenwald camp, and also makes no mention to the readers on that even non-revisionist historians now admit that this camp was not an "extermination camp" and had no homicidal gas chambers. See Western Holocaust camps.
  • RationalWiki also gives prominent place to Josef Hell's alleged interview with Hitler in 1922 and uses this as supposed evidence for Hitler's genocidal intent. No mention is made to the readers on that this text was published several decades later and that the alleged "interview" also included the unusual clam that Hitler confessed that his anti-Semitism was faked. For unclear reasons, RationalWiki also includes a photograph of German typewritten text. See Alleged statements by Hitler on the Holocaust: Josef Hell interview.
  • "Like most conspiracy theories, it takes many forms; however, the claims generally fall into three categories: 1. The Nazi Holocaust was faked (Holocaust truther): [...] 2. The Nazi Holocaust didn't happen (Holocaust denier): [...] 3. The Nazi Holocaust wasn't that bad (Holocaust revisionist):" Strange straw man descriptions, categories, and terminology, with this apparently having as one purpose to falsely depict Holocaust revisionists as very divided, when instead most generally agree with one another. Strangely describes Holocaust denial as a different category from Holocaust revisionism.
  • "Holocaust deniers might use the confusion around the term Holocaust to question whether it happened at all." Straw man.
  • "Some Holocaust deniers use [...] the reasoning "the Jews were not exterminated, therefore, it was not a real genocide."" Straw man.
  • "They claim that forgers created these and other documents — complete with complex internal reference markings, on typewriters that perfectly matched those used by the various German units said to have written the documents — and then planted thousands of these perfect forgeries in numerous different archival collections (in exactly the right file and in precisely the right sequence) all over Europe." Revisionists argue that there is not much supporting documentary evidence (see Holocaust documentary evidence). Regarding German typewriters and other writing supplies, the war victors had occupied Germany and were thus in possession of original German typewriters and supplies. Regarding "perfect forgeries" and "complete with complex internal reference markings", revisionists who have argued for certain documents being forgeries have often argued that they lack, or have incorrect, such markings, as well as other problems.
  • "Other wartime documents. There is an abundance of documents from the concentration camps by guards and leaders describing the details of the death camps and even "death vans"." The cited source is a single document on "gas vans", which is a forgery according to revisionists. See Gas vans.
  • "Allies' knowledge during the war On December 17, 1942, British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden read the Joint Declaration by Members of the United Nations on behalf of the Allies, where he condemned the ongoing mass murder of Jews." See Allied psychological warfare and Holocaust documentary evidence: Spies, cracking of all German message codes, and other intelligence gathering activities.
  • RationalWiki for unclear reasons likes to cite wartime claims by individuals from Sweden. "Swedish journalist and historian Hugo Valentin wrote in newspaper [...] Arvid Fredborg was a Swedish correspondent in Berlin". Not even claimed "witnesses", but instead individuals retelling wartime rumors and propaganda. "Gunnar Eklöf (1922-91) was a Swedish Waffen-SS volunteer". See Gunnar Eklöf.
  • "Similarly, some Holocaust deniers have claimed that "revisionist" research has corrected the official death toll of Auschwitz from 4 million to 1.1 million. The number of 4 million originated with the first Soviet publications about the Holocaust. It has been used by the Auschwitz museum until the 1980s, in then-communist Poland, which exaggerated enemy atrocities for propaganda purposes. Western scholars have never claimed that 4 million people died at Auschwitz." The four million number was used during the Nuremberg trials and by Western scholars such as Eugen Kogon. See also Holocaust demographics: 4 million killed at Auschwitz claim.
  • "It's the shoes, stupid!" See Holocaust material evidence and there the photograph and accompanying text on shoes.
  • "Of all the arguments against the Holocaust, this is the worst. One of the crematoria at Auschwitz features a smokestack which doesn't appear attached to the furnaces themselves and thus appears fake. Problem is, the plans for the crematoria show that the crematoria in question used an under floor system to remove smoke and fumes, and featured a "free standing" chimney, which was connected underground to the furnaces." The photograph shows a chimney at Crematorium I at Auschwitz I, which even the Auschwitz museum has admitted is a postwar "reconstruction". See David Cole.
  • "Revisionists might insinuate that the presence of a swimming pool is a sign of good living conditions for the prisoners. However, the pool, as most other recreational facilities, were restricted to guards, kapos, and privileged prisoners. The vast majority of the prisoners arriving at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) never got close to the swimming pool." See Auschwitz and there the photograph and accompanying text on the pool.
  • "Such documents included architectural plans for the camps, engineering drafts, test results, accounting ledgers, railroad timetables, payroll records, commendations, orders, deportation lists, and death counts.'" Revisionists have not denied the existence of deportations or concentration camps. Regarding the camp death records, see Holocaust demographics.
  • "Nuremberg trials [...] One complaint is that the judges were recruited from Allied countries, enemies of Nazi Germany — and that the defendants could not expect a fair trial from their erstwhile enemies, and should be tried by peers from their own countries." Yet another straw man, the criticism is that it was a "victors' justice" in which the war victors were the alleged victims, the prosecutors, and the judges/jury, all at the same time. A more neutral trial would have been conducted in a neutral country with neutral judges and avoided a largely Jewish prosecution staff with various possible conflicts of interest. See Nuremberg trials.
  • "the mostly used defense strategy has been superior orders defense". See Superior orders.
  • "Moreover, Holocaust deniers might claim that the Nuremberg trials coerced the defendants to make false statements about what happened to the Jews. This is contradicted by the fact that most defendants who were found guilty for detention and extermination (Göring, Jodl, etc) were hanged, while the defendants not involved with the Jews (Dönitz, von Papen, Hess etc.) got away with prison, or acquittal." Misleading and incorrect in various ways. Göring and Jodl (and all the other IMT defendants) did not confess to any Holocaust crimes. See also Holocaust testimonial evidence: Trial confessions.
  • "Not once during any of these trials going on for more than 60 years, has any of the defendants (or their lawyers) used a complete denial defense; a statement that the alleged crime did not happen at all." See Holocaust testimonial evidence and in particular the sections on "Witnesses rejecting atrocities" and "Trial confessions".
  • "the millions of Axis civilian victims are still an order of magnitude more than the civilians killed by the Western allies." See Claimed mass killings of Germans by the WWII Allies and The World Wars and mass starvation.
  • RationalWiki claims to be based on "skepticism" and "critical thinking" regarding the claims of others, and has many pages dedicated to "debunking" disliked persons and claims, but is completely uncritical regarding the claims of alleged "Holocaust confessors" and "Holocaust witnesses". See Holocaust testimonial evidence.

RationalWiki makes a special effort to trivialize and to spread falsehoods about censorship of Holocaust revisionism:

  • "During most of post-war history — more than 40 years — Holocaust denial has been legal in all countries of the world. It was only in 1990 that the French government enacted the Gayssot Law". This ignores, for example, that Paul Rassinier was censored and convicted for Holocaust denial in France in 1950, and that the German judge Wilhelm Stäglich was forced to retire after a only mildly revisionist article in 1973. More generally, Holocaust revisionism was only to some degree ignored, as long as it was insignificant and unknown. When Did Six Million Really Die? became a bestseller, this was followed by the Ernst Zündel's Holocaust trials, with Zündel first being charged in 1983.
  • "Most of these laws outlaw denial of all crimes against humanity [...] only in Romania is the law limited to Holocaust denial." False, see for examples Wikipedia's article on "Laws against Holocaust denial".
  • "Currently, there are 179 countries, and several autonomous territories, without any law or judicial precedent against Holocaust denial." This ignores the increasing number of European countries with censorship, that the censorship in Germany makes it very difficult for Germans to defend themselves against accusations, that the same increasingly applies to Europeans more generally as the Holocaust is an important cause of White guilt, and that the censorship in countries such as Poland (the location of the main "extermination" Holocaust camps) makes it difficult to do research on the Holocaust material evidence.
  • "The number of countries banning genocide denial has been largely constant since the 1990s." False, ignores recent "Holocaust denial" outlawing in, for example, Russia and Greece in 2014, Romania in 2015, and Italy in 2016.
  • "how come that Holocaust denial is legal in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom". While the general trend is towards censorship in Western countries, country specific factors affect if a particular country has (yet) implemented a law or not. One example is the strong protection of freedom of speech in the United States. Canada convicted Zündel twice for Holocaust denial. A Jewish report on "Holocaust denial" in the United Kingdom concluded in 2000 that the "Holocaust education" of the general public was working well and that a "Holocaust denial" law was not needed for now.[2] Even in the Western countries where it is still officially legal, there are ongoing lobbying efforts to censor it in various other ways, such as on social media. Individuals stating Holocaust revisionist views risk various extralegal persecutions and punishments.

See also


References

  1. ↑ The Bone Mill of Lemberg https://codoh.com/library/document/3220/?lang=en
  2. ↑ Combating Holocaust Denial Through Law in the United Kingdom http://archive.jpr.org.uk/object-uk203
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