Denial sparks controversy among non-believers
In 1996, Professor Deborah Lipstadt published a book called Denying the Holocaust, which criticized people who denied the existence and extent of the historically tragic period. In doing so, she castigated the work of self-taught historian and Holocaust denier David Irving, who presented a lawsuit to counter her claims. What followed was a trial that would last years, considering whether or not it is acceptable to debate the existence of one of the greatest tragedies in history.
This gripping story has been transformed into the movie Denial starring Rachel Wiesz. The film follows the lengthy preparations for the trial in which we see Lipstadt becoming increasingly frustrated that something she knows to be true is to be judged in a court of law. As the publicity surrounding the trial grows, the conspirator’s message reaches a larger audience and they are forced to find undeniable proof to support their cause.
The YouTube comments section for the trailer demonstrates how pertinent the story remains today. In order to find a single comment related to the film itself, one has to sift through dozens of vile comments proclaiming the film as “propaganda.”
The internet has become an unregulated forum for conspiracy theories and challenges to what we are taught to be true. There are online communities that believe vaccinations cause autism, that the Sandy Hook shootings never happened, and that President Obama was not born in the United States.
The issue presented in Denial is the challenge of communicating with someone who is not open to listening to facts. How do you convince someone that what they are saying is fantasy when they are not willing to listen to or accept anything that contradicts their own beliefs? How do we take power away from these voices who try to spread poisonous messages without infringing on the right to free speech?
The movie has a poignant line that addresses this issue. Lipstadt says in the film that, “Free speech is the ability to say whatever you want. What you cannot do, however, is lie and then expect to get away with it.”
The persistent presence of the deniers’ point of view is an insult to the six million people who lost their lives in the Holocaust and to those who survived and bravely tell their stories. It is unclear what will change the minds of those fanatics who choose to believe that these events did not occur. What can be done, however, is continuing to educate what we know to be true and not allow the memory of those lost to be overshadowed by those who refuse to accept history.
Photo courtesy of BBC Films.