Customer Reviews

The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

The real issue here is not whether exactly six million Jews (and others) were deliberately put to death by National Socialist Germany, but whether books that we, on the surface, dislike, are to be permitted a reading audience.

How many of the reviewers who trashed this book actually read it? One, whose contribution is entitled "Vile Antisemiticism," has written a review of another book on the topic, by Bradley Smith, also entitled "Vile Antisemiticism" and also including the phrase "pathetic, offensive and slyly illogical."

How many members of the American Library Association, who sponsor Banned Books Week, went to the defense of David Irving when he was imprisoned in Austria for a politically unpopular opinion (the one in THIS book)? How many outlets of the chain booksellers would put this book and others like it on display for Banned Books Week?

You can obtain this title through Amazon and at independent bookstores. Try your local library, or the library of the nearest Institution of Higher Learning, or a chain bookstore.

A sister in law of mine, a graduate of Northwestern, discussed Dr. Butz (he is a prof there) and his work. His name gave her an expression of disgust. When I asked her whether she had actually read his book, the answer was, of course, no.

Every champion of liberty should read Marx's "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoleon."
Every Christian should read the works of the opponents (the Patristic Fathers quoted the Gnostics accurately and at length).

If you haven't done this things and if you attack books like this without reading them, you are no better than any other fanatic and demagogue.

This is one of those books which, whether you love it or hate it, truly stands apart from historiography, because the book itself makes history. Mainly, more than any other in the U.S. this is the classic, defining book of holocaust revisionism (or denial if you prefer).

Butz, a computer science prof. at Northwestern University near Chicago, builds an overwhelming case for his thesis, and presents it in the hard-nosed, academically sophisticated, rigorous, peer-reviewed style and forensic diction that make it a serious piece of work. No intelligent person can read this and not be impressed by his thoroughness, and also, not be deeply disturbed by the wider implications. But that's another story.

Rather than give you a tedious synopsis of it, I just want to post this review to point out a couple of things. (a) Butz has updatde the 25-year-old original with a new 2nd edition a few years ago, which I believe he makes available online as a pdf download. (b) Butz's book, good as it is, has been complemented by many others since, which have taken the discussion to the next level. I am not saying Butz's work is dated, but that it has been fleshed out and supported admirably by many others. I am thinking of Robt Faurisson and Germar Rudoph especially, but there are many many others. Of course the Institute for Historical Research, which was founded after Butz's first edition, has filled a small library with addition research on this subject. Butz was the ground-breaking inspiration for much that has followed, so again, this is history-making in itself.

None of this takes away from Butz's accomplisment in this early book, which I still regard as the single best introduction to revisionism in English; but I would have to say that,equally, The Rudolph Report ( a free download ), written within the past decade, is also now indispensable as a complement (emphasizing the forensic, architectural and operational issues at Birkenau, which are almost completely lacking in Butz's book, as I recall).

Although it can get a bit technical at times, Dr. Butz's book allows the reader to understand better alternative viewpoints regarding the treatment of Jewish deportees during the Second World War. Time will always allow a more objective treatment of historical events and this book, written in 1975, is an important contribution in this respect. Anyone with an interest in what really happened to the Jews during the Nazi era and willing to consider documented fact left out of the information mainstream owes it to him or herself a thorough study of this work. Highly recommended!!

Regardless of whether one agrees with Butz, one should support his right to express himself.

I read Mr. Butz's work several years ago, along with the works of other Holocaust revisionists/scholars such as David Irving and Ernst Zundel. I have to admit that many of the facts they present are compelling. For instance, no one can really pinpoint where the "six million" figure arose and the sheer logistics of murdering six million people (during a war where supplies and manpower were scarce) are hard to swallow.

The attacks on Mr. Butz are disturbing. This author is entitled to express his views. The Holocaust is the ONLY event in history that one is forbidden from questioning or probing. Why??? Why is this event any different from the many other genocides that have been committed in history? (For instance, the mass murder committed by Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolultion, to name only one.) In terms of numbers, Stallin killed a staggering twenty million individuals yet we are taught that the Holocaust is unique. Well, it isn't any more disturbing then other mass murders in history. If other historical events are open to scholarly debate and questioning, why should the Holocaust be treated any differently? If the facts about the Holocaust all have merit, they will be proven true in the marketplace of ideas -- why the need to censor Mr. Butz?

I applaud Arthur Butz for the courage to question the "facts" that have been force-fed on the world for the past fifty years. This book is a must-read.

Butz's book was first published in 1975, followed by a second edition in 1977. It seems to have been produced on an IBM compositor - a film ribbon proportional-spacing typewriter. Butz's methodology once his interest had been ignited, was to obtain documents and books, some in German and French, through the university inter-library loan system. (He is or was an electrical engineer, specialising, as I understand in pylons and electrical transmission). So far as I know, this was the first ever detailed book specifically on holocaust revisionism. As might be guessed, it's been the target of red-faced rage and indignation, but no point-by-point refutation has been written. It's far better known in the USA than Britain - look at the comments on amazon.com from about 2000 onwards, and the extreme distribution of 5-star and 1-star reviews, usually a sign of a 'controversial' book. An updated online version exists; in fact, of course, Internet now allows Butz to be read online. However, the 3rd edition (2003) exists as hard copy.

I have read many books in my life, but this is the most interesting. The book is intelligently written and presents its case with powerful logic and evidence. You will be surprised how many holes Butz pokes into the holocaust story. Holocaust believers with no good arguments of their own, simply label it "hate" or in the case of Germany, Israel, and Canada ban the book outright. Read this book and decide for yourself. The politcally correct people would love to keep you deaf and dumb on this issue, but fortunately we (USA) live a free country, so use that freedom and buy this book before they manage to ban it here as well.

I first read Butz' work some ten years ago; without doubt it has go down as one of the landmark works in contemporary history. One can excuse the poor layout and typeset, a problem faced only because the work has never found itself being released by one of the many well-funded international publishing houses. To use this to scoff at the author is somewhat puerile. As a historical researcher and student of the Nazi holocaust - everyone involved in the subject has his or her unique this idea on what this may mean - I feel that Butz' work is a good starting point, in that it both points out the pertinent facts and encourages the reader to actually go away and seek out standard mass-published works. As the book can be classified as being pre-Leuchter, it is best read in conjunction with more contemporary revisionist works and articles; nevertheless, it serves its purpose well enough for one to call it an informative and at times even shocking read - shocking in that the reader is genuinely shocked when he or she takes note of verifiable facts that have been either hidden or distorted by contemporary commentators. All in all, 'Hoax' is well worth the money, and provides a powerful and concise counterpunch to the prevailing school of thought.

Dr Butz "Hoax of the Twentieth Century" represents the quintiscential revisionist argument; It is technical. In depth. It accepts deficiencies in available knowledge of certain areas, and unlike those who accept the holocaust myth, it does not use them as a kind of "proof", in comparisson to the argument for instance that German records detailing the holocaust were "destroyed", where there is no proof they existed in the first place.

It is, however, an old book, and much new material has come to light which strenghtens the revisionist argument. Thus, this book alone does not serve as a total counterargument to the holocaust myth, but as a technical framework it is unsurpassed. I would encourage readers to visit www.ihr.org and bolster their knowledge with the material they offer, as well as considering arguments by holocaust believers. In the search for the truth, all available knowledge must be considered, without bias or emotion.

I am discouraged to see so many negative reviews of this book by readers who obviously have not taken the time to read it. If the "fact" of the holocaust can actually stand up to scrutiny, then those who take a knee-jerk reaction to revisionism should take the time at least to educate themselves on revisionist argument before accepting the holocaust myth with blind faith. If they are so secure in their belief, why must they resort to accusing those who "dig a little deeper" of anti-semetism?

This book is a must read for anyone wanting to know 'the other side' of the story. Keeping clear of racial polemics, this book is written in a calm and most factual manner and presents clear and objective evidence that at least forces one to reconsider the classic historical arguments about a policy of deliberate extermination on the part of the Third Reich. There is no hate here. No so-called anti-semitism. No pro-Nazi rhetoric. Anyone claiming so is either lying blatantly or simply hasn't read the book.

Some holocaust authors claim they will not argue with revisionists like Butz! Of course! Because they simply cannot explain away or refute many of the arguments presented by the so-called 'other side'. Raul Hilberg is a classic example of a holocaust 'scholar' unable to successfully defend his case when skillfully probed by revisionists. His cross-examination at the Toronto trial of Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel was, in fact, a complete farce. He could not explain away many of the ambiguities in his book 'Destruction of the European Jews' and ended up making a very sorry spectacle of himself. Rudolf Vrba (I Cannot Forgive) was another who, when confronted on the witness stand, hemmed and hawed and finally cited, incredibly enough, 'poetic license' as the reason for many of the questionable claims recorded in his book.

To the average person, I say, do your own research. Don't be afraid to consider other facts and points of view especially when they can be substantiated enough to claim some degree of credibility. This book by Arthur Butz is a big and important step in that direction. There are many footnotes and sources cited and the work is written in a very scholarly manner.

One word of caution.

Possession of works like this in some countries is considered a crime. For this reason alone, this book is a must read!!

This book challenges popular beliefs about the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany. It is frequently condemned as hate literature. I read it carefully. Every time I wanted to know the author's source for a statement - I found a substantive footnote that I could verify. You will be shocked at his conclusions. Even more shocked at the high credibility of his evidence and high standard of his scholarship. It is not the book most people anticipate.