Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Supplement 1: The International Holocaust Controversy
to get this old and neo-Nazi” 482
Events unfolded differently in Britain, indeed in such a manner as to clearly
suggest that questioning of the holy Six Million was not much longer to be restricted
to an underground of any sort. In an astonishing development, the now
famous Harwood booklet was favorably reviewed by the well known author Colin
Wilson in the November 1974 issue of the influential monthly Books and Bookman.
A furious controversy, which lasted about six months, ensued in the “Letters”
section of this magazine. I have elsewhere criticized the Harwood booklet
and pointed out some serious errors in it. 483 However, it also has its virtues and
has been effective in stimulating questions, cerebration, and discussion of its formerly
taboo subject. It was banned in South Africa in 1976 484 and effectively
banned in West Germany in its German translation in late 1978.
The Institute of Jewish Affairs in London published its quite vacuous article
on my book in the November-December 1976 issue of its magazine Patterns of
Prejudice. Around the same time, there began at Northwestern University an uproar
over my book that soon resulted in national and even international publicity.
There was a long story in the New York Times, but the story misreported the title
of the book as Fabrication of Hoax. 485 I shall say a few more words about the fuss
at Northwestern later.
In April 1977, I wrote to the magazine Index on Censorship (headquartered in
London and affiliated with Amnesty International) to report to them the many acts
of official censorship in this area, such as the events in Germany and South Africa.
Index has assumed the responsibility of merely reporting instances of censorship,
usually without further comment. They replied to me in May 1977 that they
“will put the question of whether or not to take it up to our editorial board.” On
my trip to Europe in the summer of 1977, I visited their headquarters and was told
the editorial board had not yet deliberated on the matter. I have heard no further
word from them, and I intend to write to them again soon to report new instances
of censorship, which were not long in coming, for I was forbidden from speaking
in Munich on September 3, 1977. 486
Another development of 1977 was the commencement of the English language
publishing operations of Ditlieb Felderer’s excellent group in Sweden. 487
March 1978 brought the tragedy of the assassination of the French historian
François Duprat, allegedly by an Auschwitz “remembrance commando,” for the
offense of having denied the Six Million. 488
Spring 1978 saw the U.S. airing of NBC’s eight hour Holocaust monstrosity
with all the preliminary and post hoopla. The inanities and hysterics were repeated
in Britain later in 1978 and in several European countries early in 1979. In Germany,
the airing of Holocaust was perfectly timed to influence the Bundestag’s
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Die Zeit, May 25, 1979, p. 5.
Voice of German Americans (New York), March 1978.
Patterns of Prejudice, September-October 1977, p. 19.
New York Times, January 28, 1977, p. A10.
Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 2, 1977, p. 13; September 3-4, 1977, p. 13f.
Bible Researcher, Marknadvsvagen 289, 2 tr, S-183 Taby, Sweden.
Le Monde, March 19-20, 1978, p. 24; March 23, 1978, p. 7.
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