<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23507">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<P><I><B>The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish
Suffering</B></I> is a 2000 book by <A class=mw-redirect
title="Norman G. Finkelstein"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_G._Finkelstein">Norman G.
Finkelstein</A> that argues that the <A title="American Jews"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Jews">American Jewish</A>
establishment exploits the memory of the <A class=mw-redirect title=Nazi
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi">Nazi</A> <A class=mw-redirect
title="The Holocaust"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust">Holocaust</A> for political
and financial gain, as well as to further the interests of <A title=Israel
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel">Israel</A>.<SUP id=cite_ref-1
class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-1"><SPAN>[</SPAN>1<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
According to Finkelstein, this "Holocaust industry" has corrupted <A
title="Jewish culture" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_culture">Jewish
culture</A> and the authentic memory of the Holocaust.</P>
<TABLE id=toc class=toc>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV id=toctitle>
<H2> </H2></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P>Finkelstein states that his consciousness of "the Nazi holocaust" is rooted
in his parents' experiences in the <A class=mw-redirect title="Warsaw ghetto"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_ghetto">Warsaw ghetto</A>; with the
exception of his parents themselves, "every family member on both sides was
exterminated by the Nazis".<SUP id=cite_ref-h5_2-0 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-h5-2"><SPAN>[</SPAN>2<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
Nonetheless, during his childhood, no one ever asked any questions about what
his mother and father had suffered. He suggests, "This was not a respectful
silence. It was indifference."<SUP id=cite_ref-h5_2-1 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-h5-2"><SPAN>[</SPAN>2<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
It was only after the establishment of "the Holocaust industry", he suggests,
that outpourings of anguish over the plight of the Jews in <A
title="World War II" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II">World War
II</A> began. This ideology in turn served to endow Israel with a status as
"'victim' state" despite its "horrendous" human rights record.<SUP
id=cite_ref-h5_2-2 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-h5-2"><SPAN>[</SPAN>2<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P>
<P>According to Finkelstein, his book is "an anatomy and an indictment of the
Holocaust industry". He argues that "'The Holocaust' is an ideological
representation of the Nazi holocaust".<SUP id=cite_ref-3 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-3"><SPAN>[</SPAN>3<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P>
<P>In the foreword to the first <A title=Paperback
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperback">paperback</A> edition, Finkelstein
notes that the first hardback edition had been a considerable hit in several
European countries and many languages, but had been panned in the US. He sees
<I><A title="The New York Times"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times">The New York
Times</A></I> as the main promotional vehicle of the "Holocaust industry", and
notes that the 1999 Index listed 273 entries for the Holocaust and just 32
entries for the entire continent of <A title=Africa
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa">Africa</A>.</P>
<H2><SPAN id=Chapters class=mw-headline>Chapters</SPAN></H2>
<UL>
<LI>Chapter 1: <I>Capitalizing The Holocaust</I> - by the 1980s, Finkelstein
states, the "War against the Jews" had become more important to American
cultural life than the "War Between the States".(p. 11)</LI>
<LI>Chapter 2: <I>Hoaxers, Hucksters and History</I> - in 1967, Finkelstein
claims that two concepts appeared in public discourse: The uniqueness of the
Holocaust, and the concept of the Holocaust as climax of a historical
irrational <A class=mw-redirect title=Anti-Semitism
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Semitism">anti-Semitic</A> tendency in
Europe. Finkelstein asserts that these concepts became central to the
"Holocaust Industry", but that neither figures in scholarship of the Nazi
Holocaust.(p. 13)</LI>
<LI>Chapter 3: <I>The Double Shakedown</I> - in this chapter, Finkelstein
claims that the number of Jewish <A class=mw-redirect
title="Holocaust survivors"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_survivors">survivors of the
Holocaust</A> recognized by relief groups increased from c. 100,000 in
1945<SUP id=cite_ref-4 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-4"><SPAN>[</SPAN>4<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
to nearly 1 million<SUP id=cite_ref-5 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-5"><SPAN>[</SPAN>5<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
owing to definitional changes in who was considered to be a survivor. Because
of this, Finkelstein repeatedly asserts that "fraudulent" claims were made on
Switzerland, while accounts and assets in the US and Israel were ignored.
Payments were made to the wrong people and real survivors lost out.</LI></UL>
<P>The second (2003) edition contained 100 pages of new material, primarily in
chapter 3 on the Swiss Banks lawsuit. Finkelstein set out to provide a guide to
the relevant sections of the case. He feels that the presiding judge elected not
to docket crucial documents, and that the Claims Resolution Tribunal could no
longer be trusted. Finkelstein claims the CRT was on course to vindicate the
Swiss banks before it changed tack in order to "protect the blackmailers'
reputation".</P>
<H2><SPAN id=Other_topics class=mw-headline>Other topics</SPAN></H2>
<H3><SPAN id=Fraudulent_writings_on_the_Holocaust class=mw-headline>Fraudulent
writings on the Holocaust</SPAN></H3>
<P>Finkelstein describes two known frauds, that of <I><A
title="The Painted Bird"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Bird">The Painted Bird</A></I> by
Polish writer <A class=mw-redirect title="Jerzy Kosinski"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kosinski">Jerzy Kosinski</A> and
<I>Fragments</I> by <A title="Binjamin Wilkomirski"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binjamin_Wilkomirski">Binjamin
Wilkomirski</A>, and how they were defended by people even after they'd been
exposed. He identifies some of these people as members of the "Holocaust
Industry", and notes that they also support each other. <A title="Elie Wiesel"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel">Elie Wiesel</A> supported
Kosinski; <A title="Israel Gutman"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Gutman">Israel Gutman</A> and <A
title="Daniel Goldhagen"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Goldhagen">Daniel Goldhagen</A> (see
below) supported Wilkomirski; Wiesel and Gutman support Goldhagen.</P>
<H3><SPAN id=Holocaust_Industry_defends_itself class=mw-headline>Holocaust
Industry defends itself</SPAN></H3>
<P>Finkelstein has published heavy criticisms of several books in his career, as
he did to <I><A title="Hitler's Willing Executioners"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler's_Willing_Executioners">Hitler's
Willing Executioners</A></I> by Daniel Johnah Goldhagen, which he calls "replete
with gross misinterpretations of source material and internal contradictions",
and says "the book is devoid of scholarly value". Independently, Ruth Bettina
Birn (the world's leading authority on the archives that Goldhagen had consulted
and chief historian for War Crimes with the Canadian Department of Justice) did
the same - she and Finkelstein worked together on <I>A Nation on Trial: The
Goldhagen Thesis and Historical Truth</I>. Goldhagen refused the journal's
invitation for a full rebuttal, and instead enlisted a London law firm to sue
Birn and the Cambridge University Press. Protests were made to Birn's employer,
calling her "a member of the perpetrator race" (she is <A title=Germany
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany">German</A>-born), prompting an
official investigation of her.(p. 66)</P>
<H3><SPAN id=Other_genocides class=mw-headline>Other genocides</SPAN></H3>
<P>Finkelstein scathingly compared the media treatment of the Holocaust and the
media treatment of other genocides such as the <A title=Holodomor
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor">Holodomor</A> and the <A
title="Armenian Genocide"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide">Armenian Genocide</A>,
particularly by members of what he calls "The Holocaust Industry". (1 to 1.5
million Armenians died in the years between 1915 and 1917/1923 - denial includes
the claim that they were the result of a Civil War within <A title="World War I"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I">World War I</A>, or refusal to
accept there were deaths). In 2001, Israeli Foreign Minister <A
title="Shimon Peres" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres">Shimon
Peres</A> went so far as to dismiss it as "allegations". However, by this time
historical consensus was changing, and he was "angrily compared ... to a
holocaust denier" by Dr Charny, executive director of the <A
title="Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_on_the_Holocaust_and_Genocide">Institute
on the Holocaust and Genocide</A> in <A title=Jerusalem
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem">Jerusalem</A>.<SUP id=cite_ref-6
class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-6"><SPAN>[</SPAN>6<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P>
<P>In August 2007, the <A class=mw-redirect
title="Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel_Foundation_for_Humanity">Elie
Wiesel Foundation for Humanity</A> produced a letter signed by 53 <A
class=mw-redirect title="Nobel Laureate"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Laureate">Nobel Laureates</A>
re-affirming the Genocide Scholars' conclusion that the 1915 killings of
Armenians <A title="Armenian Genocide recognition"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide_recognition">constituted
genocide</A>.<SUP id=cite_ref-7 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-7"><SPAN>[</SPAN>7<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
However, Wiesel's organization asserted there would be no legal "basis for
reparations or territorial claims", anticipating Turkish anxieties that it could
prompt financial or property claims. <A title="Abraham Foxman"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Foxman">Abraham Foxman</A> of
the <A title="Anti-Defamation League"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League">Anti-Defamation
League</A> announced: "Upon reflection, the consequences of those actions were
indeed tantamount to <A title=Genocide
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocide">genocide</A>".<SUP id=cite_ref-8
class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-8"><SPAN>[</SPAN>8<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P>
<H3><SPAN id=Other_forms_of_Holocaust_denial class=mw-headline>Other forms of
Holocaust denial</SPAN></H3>
<P>According to Finkelstein, Elie Wiesel characterizes any suggestion that he
has profited from the "Holocaust Industry", or even any criticism at all, as <A
title="Holocaust denial"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial">Holocaust denial</A>.<SUP
id=cite_ref-9 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-9"><SPAN>[</SPAN>9<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
Questioning a survivor's testimony, denouncing the role of Jewish collaborators,
suggesting that Germans suffered during the <A class=mw-redirect
title="Bombing of Dresden"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Dresden">bombing of Dresden</A> or
that any state except Germany committed crimes in World War II are all evidence
of Holocaust denial – according to Deborah Lipstadt<SUP id=cite_ref-10
class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-10"><SPAN>[</SPAN>10<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
– and the most "insidious" forms of Holocaust denial are "immoral
equivalencies", denying the <A class=mw-redirect
title="Uniqueness of The Holocaust"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniqueness_of_The_Holocaust">uniqueness of
The Holocaust</A>.<SUP id=cite_ref-11 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-11"><SPAN>[</SPAN>11<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
Finkelstein examines the implications of applying this standard to another
member of the "Holocaust Industry", Daniel Goldhagen, who argued that <A
title=Serbia href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbia">Serbian</A> actions in
<A title=Kosovo href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo">Kosovo</A> "are, in
their essence, different from those of Nazi Germany only in scale".<SUP
id=cite_ref-12 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-12"><SPAN>[</SPAN>12<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP></P>
<H3><SPAN id=Holocaust_deniers_in_real_life class=mw-headline>Holocaust deniers
in real life</SPAN></H3>
<DIV class=rellink>Further information: <A title="Armenian Genocide recognition"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide_recognition">Armenian
Genocide recognition</A> and <A title="Holocaust denial"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial">Holocaust denial</A></DIV>
<P>According to Finkelstein, <A title="Deborah Lipstadt"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Lipstadt">Deborah Lipstadt</A> claims
there is widespread Holocaust denial - yet in "Denying the Holocaust" her prime
example is <A title="Arthur Butz"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Butz">Arthur Butz</A>, author of <I><A
title="The Hoax of the Twentieth Century"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hoax_of_the_Twentieth_Century">The Hoax
of the Twentieth Century</A></I>. The chapter on him is entitled "Entering the
Mainstream" - but Finkelstein considers that, were it not for the likes of
Lipstadt, no one would ever have heard of Arthur Butz. Holocaust deniers have as
much influence in the US as the <A title="Flat Earth Society"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society">Flat Earth Society</A>
(p. 69). Finkelstein believes there to be only one "truly mainstream"
holocaust denier—<A title="Bernard Lewis"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Lewis">Bernard Lewis</A>, who was
convicted in <A title=France
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France">France</A> of denying the Armenian
genocide.<SUP id=cite_ref-13 class=reference><A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_Industry#cite_note-13"><SPAN>[</SPAN>13<SPAN>]</SPAN></A></SUP>
Since Lewis is pro-Israel, "this instance ... raises no hackles in the United
States."</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>