Fighting for Truth
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In 1996 Emory University history professor, Deborah Lipstadt, did the unthinkable and squared off with David Irving, infamous Holocaust denier, in a civil action in the High Court of England. At stake was Irving's contention that Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books, had intentionally libeled him in one of her studies. In a case that is reminiscent of Uris' "QB VII", Lipstadt answered the allegations with the intent of exposing Irving for being a falsifier of history and deservant of any disapprobation she directed his way. The book is a detailed description of how Lipstadt's team (led by the brilliant barrister Rampton - sounds like Rumpole) was assembled, how the strategy for contesting the action of libel was formed, and how it was played out in court. Irving, a devious manipulator of history, represented himself as the plaintiff and took the line that Hitler never gave his approval for the Final Solution ("Hitler's War"). Any evidence as to the grand scale of this genocide was mainly fabricated by the Jewish press after the War. In the seven or so weeks of the trial, Lipstadt's team chipped away at this argument by providing undeniable clear proof that the Holocaust took place, that Irving, in light of the abundant evidence, intentionally presented the facts as an unproven, crackpot myth meant to villify the German people. Behind all this, Irving continued to impress others that he was a legitimate historian who had access to special documentation that would blow the cover off the Holocaust and change the course of history. The story is well worth the read if only to demonstrate the importance of defending the sacred memory of truth against prepostrous fabrications. Lipstadt's efforts must have been successful because I've heard little about Irving in the last decade or so.
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