AIBU to think that holocaust deniers

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1]

don't really believe that the holocaust didn't happen and that they are in fact, just being arseholes.

How on earth can anyone honestly stand up and say "the holocaust didn't happen, it was a conspiracy"?

So, if you think holocaust deniers know full well the holocaust happened and are just being arseholes then click YANBU. But if you think that they really believe it didn't happen click YABU.

My grandpa survived Belsen, would love to hear what he would have to say to a Holocaust denier.

"neo nazi end of the spectrum, pretty far right racist"

Which is interesting because the Nazis were (in my opinion) pretty much end game communism, where the individual doesn't matter anymore only the "community".

The right wing racists only like the Nazis because they tend to be the same racial group (i.e. white/caucasians).

They would not be so keen if it had been their racial group being exterminated.

I never knew this was what some people actually thought. I'm really shocked anyone has ever denied it happened. I don't understand how they could.

@IDoNotHaveABlackCat

The Nazis were fascists, pretty much anathema to communists.

The really strange thing about it, which Holocause deniers never seem to have an answer to, is that the Nazis themselves didn't deny the Holocaust or the concentration camps. In fact they kept meticulous records about it.

@anotherlittlechicken and anyone else who throws "anti-vaxxers" in with Holocaust deniers are just perpetuating the problem. If you vaccinate, great. If someone doesn't hold your opinions on vaccination, then have a rational conversation about it. If you can't do that, just call them as extreme as a Holocaust denier??? Really?

Your inability to grasp that others can draw a different conclusion about vaccines than you do or to have a conversation about it is not much different than the other extremists you've listed.

I love a conspiracy theory, but at points you get to "'A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"

This is one of them, I am confused how anyone can deny it happens, what with the Nazi records and everything.

Underneath it all they are basically Nazis, people who admire Hitler and agree with his policies, and people who see the war on the Eastern front as the definitive battle of good against evil. Fellow travelers tend to fear racial and cultural (the two terms were deliberately used interchangeably by early deniers) 'threats' against the 'white race' and see the SS as admirable warriors on the side of good.

Holocaust denial was a deliberate policy of Nazis who escaped to South America - it was a major theme of post war Nazi publications like 'Der Weg' - and Nazi supporters in Europe (all over Europe, not just Germany, and not just Germans) including many shady pro-Nazi organisations.

I dont know how to vote.

I think plenty of them know it happened but just support the 'the holocaust'never happened because it suits their agenda.

I think some of them get sucked in a genuinely believe it.

Like I think most anti vaxers do believe that vaccines are damaging.

My exh is convinced the world is flat. He used to play videos over and over again, with 'proof' that it was flat. He believes it. He has other issues though as well. He doesnt deny the holocaust to my knowledge, but he is convinced by many conspiracy theories.

And yes he is hard left.

If anything I think the reports at the time may have minimised the holocaust / death camps murders. We get taught about the Jewish Holocaust deaths but there were also Disabled / Gypsy / gay Holocausts across Europe at the same time. The authorities were basically using the death camps to kill anyone they could use as a scapegoat.

The Nazis threw tens of thousands of communists in to concentration camps, this is basic knowledge. 'The nazis were basically end-game communism', my arse.

Also, conspiracy theorists are not at all limited to the 'hard' left. Climate change denial is very prevalent on the right as addressing climate change is likely to require big state intervention, almost certainly some related taxation and perhaps the curtailment of previously enjoyed individual liberties. I interract with a lot of climate sceptics, almost exclusively from conservative, working class backgrounds. A bit like the few neo-fascist, alt right holocaust deniers I have met. So own your share of craziness, and give the left a break.

That person in the programme is an attention seeking nutter. He shouldn’t have been given air time and encouraged. He has all sorts of views on everything from anti vax to chemtrails and tried to stand for election in Ireland before but thankfully his constituents thought better of voting for him.

I strongly recommend the book "Telling Lies about Hitler" by Richard Evans. He was a witness for the defence in the libel claim by David Irving against Deborah Lipstadt, and the book is based on his evidence about the claims Irving made to support his views about the Nazis and the Holocaust. It's fascinating to see how Irving and his supporters manipulate and conceal the facts to try to promote their views.

My great uncle was one of the first to arrive at Belsen with the liberation. He would never ever talk about the things he saw. The mere mention of the word on TV or radio and he would switch it off and well up with tears.

If someone ever expressed their belief that the Holocaust didn't happen they'd get the full force of my belief that they are a cunt. And I have only ever used that word once before now.

I can’t articulate what I think about holocaust deniers. I think about my fathers family-they fled Germany in the nick of time. My Great grandparents were separated-she lived, he didn’t. The extended family were pretty much decimated. We are still going through the restitution process to recover property stolen from them.

There are people that believe in flat earth, that vaccinations are a conspiracy, in ghosts and in gods. In my mind all of these are ridiculous (though some less harmful than others) but goes to show people will believe all manner of things.

I think some are probably just being dicks and others are yet more lunatics with silly beliefs.

Holocaust deniers are dangerous - they can’t recognise historical fact and the threat of the far right throughout history - and the current trend of countries (even democracies) to vote for right wing extremists under the guise of buffoonery.

I watched the Baddiel documentary with my mouth open. On a more positive note, at least that Holocaust denier showed himself as the utter fool and racist he is.

I think whereas a lot of the Flat-Earthers are stupid and ignorant, & the Anti-Vaxxers deluded, Holocaust deniers are actively and inexcusably racist, offensive and hateful

I mean, the one thing that the fucking Nazis were really really effective at was keeping records of where, when and how they murdered millions of people. Not just Jews but homosexuals, disabled people, communists, political activists, Romanys, Freemasons and anyone else who had the fucking misfortune to cross their path...

I honestly despair. Never a truer word than 'you can't argue with stupid'...

Totally agree with @theluckiest. His argument that the Holocaust didn't happen because you see "50 Mercedes" outside the synagogue would be laughable if it wasn't so scary.

However, for me the most frightening part was in the National Archives, when David Baddiel quoted a British official writing during the war that people would relate to the victims of the Nazis if the were "indisputably innocent" so don't mention the Jews - implying that the Jews were guilty. So even at the time we were downplaying what was happening to the victims of our enemies.

People related when their relatives were being knocked off and then to get harassed by the sleazy bastards afterwards.