© Copyright H. David Kirk

[Continued]

It Doesn't Take Professors To See Through Irving

When people who were witnesses to the Nazi era speak out, they must be listened to. Here are two letters to the editor of a local paper.

Irving's 'History'<60>

In light of publicity about David Irving, who wrote a book in which he claims the Holocaust did not happen, it should be pointed out that he makes a living writing books which cast doubt on historical events. In 1970, his book, The Destruction of Convoy PQ17, caused an uproar, particularly in naval circles, and resulted in a court action against Irving for libel. The action was taken by Capt. John Broome, senior officer in charge of the naval escort.

In July 1942, 36 merchant ships set sail from the United Kingdom for Murmansk with supplies for the besieged Russians. In the Barents Sea, it [the convoy] came under heavy attack by German aircraft and U- boats. The British admiralty, acting on intelligence reports (later proved false) that the battleship Tirpitz had put to sea, gave an order for the convoy to scatter while the naval escorts searched for the battleship. Captain Broome complained that in Irving's book, the blame for the convoy's destruction was put on him, the inference being that the navy had abandoned the merchant ships.

The judge found in Capt. Broome's favor. But by then, his reputation had been damaged by the questionable 'facts' written about the incident.

Anthony Winstanley, Victoria

What World Wars?<61>

Let's buy our poppies now, lest we forget, for David Irving and his ilk may well try to convince us that these wars never really took place--that the grave sites are simply a tourist attraction, designed specifically to vilify those nice, peace-loving, overly-humane Europeans.

Andy Mulcahy, Victoria [British Columbia, Canada]

Summing up

Lucy Dawidowicz liked to quote Cicero's laws for historians: The first ... is that he shall never dare utter an untruth. The second is that he suppress nothing that is true.<62> Against that standard can David Irving, who wants the world to think of him as a historian, now be evaluated.

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

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