Everything You Need to Know About Holocaust Denial, Distortion, and Trivialization

As Holocaust trivialization is increasing, knowledge about the Holocaust is waning. As this phenomenon persists, this resource will provide a contextual understanding about Holocaust trivialization and offer policy prescriptions for how to counter this troubling trend.

See why Holocaust denial / distortion is antisemitic in AJC's Translate Hate Glossary.

Holocaust distortion and trivialization, in the form of inappropriate comparisons between the Holocaust and COVID-19, has increased since the start of the pandemic. "Breaking Down and Fighting Holocaust Trivialization" is an educational resource that provides basic knowledge about the Holocaust, explains why recent examples of Holocaust trivialization are problematic, and provides action items for countering this troubling trend.

The misuse of Holocaust terminology and images has attained disturbing acceptance and respectability during the gravest global public health crisis in a century. Many opposed to wearing masks, getting vaccines and other measures to prevent the spread of the deadly virus have willfully accepted and are promoting a narrative that such steps are akin to what the Nazi regime did in Germany. Without any regard for historical truths, some elected officials, candidates for political office, and media personalities have been amplifying Holocaust equivalences.

Dani Dayan, the newly appointed chairman of Yad Vashem – Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust – and former Consul General of Israel in New York, joins this week’s People of the Pod with critical and timely messages for the world, including why remembering the Holocaust is more important than ever and the concerning trend of weaponizing the Holocaust for political purposes. Then, AJC Director of William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life Laura Shaw Frank shares her inspiring experience at the Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews rally 34 years ago and what a unifying moment it was to be in a crowd of over 250,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. 

In 2000, renowned Holocaust scholar Dr. Deborah Lipstadt was sued by David Irving for defamation, because she called Irving a Holocaust denier and falsifier of history in her 1994 book Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. Expert witnesses combed through Irving’s research since the 1980s and found that Lipstadt was correct - Irving  had deliberately manipulated the historical record to support his ludicrous claims that most of the evidence of the Holocaust had been invented after the war. Listen to AJC CEO David Harris discuss the impact of the trial, and the quiet, global, multi-year effort he led to generate support for Lipstadt’s trial defense, making sure the world never forgets the murder of six million Jews – a historical fact.

In mobilizing all sectors of Texas society to fight antisemitism, it is critical to ensure that memory of the Holocaust is preserved and, importantly, that knowledge about the Nazi-organized murder of 6 million Jews is commonplace.

This week on “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg wrongly claimed that the Holocaust “isn’t about race.” Though she apologized, ABC suspended her for two weeks. Writer Daniella Greenbaum, an Emmy award-winning former producer for “The View,” joins us to discuss how Goldberg’s comments demonstrate a widespread failure to understand Judaism but also present an opportunity to discuss the diversity of Judaism and comprehend antisemitism in its many forms. 

The United Nations General Assembly recently adopted a historic resolution calling for action to combat Holocaust denial and distortion as antisemitism continues to surge globally. What further measures can the UN, governments, and social media companies take to combat Holocaust denial and distortion? Join Irwin Cotler, Canada's Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, in conversation with Felice Gaer, Director of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, to answer these questions and more.

At the conclusion of the Holocaust and World War II, the German Federal Republic adopted the slogan “Never Again,” the obligation to fight antisemitism in all its forms, as well as the commitment to fight for and defend the existence of the Jewish state. What does the rise of antisemitism and extremism mean for the Jewish community in Germany? Join American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Tablet Magazine as they answer this question and more.

A state-by-state survey of young Americans last year showed that more than half in Texas could not name a concentration camp or ghetto where Jews were imprisoned and tortured during the Holocaust, despite there being more than 40,000 sites in Europe. This lack of historical knowledge makes a Southlake school administrator’s advice to offer students an opposing perspective on the Holocaust even more disturbing.

This week, Facebook announced that it would ban Holocaust denial content from the platform. We’re joined this week by Jordana Cutler, Facebook’s Head of Policy for Israel and the Jewish Diaspora, to discuss this important decision and the role AJC played in making it happen.

January 27 has been designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Holocaust defies imagination. Its aim was the Endlösung, or Final Solution, of the Jewish people. In pursuit of this goal, a new alphabet of genocide was created — from A for Auschwitz to Z for Zyklon-b, the nerve gas used in the gas chambers. Every Jew was a target, including 1.5 million children. The Jews were pursued for one reason— they were Jews and, according to Adolf Hitler’s demented worldview, all Jews had to be eliminated. Seventy-seven years after the war’s end, why should these events still matter?

Leaders of the JCRC of Greater Washington, the ADL Washington, D.C., and American Jewish Committee (AJC) met Monday evening with Dr. Lewis Ferebee, Chancellor of the DC Public Schools, and Rev. Thomas Bowen, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Religious Affairs, to discuss the horrific incident at Watkins Elementary School involving a school librarian who allegedly instructed third grade students to reenact the elements of the Holocaust.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen activists, students, celebrities, and politicians perpetrate antisemitism in a variety of forms, with physical assaults, verbal attacks, vandalism, and banners to online comments and videos. Many of these same people decry discrimination against other groups yet seem oblivious to the hatred they are inciting against Jewish people.

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, please join us for the incredibly personal and powerful stories of 12 Holocaust survivors, children, and grandchildren, as they share reflections on their family stories.