You’re Invited: Deborah Lipstadt to Speak on Holocaust Denial at the University of Minnesota

Don’t Miss This Event on Wednesday, October 26th at the University of Minnesota!

On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, you’re invited to the Center for Holocaust and Gender Studies‘ Bernard and Fern Badzin Lecture with Deborah Lipstadt, the author of internationally acclaimed books on the Holocaust. The event will be held at Coffman Theater in the Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota, East Bank Campus, at 7:00 P.M.

Dr. Lipstadt will speak on Holocaust Denial: A New Form of Anti-Semitism and her latest critically acclaimed book THE EICHMANN TRIAL.

Dr. Lipstadt’s new book, The Eichmann Trial, published by Schocken/Nextbook Series in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Eichmann trial, has been called by Publisher’s Weekly, “a penetrating and authoritative dissection of a landmark case and its after effects.” David Gergen of the Kennedy School has described it as “a powerfully written testimony to our ongoing fascination with the proceedings, the resonance of survivor tales, and how both changed our understanding of justice after atrocity.”

Her book History On Trial: My Day In Court With a Holocaust Denier (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2005) is the story of her libel trial in London against David Irving who sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier and right wing extremist. The book won the 2006 National Jewish Book Award. It received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. The latter called it a “fascinating and meritorious work of legal-and moral-history.” The editors at Amazon.com listed it as the fourth best non-fiction history book of 2005. The book has been optioned for a movie by Participant Pictures and is currently in active development.

David Irving v. Penguin/Deborah Lipstadt was described by the Daily Telegraph (London) as having “done for the new century what the Nuremberg tribunals or the Eichmann trial did for earlier generations.” The Times (London) described it as “history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory.” The judge found David Irving to be a Holocaust denier, a falsifier of history, a racist, an anti-Semite, and a liar. Her legal battle with Irving lasted approximately six years. According to The New York Times, the trial “put an end to the pretense that Mr. Irving is anything but a self-promoting apologist for Hitler.” In July 2001 the Court of Appeal resoundingly rejected Irving’s attempt to appeal the judgement against him.

Her book Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault On Truth and Memory (Free Press/Macmillan, 1993) is the first full length study of those who attempt to deny the Holocaust.

At Emory she created the Institute for Jewish Studies and was its first director from 1998-2008. She directs the website known as HDOT [Holocaust Denial on Trial] which, in addition to cataloging legal and evidentiary materials from David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt, contains answers to frequent claims made by deniers. This section, Myths and Facts, received a grant from the Conference for Material Claims against Germany for the translation of the site into Arabic, Farsi, Russian, and Turkish. The site is frequently accessed in cities throughout Iran. Its seventh most visited country is Saudi Arabia.

Lipstadt was an historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and helped design the section of the Museum dedicated to the American Response to the Holocaust.

Dr. Lipstadt has also written Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust (Free Press/MacMillan, 1986, 1993). The book, an examination of how the American press covered the news of the persecution of European Jewry between the years 1933 and 1945, addresses the question “what did the American public know and when did they know it?”

Details: The event is free and open to the public; however, reservations are required. Click here to reserve tickets, or call the reservation line at 612-626-2587. For more information, email: [email protected] or call 612-624-0256.  For parking and travel information, please click here.

Sponsors: The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education at St. Cloud State University is the initiating sponsor of Deborah Lipstadt’s visit to Minnesota.  University of Minnesota Sponsors: Institute for Global Studies, Center for the Study of Political Psychology, Program in Health and Human Rights, Center for Jewish Studies, Human Rights Program, Department of German, Scandinavian & Dutch, Institute for Advanced Study.  Community Sponsors: Jewish Community Relations Council, St. Paul JCC, CHAIM – Children of Holocaust Survivors Association in Minnesota, and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest

The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (CHGS) is an independent academic resource institution dedicated to educating all sectors of society about the Holocaust and other genocides. CHGS relies on your generous support to help us maintain and create our internationally recognized resources and programs.

For more exciting events in the Jewish community, check out TC Jewfolk’s Upcoming Events Page.  The above event information was provided to TC Jewfolk by the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota and the Emory University Department of Religion website.