David Irving

David Irving is a British author known for denying the Holocaust and distorting its historical record. In 2000, a British court dismissed his libel suit against historian Deborah Lipstadt.

Irving v Penguin Books Ltd: A 2000 English libel case in which David Irving sued Deborah Lipstadt and Penguin Books and lost. The case brought Irving’s accusations against Lipstadt to trial and examined his historical methods.
Holocaust denial: The denial or distortion of the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II. Irving became prominent for denying the Holocaust and disputing its documented history.
Holocaust denial laws: Laws in some countries that criminalize public denial or gross minimization of the Holocaust. The British trial addressed denial through civil litigation rather than a criminal prosecution.
Holocaust history: The documented history of the Nazi persecution and murder of six million Jews during World War II. Irving’s denial conflicts with the extensive documentary, testimonial, and material evidence.
Deborah Lipstadt: An American historian whose work examines Holocaust denial and antisemitism. Irving sued Lipstadt over her description of him as a Holocaust denier.
Historical method: The critical practices historians use to assess sources, evidence, and interpretations of the past. The court evaluated whether Irving handled sources according to sound historical practice.
English defamation law: The law governing civil claims for damage to reputation in England and Wales. The case placed the burden on Irving to prove his libel claim under English law.
Auschwitz-Birkenau: The largest Nazi German concentration and extermination camp complex, located in occupied Poland. Evidence from the camp directly contradicts Irving’s claims about Nazi mass murder.
Richard J. Evans: A British historian of modern Germany who served as an expert witness in Irving’s libel trial. His analysis documented distortions in Irving’s use of historical evidence.
Source criticism: The evaluation of a source’s origin, reliability, purpose, and relationship to other evidence. The judgment compared Irving’s readings of documents with their content and context.

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