This House believes that Holocaust denial should be a criminal offence
The Holocaust is considered one of the most heinous acts in human history and is accepted as one of the largest “crimes against humanity” ever witnessed in contemporary human history. The Holocaust refers to the extermination policies carried out by the Nazi government of Germany (1933-45). This was a deliberate policy of extermination of certain groups, including Jews, people of Jewish ancestry, the Roma (eastern European travelling people), Communists, homosexual people and the mentally handicapped[1]. Over six million people were estimated to have been executed by the Nazis in the holocaust[2]. Holocaust denial is the rejection of important facts about the holocaust or the holocaust as a whole[3]. Holocaust deniers assert that the Holocaust is a Jewish conspiracy manufactured by the allied forces in order to extract restitution from Germany and/or to justify the creation of the state of Israel. Many deniers believe that if they disprove one fact about the holocaust, they can therefore discredit the entire occurrence of the Holocaust as a whole[4].
Holocaust denial is a criminal offence in seventeen countries and in recent years has been proposed in European Parliament by Germany to become a criminal offence all across the EU[5].
[1] "Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2011.
[2] "Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2011.
[3] "Holocaust Deniers and Public Misinformation." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2011.
Bibliography
"BBC - History: Genocide Under the Nazis." BBC n. pag. Web. 20 Jun 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/
Hochmann, T and Hennebel, L (eds)., “Genocide Denials and the Law.” Oxford University Press, 2011.
"Readers Debate Criminalizing Holocaust Denial in the EU." Deutsche Welle World 29 JAN 2007: n. pag. Web. 14 Jun 2011. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2330445,00.html
"Free Speech: Denying the Holocaust." Economist 23 Feb 2006: n. pag. Web. 18 Jun 2011. http://www.economist.com/node/5548142?story_id=5548142
Johnson, Bobbie, „Facebook protests over Holocaust denial groups“ Guardian Technology Group, 11 May 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/11/facebook-holocaust-denial
Lipstadt, Deborah, Denying the Holocaust. 1993 Penguin Books.
„Resources documentaires sur le genocide nazi et sa negation." Pages personnelles de Michel Fingerhut. anti-rev.org, Web. 19 Jun 2011. http://www.anti-rev.org/
"Holocaust Deniers and Public Misinformation." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2011. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007272
"Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, n.d. Web. 20 Jun 2011. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143
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