demeanour , cocking a snook at the Establishment and presenting himself as a kind of contrarian almost for its own sake . But , as Rampton reaffirmed , and the judge accepted , there was no doubt that Irving was a genuine racist , anti-Semite and Holocaust denier : so sincere was he , indeed , that he thought he was entitled to manipulate the evidence to conform to his own inner beliefs . Grey ’ s question was genuinely puzzling , and creates a moment of some drama in the movie .
Another incident towards the end of the court proceedings , was not included in the film , and that was when Irving inadvertently addressed the judge as ‘ Mein Führer ’. As the courtroom dissolved into laughter , and even the judge could not stop a wintry smile passing fleetingly across his face , I could scarcely believe what I had heard . Had he really said that ? A few days later , back at my office in Cambridge after the trial had ended , I received a phone call from a psychiatrist who told me he was working on Freudian slips . Had Irving really said Mein Führer ? he asked . Well I thought so , I said , though I found it rather unbelievable . Yes , the psychiatrist said , he had asked the judge ( who was
unusually forthcoming on such matters ) and Grey had told him that Irving had actually mumbled an apology amidst the general laughter . How did he explain the slip ? I asked .
His theory was that Irving , born in 1938 , had been traumatized by his father ’ s departure for the war to fight against Hitler , as his mother must have told him , and was so angry that he adopted Hitler as a father-figure . At the age of four , his brother recalled him rendering a Nazi salute to German bombers as they passed over their Essex home on their way to bomb the London docks . For Irving , Hitler was a kind of benign authorityfigure , and so too was Mr Justice Grey , who had indeed been exceptionally kind to him during the trial , suggesting questions to ask the witnesses and complimenting him on his knowledge of the law ( so as to head off any possible appeal by Irving on the grounds that as a litigant in person without the benefit of legal representation or assistance he was at a disadvantage when confronting an experienced QC such as Richard Rampton ). In the excitement of delivering his closing statement Irving had confused the two men and addressed the judge as Hitler .
7 . Auschwitz Memorial Museum | EUROM
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Observing Memories Issue 5