1 . This year , Observing Memories wished to address negationism and its evolution in the Europe of today . Despite the historical research that refutes the phenomenon , negationism persists and takes on different forms and in different countries . What keeps it alive ? How can it be tackled to bring about its eradication ?
I think that negationism in the narrow sense of the term – denying the existence of the gas chambers and thus the genocide of the Jews – has practically vanished from the public arena , with the disappearance of those who were its exponents , the foremost one being Robert Faurisson . Nevertheless , relativism has spread . This is palpable in the health crisis the world is undergoing . All over Europe , anti-vaxxers and anti-health pass advocates have sported yellow stars or hijacked the slogan Arbeit Macht Frei [“ Work sets you free ”], which would appear at the entrance of certain concentration camps , such as Auschwitz I . So everyone wishes to be a victim like the Jews during the genocide . All this is very worrying , because , in the end , it is infinitely more widespread , more diffuse and more difficult to counter than negationism .
2 . The year 2021 is the 60 th anniversary of the Eichmann trial , a watershed event that , as you explained , marked “ the advent of the witness ”, their legitimacy , their recognition and their visibility in the public space . At the beginning of this issue , historian Richard J . Evans tells us about his personal experience in the Irving v Lipstadt trial , during which he wanted to dispense with the voice of the Auschwitz witnesses to protect them and prevent the trial from turning against him , as it did in the Ernst Zündel trial in Canada . What were the consequences of negationism in the era of the witness ?
One of the consequences of negationism was the outrage of survivors who had never previously wished to testify . I am thinking in particular of Anne-Lise Stern , who went on to become a
2
2 . Defendant Adolf Eichmann ( inside glass booth ) is sentenced to death by the court at the conclusion of the Eichmann Trial . At the left table seated with two persons , the person on the right ( with white hair and headphones ) is defense counsel Robert Servatius | Israeli GPO photographer . Public domain , Wikimedia Commons
INTERVIEW
23