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| "The danger is the 'relativisation' of the Shoah"
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| Anti-revisionist laws divide in France |
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French intellectuals are divided over a series of anti-revisionist laws.
On 12 December, 19 historians signed the “Freedom for History” petition, demanding the removal of legislation on Holocaust denial and denial of the Armenian genocide, as well as a law that condemns slavery as a crime against humanity. They claim the legislation undermines their research work.
The call to suppress anti-revisionist laws was dismissed on 2 January by LICRA, the league against racism and anti-Semitism and on 20 December, 32 intellectuals signed a petition entitled “let’s not mix everything up” to counter the first initiative.
The debate over the legislation started with the controversial 23 February 2005 law on French colonialism. Its 4th article stipulates that teachers should tell their pupils about the positive aspects of French presence abroad.
At first, this guideline did not get much public attention, though it angered many blacks and Arabs. A few months later the media, the opposition and many intellectuals started criticising the law, saying it was unwise and even racist.
EJP spoke to Ephraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem and the organisation’s chief Nazi hunter. Dr Zuroff has dedicated the last 25 years to helping track down former Nazi war criminals and bring them to justice.
EJP: How do Eastern European countries deal with their past and how do you deal with it?
EZ: In Eastern Europe, people have trouble looking at their past. They are very reluctant to deal with the collaboration with the Nazis during WWII and see themselves more as victims than perpetrators. This is not the case in Western Europe, where the authorities publicly acknowledged its collaboration with the Nazis. Also, in Eastern Europe talking about the Holocaust provokes some kind of anti-Semitic outrage, and that is very preoccupying. So according to us, the task is immense but we can summarise it by pointing out six different issues that these countries have to deal with.
1. The acknowledgement of guilt
2. The commemoration of victims
3. The prosecution of the perpetrators
4. Working on a comprehensive and accurate documentation
5. Education
6. Restitution
EJP: What do you see as the most crucial points?
EZ: We are focused on the prosecution of people who were involved in killing Jews. We think it is the key to forcing these countries to accept their past. I use the word forcing mainly because, as mentioned earlier, these countries have a very hard time dealing with their involvement in the Shoah. Furthermore, the prosecution ensures the accuracy of books and textbooks. Last but not least, this task is the only issue of the 6 points I stressed that is time limited and time is running out and that’s why we are focused on it.
EJP: Do you think legislation on the issue might be helpful for Eastern European countries to deal with their past and to acknowledge their guilt?
EZ: I would prefer that in Baltic countries the issue does not go to legislation. However, it is a different story for countries like Germany and Austria. There, because of their past and the resurgence of neo-Nazi groups, I think legislation is necessary. And again, there is a difference between Germany and Austria. Germans said, from the very beginning, that they were guilty and dedicated much effort to bring people to justice and judging the perpetrators. However in Austria, until 15 years ago people claimed that they were “the first victims” of the Nazis. They did not see themselves as helpers. That was outrageous. Another very interesting point about Austria is that in the last 30 years, no one was convicted, even though, Simon Wiesenthal, the greatest Nazi hunter, resided in Vienna.
There are also problems in Baltic countries of course. When we speak about our work and we try a former Nazi, the news is covered in mainstream news portals and people talk about it. Unfortunately, these mainstream media also refer to Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites and that is very dangerous.
EJP: What do you feel about what’s going on in Western Europe? For example, in the UK the Muslim Council of Britain still does not want to attend the Holocaust national day. Don’t you think the dichotomy you were making before between Western and Eastern Europe is outdated?
EZ: You are talking about different battles. In Eastern Europe, the goal is to fight for truth and dealing with it in a meaningful way. There, people still do not accept their past, they do not see themselves are perpetrators. And our battle is to change that. In Western Europe, however, people have acknowledge their past. Holocaust deniers are not taken seriously. It is a different story. There, the danger is more the “relativisation” of the Shoah and failing to understand the importance of the Shoah. Failing to grasp its importance because of its uniqueness.
Dealing with other victims and other genocide is very important. It is very important to handle that very carefully and not lose sight of the other victims of the Nazis and to also point out the differences. We are involved also in these issues. Over the past ten years, I twice went to Rwanda to help victims bring perpetrators to justice. I also went to Macedonia to visit the camps there following the Kosovo ethnic cleansing. I have been to Cambodia too. This is very important, it very important that these genocides are given attention and that we and everyone help the victims. But they are not like the Holocaust.
EJP: Considering the rise in neo-Nazi right wing anti-Semitism, do you think that, in a certain way, the people who fought for the memory of the Holocaust failed?
EZ: No, it is not a failure, on the contrary, I think it is a real success.The Jewish people and everyone who deals with the Shoah, on a education, restitution or prosecution level, have convinced the world, or at least the Western world that it was a unique tragedy in the history of mankind. Nowadays the Holocaust stands as a symbol of genocide of man and of its inhumanity to its fellowman.
That’s exactly why the Shoah is under attack. But the attack only shows how successful we are. It comes from two sides. On the one hand there are the extreme-right groups who use Holocaust denial to undermine our work and on the other hand the extreme-left groups who use relativisation of the Shoah.
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