Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition and Other Confusions of Our Time. Abstract of the book

Holocaust deniers pretend to be sincerely interested in history, but they actually ignore historical records.

Holocaust deniers acknowledge there was anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany, but insist that there was no planned extermination of Jews in Europe during World War II. They’re emphatic: they just want to know “the truth.”

According to them, Hitler’s final solution for the Jews was actually deportation out of the Reich, not extermination. They believe the main causes of death at the time were disease and starvation. Moreover, they assert that between 300,000 and two million Jews died, rather than five or six million as most historians believe.

In this way, Holocaust deniers can pretend to be open to historical fact, because they do accept some things. But how do they argue their case in the face of overwhelming proof?

Holocaust deniers know that there must be some inaccuracies in that mountain of evidence, so they concentrate on their opponent’s few weak points, and if they find an incorrect statement they’ll conclude that all their opponent’s facts must be wrong.

A commonly used example is the story that Nazis manufactured soap from Jewish corpses, which is a myth. Holocaust deniers argue that if the soap story is historically wrong, the gas chambers must be a myth as well.

But there is a tremendous amount of evidence for the Holocaust, including official records, photographs and millions of testimonies. It’s very clear to scientists and historians that the Holocaust happened, whether or not the Nazis made that soap. It is absurd to discount the entire Holocaust because one false story has arisen.