As the row over the lifting of Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson’s excommunication escalates - with the Vatican now ordering him to completely recant his views if he wants to return to the Catholic church - one question must surely weigh heavily on our minds at Counterknowledge.com: how can a Cambridge-educated individual maintain that the Nazis did not use gas chambers to kill people?
Williamson comments that “Historical evidence is hugely against six million Jews having been deliberately gassed…” I can’t help but savour the irony: the Bishop is correct is by mere semantics and no virtue of his historical prowess, as nobody claims that 6 million Jews were gassed. Camps account for around half of the Holocaust death toll, and do not account for those who died in other circumstances, such as in ghettos or Einsatzgruppen shootings.
So where did the Bishop get his total from?
Well, such grossly diminished figures of 200,000 - 300,000 bear striking similarity to the disinformation in Richard Verrall’s “Did Six Million Really Die?” pamphlet. According to Deborah Lipstadt’s Denying the Holocaust, Verrall maintained that the most accurate death toll of those who died from political, racial, or religious persecution who died in prisons and concentration camps between 1939 and 1945 amounted to “300,000, not all of whom were Jews”, as surveyed across all World War 2 casualties by Die Tat, a Swiss newspaper, in turn basing its figures on ICRC supported figures.
Complete counterknowledge of course. No such survey was conducted, the 300,000 figure was only in reference to “Germans and German Jews”, not nationals of other countries, and the newspaper made no reference to Red Cross figures - the ICRC explains why here. But with Holocaust deniers quintessentially undeterred by facts, such conjectures are still misrepresented as the absolute death toll of the Holocaust with fabricated Red Cross endorsement.
Another member of the ultra-conservative Society of St Pius X has defended Williamson and added his doubt over whether Nazi gas chambers were used to kill Jews. Father Floriano Abrahamowicz told a local Italian newspaper that:
I know that gas chambers existed as a means to disinfect. But I cannot say for sure if they killed anyone, because I really haven’t looked into it.
No shit on that last clause. Yet Abrahamowicz did not doubt that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, a statement at odds with Richard Williamson’s estimates. But Abrahamowicz said that Williamson had not denied the Holocaust (eh?) but had only questioned the “technical aspect” of the gas chambers. Hmm. Nevermind just diagonally, if these bishops featured on a chess board they would have an additional direction: backwards.
Abrahamowicz unwittingly touches upon one of the core components of denialism which is ironically best explained by Italian denier Carlo Mattogno in the quote that: “Revisionism has attempted to apply its criticism to the Holocaust on a technical level.” As Associate Professor John Zimmerman of the University of Nevada points out in a response to Mattogno, the reason why purporters of this sort of counterknowledge have to comment on technicalities such as gas chambers and ovens is because they cannot address the demographics. They simply cannot explain why the vast amounts of Jews deported to the camps in question vanished.
Unsurprisingly, the Nazis can. Here’s a quote from Auschwitz SS-Oberscharführer and Zyklon-B handler Josef Klehr, given in an interview to journalist and filmmaker Ebbo Demant. Demant brings up the negationist stance of no gassing, to which Klehr says:
Jews never gassed? No? Yes, I have already been asked about that. …Three elderly ladies come to visit us here. That is such an official society. They always want to support us a little bit, to give us a present on our birthdays, and so on, and one of them asked me once if people were gassed in Auschwitz? I said - I will tell you openly and honestly, but if it were someone else, I would have answered that I did not know. But because it is you, I will tell you precisely, that people were gassed. And anyone who maintains that there are no gassing….Yes, I don’t understand him, he must be crazy or on the wrong…. When you are three, four years in Auschwitz and experienced everything, then I cannot get myself to lie about it and say that no gassings were ever conducted.
Williamson and Abrahamowicz according to the man who delivered the gas to the crematoria: crazy, or “on the wrong”?
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22 responses
Richard Williamson is, at the moment, an embarassment for the Society of St Pius X, which desires re-union with the Vatican. Unfortunately this mindset is not limited to Bishop Williamson. He represents a fairly prevalent, though not universal mindset,within the Society. The Superior General of the Society, Bernard Fellay, is desparate to keep this from the world media and from the Pope. In particular he will not want Williamson’s other views made manifest. He believes the Jews and Masons are involved in an international conspiracy to dominate the world and subvert Christianity. He believes the Protiocols of the Learned Elders of Zion is genuine. And Williamson is a loose canon. He has been remarkably clear and open to anyone who asks his views. Benedict XVI has been naive in this matter, to say the least. Benedict has ordered Williamson to disavow holocaust denial. It will be interesting to see if Williamson will comply. The Vatican needs to take a harder line. It will damage itself and irreparably dishonour the memory of the Shoah if it admits such as Williamson back into the fold without an explicit disavowal of his hate-filled dogmas.
You badly underrate Williamson (and so did the Holy Father - he should have asked some of the conservative Catholic blogs, to whom he has long been an object of ridicule and detestation). It is not about the Holocaust alone; he is an all-around extreme reactionary who believes that women should not be educated (I trust he is willing to explain why to female Doctors of the Church such as St.Catherine of Siena or St.Theresa of Avila) and who ranted at the musical The Sound of Music as an expression of the Devil. That he is Camridge-educated means nothing; if Cambridge could produce all those Communist traitors, there is no reason why it should not have produced a maniac whose obsessions go beyond even Fascism. What is more, the reason why the SSPX have not yet silenced him or forced him out is that it is full of people like him. Before anything can be done with them, for instance, they will have to remove the belief in Deicide (the idea that the Jews are guilty, collectively and from generation to generation, for the murder of Jesus Christ - which the Catholic Church never accepted) from their official website, and disown a huge amount of their own publications.
Correction: Williamson has not been ordered ‘to completely recant his views if he wants to return to the Catholic church’. An ultimatum has been made requiring him to recant before he would be permitted to exercise any episcopal authority within the Church. Since his episcopal ordination was illicit — the grounds on which he was excommunicated along with the other SSPX bishops –, the Pope is under no obligation to grant him any jurisdiction as a bishop, and this week has made clear that he will not consider it unless Williamson ‘completely distances’ himself from denial of the Shoah.
Also this week, a couple of voices of reason began to emerge, questioning the media frenzy and overreaction of Jewish groups to the lifting of the SSPX excommunications. That both these voices are Jewish — one a rabbi — should give pause.
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/irwin_kula/2009/02/jewish_reaction_to_pope_dispro.html
http://zenit.org/article-24999?l=english
Richard wiliamson is not only an embarrasment to the Church but also a rabid Anti Semite who is bent on illustrating that Jews are seeking sympathy on a grand scale.
He should be shown as the monarch he believes himself to be. See pictures above walking around like “holier than thou”.
The Pope not only bad a huge mistake but is incredible devisive himself. he is a very smart man who know what is going on i this world. to believe he never knew about Williamson’s views is to believe pigs can fly.
He should never be permitted to be associated with richeousness.
why does it matter if he believes that the holocaust occurred or not? I have never heard any information that contradicts the holocaust but that is not to say that none exists? without extensive investigation who can say for certain how many jews were killed? Obviously there were many jews killed but it could be less than what is commonly accepted. In any case the bishop should be allowed to hold this view. if someone decides that they dont believe a certain event took place, why should everyone else care? The jews don’t believe Jesus is the son of god, and a catholic bishop doesn’t believe that 6 million jews were killed in the holocaust. that’s fine, people are entitled to their own beliefs and it is just as wrong to try to force an opinion on someone as it is to change one they already hold.
But Williamson is a public figure. It is not merely a matter of private conscience. I might believe guinea pigs are plotting to take over the world. But as long as it remains in my fevered brain no harm is done. Williamson is vomiting this bile as a matter of public duty. He was idiotic or missionary enough to vent his views on television. This is not the first time he has done this. There is no reputable evidence to suggest that the Final Solution was anything other than an orchestrated extermination of all Jews in Nazi-ruled lands. People like Williamson are not only nutters. They are rallying points for Nazism, which is, alas, anything but dead. If Williamson does not recant, the excommunication should be reimposed.
Michael,
You make a poor analogy by comparing belief in religion with history. WW2 history, and the holocaust in particular, is not based on faith, but demonstrable facts from witnesses, documents, and artifacts.
The goal of holocaust deniers, like williamson, is political: they want to rehabilitate Nazism and fascism in general and Adolf Hitler in particular — and to promote anti-Semitism. They also seek to foster anti-Israel sentiment, the goal being to undermine a once emotional justification for Israel’s existence.
Listening to Williamson’s interviews, the charges he makes against the historical record, and the purported sources he relies on, are demonstrably false.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion about the causes and consequences of the historical record, but not to falsify the historical record for political purposes - something Williamson has done.
Williamson cannot honestly hold an “opinion” that there were no gas chambers or only 300,000 Jews killed in the holocaust anymore than I can hold the “opnion” that WW2 never happened.
Well said Ron.
Michael
You are correct that everyone is entitled to their beliefs and or opinions. I need to qualify that. A person who is publicaly influential and persuasive and who carries hate and incorrect data can do more harm than good. If Richard Williamson backs up his theory or his opinon with some facts, then perhaps he would be a credible person and a moral ambassador of the Catholic Church. To say “I don’t think, or I don’t belive” that jews were killed in gas chambers is merely an inflamable opinion that causes much pain if not substantiated.
This Bishop needs to visit the concentration camp facilities and or holocaust museums to find the facts. Then perhaps he can recant his vile opinion with some form of honesty and integrity.
Until such a time the Pope should put his re-instatement on hold which would only hold the catholic Church in good stead.
I have been to these inhuman camps and have personally seen what they were used for and there can be no doubt what happened. No one ever said 6 million were gassed, but he said No humans were gassed at all!!! IDIOTIC to say the least, and YES it is Anti-Semitic as it pokes at facts regarding the Jewish peoples history.
Andrew
Andrew, perhaps as penance, the Pope should require Williamson to visit one of those diabolical camps. I cannot imagine what you must have felt there.
somewhat related to the topic of visiting the camps, there is an alternative that i recently stumbled upon: the museum and memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau itself http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/
The english/polish website is filled with visitor information, photos, documents, artifacts and even a web-cam.
Perhaps someone would like to explain why the Jews demanded and got the removal of the crosses from Auschwitz - these crosses were placed by Polish patriots to mark the place where Poles laid down their lives for Poland at Auschwitz - yet the Jews objected to these crosses - with John Paul II’s approval and consent these crosses were removed by the Polish Army at the dead of night. Also a convent at Auschwitz was relocated again at the request of the Jews. These actions are an attempt to deny that Catholic Poles died at Auschwitz. Why has the Catholic Church not supported the crosses at Auschwitz - don’t the lives & deaths of Catholic Poles count for anything???
Irena
It is called conflict resolution.
For Jews, Auschwitz is the largest Jewish burial ground in the world - over a million jews died there - and it’s a synonym for Jewish suffering. For Jews who want the site to be an international one - because of the scope of the crimes there - Jews think it odd that anyone would want to have Auschwitz associated with Christianity. To them, putting up crosses is seen as offensive to Jewish suffering, and needlessly associating the crimes at Auscwitz with Christianity.
For Poles under communism, Auschwitz historically never had a Jewish connection, it was only a memorial to Communism’s fight against facism. After communism fell, the Catholic Church honored the Catholics who died there - especially the two Polish saints who were martyred, with a large cross.
Auschwitz, after 1989, became a point of conflict between Poles, Catholics and Jews because there was no plan for resolving conflicting opinions. A convent was opened, a large cross erected, then Jewish stars were put up, and then local activists put up over 300 smaller crosses - anger was growing and the point of the memorial was being lost.
To end the controversy, a declaration regarding Auschwitz was initialed in 1997 by Poland, Yad Vashem, and the Holocaust Memorial Museum to create a master plan for the site, preserve the UNESCO protective zones, physically link camps, and prohibit the introduction of any buildings or religious symbols in the future.
Hopefully conflict resolved.
“The goal of holocaust deniers, like williamson, is political: they want to rehabilitate Nazism and fascism in general and Adolf Hitler in particular — and to promote anti-Semitism.”
Any proof that those are Williamson’s wishes? To “… rehabilitate Nazism and fascism in general and Adolf Hitler in particular — and to promote anti-Semitism.” Are we mind-readers now? If you can’t prove that those are Williamson’s desires (and you can’t) then what’s the difference between a liar like him and a liar like you?
Fred
“Any proof that those are Williamson’s wishes?”
Do you have any other explanation as to why somebody would want to deny the holocaust? Given all the evidence , still living witnesses, documents, auschwitz itself? Why do you think he would deny the holocaust?
Certainly my own personal experience of anti- semites is that they deny the holocaust. You will notice it is a feature of neo- nazis. Go, for example to Rense.com.
The anti-semite I know also is obsessed with 911 conspiracy theories. Originally, he got into all this stuff through David Icke. And he’s theories of the Illuminati trying to take over the world. David Icke actually believed the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” (i.e Jewish plot for world domination).
Personally I think that these white supremacists need a scapegoat and they do believe the Protocols. But then if you believe that the jews are running the world, how do you explain the holocaust where 6 million jews were killed?………………You can start by denying the holocaust.
I don’t know of all that many left or right-of-centre types who engage in Holocaust Denial. This tends to be the preserve of Nazis (or their sympathisers), or radical Islamists. I think we can safely say that ‘Bishop’ Williamson does not belong to the latter category.
Joseph
Well depends what you mean by “left” or “right”.
I think the Rense crowd are essentially white supremacists/neo nazis. They seem to blame the jews for everything. For example I have seen articles that suggest that white girls only go out with black guys because of the porn industry - which of course is funded by the jews.
Bizarely enough, the person I personally knew who got into antisemitism was actually a left wing hippy. He seemed to have been introduced to this by the writings of David Icke, a new age hippy. David Icke refers to a plot by the Illuminati (shape shifting lizards- who can appear human, but are not really human) which some people believe is a code word for jews. Certainly David Icke was kicked out of the Green Party as he endorses the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Some people believe that David Icke is just crazy and does actually believe in shape shifting lizards. However, Icke himself has said that he is alarmed at the number of neo- nazis who attend his events and nod knowingly about who the illumati really are.
The person I knew was just angry with the world because it did not confirm to his ideas of what the world should be (peace loving hippies). Therefore he had to create a scapegoat to explain why his vision was wrong (jews cause all wars according to the Protocols).
In my view, people who have strong views on how the world should be are often disappointed and need a scapegoat. Hitler was a German Supremacist, he needed to explain how the Germans lost WW1……step up the scapegoats.
Though recent research suggests that the Nazis did believe there was an actual Jewish plot to take over the world. In his last will and testament he claimed he did not want a war…..it was world jewry…He also made the following prediction:
“Centuries will pass away, but out of the ruins of our towns and monuments the hatred against those finally responsible whom we have to thank for everything, international Jewry and its helpers, will grow.”
Fred
”Are we mind-readers now? If you can’t prove that those are Williamson’s desires (and you can’t) then what’s the difference between a liar like him and a liar like you?”
You don’t have to be a mind reader to make the assumption that Williamson is either anti-semitic, a supporter of fascism, nazism or (and you left out) wants to foster anti-Israel sentiment, or all of the above.
Williamson, in the interviews he himself gives, engages in Holocaust denial, relies on arguments which have previously been disproved in courts and discredited in academic literature, and are identical to arguments commonly found in anti-semitic, nazi, fascist and anti-israeli literature.
Far from being clairvoyant, Williamson’s arguments are so obvious that tracing their roots to well known sources takes mere minutes.
Here is a question for you Fred. If the British Bishop’s wishes weren’t so obvious, why did Pope Benedict make highly unusual statements regarding the issue, and why did Germany consider pressing criminal charges?
BISHOP RICHARD WILLIAMSON NAMED TO UNSEXIEST MEN OF THE YEAR BY THEPHOENIX.COM
http://unsexy.thephoenix.com/unsexy/2009/
For those who can’t be bothered to sift through, he’s number 51.
Williamson is obviously right. The Jews retreated into the Soviet Union - Jewish commissar land - and then went to Palestine, the US and South America after the war.
http://www.therebel.org/opinion/history/the_mother_of_all_lies_200710145813/