naphtalia's Full Review: The Holocaust Industry: Reflection on the Exploita...
Shoah is the Hebrew word for the Holocaust. Historic records prove that 11 million were murdered during this shameful period of 20th century history. (This does not include the many soldiers and civilians who lost their lives through the "normal" course of war.) Among those killed were 6 million Jews. In his book, "The Holocaust Industry" Norman G. Finkelstein asserts that the "Nazi holocaust" and the "persona" of that event are nothing but the product of the "Jewish establishment." He further asserts that interest in the Holocaust has been a premeditated and calculated move on the part of that establishment and that it only began after Israel's Six-Day War. When, at that time, the United States decided that Israel was a strategic asset, it made the Holocaust a reason for defending Israel. Finally, Finkelstein discusses the "Jewish campaign" to restore property and/or to arrange compensation for assets stolen during the era of the Third Reich, and refers to them as the methods of "extortionist gangsters."
This book was originally published in German, but has been out in English for over nine months. The book is difficult to read. The book is full of distorted facts. For instance, Swiss Banks have been pushed for records about money left in them by Jews trying to protect their assets from the Nazis. The banks have not been forthcoming with records and half a century later, many families still have not been able to reclaim what was lost. He quotes a newspaper article from Die Zeit saying that Edgar Bronfman, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said the WJC had received a sum of seven-billion dollars. He failed to cite the entire quote which said that the public campaign had yielded seven-billion dollars in compensation - and not a penny of it was going to the WJC.
The book is also full of mudslinging. There are attacks on Elie Weisel, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, claiming that he has gotten rich from lecturing about the Holocaust. (In fact, Weisel waives his fee or donates it to charity when he speaks about the Shoah.) He claims that Weisel is a liar because he said he read Kant's work in Yiddush in his youth. Although Weisel provided the name and publisher of the Yiddush version of Kant's work, Finkelstein maintains that he is lying. He has also attacked Professor Israel Guttman, the former chief historian of Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem) with a number of personal attacks.
This is a hateful book. I questioned writing this review for fear that some might read the book as a result of it. This book is not badly written, but it is a bad book. It is full of revisionist history, hatred and lies. I would not like to see this book in bargain bins. I would like to see it in recycle bins. It is a hateful tome that is unworthy of the academic status to which it appears to aspire.
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