Holocaust Myths

In totality, the real holocaust was a collective slaughter of the human race, carried out by the collective actions of all of the world’s major governments.

(EUGENE, Ore.) - Much ink is spilled in the press when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad refers to “the holocaust” as a myth. Israeli Ambassador Sallai Merridor, speaking recently at a “holocaust” remembrance ceremony stated that “Honoring the dead must not be the sole purpose of remembrance…When a regime is again…terrorizing its neighbors, threatening to destroy the Jewish people, how will we meet this challenge before it’s too late?”

While the Israeli government and its supporters frequently use “the holocaust” as a pretext for their crimes, little thought or attention is given to the simple fact that, despite being a demagogue and a fool, Ahmadinejad is correct.

The governments of the United States, Europe, and of course Israel, all seek to create and exploit a false version of history to support their own agendas. This mythology is used both to conceal their past crimes and to provide an ongoing justification for their continued crimes.

In order to buttress their lies, a false brand of holocaust denial is propagated and continually given airing in the public sphere. The false holocaust deniers assert that the German government did not put Jews in slave labor camps, or gas them, and they try to claim that only a few hundred thousand died, and not six million. These false holocaust deniers are paper tigers. Their only purpose is to provide an easily dismissed counter argument to the main holocaust myth, which once brushed aside, gives greater credence to the opposing set of lies.

The reality of the holocaust is that in World War I, 37 million people were slaughtered, and in World War II 50-70 million people were slaughtered. (Wikipedia)

The reality of the holocaust is that the Germans had slave labor camps, the Russians had slave labor camps, the Japanese had slave labor camps, and the Americans had concentration camps. All of the governments involved seized the property of their citizens unlawfully, used coerced labor, and conscription. These were all crimes committed by every country’s government against its own citizens.

In totality, the real holocaust was a collective slaughter of the human race, carried out by the collective actions of all of the world’s major governments. Whether this was done through collusion, or through the independent actions of the insane fools in each respective government, is really of no matter. The result is what is important.

The myth that the holocaust was something unique to Jews, and uniquely perpetrated by the German government, with Hitler as the figurehead, is pernicious in that it dramatically understates the scale of what actually occurred. This understatement is designed to distort history. It is designed to disguise the true causes of the World Wars, and it is designed to justify the crimes of the victors by overemphasizing the crimes of the defeated.

The holocaust myth is popular in America and Western Europe because it makes those countries out to be the heroes. It gives them a sense of victory in the defeat of Germany and Japan, which allows them to cover up their own shameful actions, and to forget that they too are genocidal maniacs, fascists, and racists. While Israel may use the holocaust most explicitly today, the myth of the holocaust is just as deeply ingrained in the identity of many non-Jewish Americans and Europeans as it is in any Jew.

The real holocaust was a 40 year festival of carnage that killed 100 million people. It wasn’t caused by racism, against Jews or anyone else. The root causes of the real holocaust were ignorance and insanity. To give any other explanation is to be preoccupied with surface phenomena. While many surface causes can of course be elucidated, they can all be traced back to those fundamental causes that underlie them.

It is often said that remembrance of the holocaust is the best way to prevent it from recurring. I could not agree more. But if remembrance is to be of any value it must be a remembrance of the truth and not of fiction.

Salem-News.com Business/Economy Reporter Ersun Warncke is a native Oregonian. He has a degree in Economics from Portland State University and studied Law at University of Oregon. At a young age, his career spans a wide variety of fields, from fast food, to union labor, to computer programming. He has published works concerning economics, business, government, and media on blogs for several years. He currently works as an independent software designer specializing in web based applications, open source software, and peer-to-peer (P2P) applications.

Ersun describes his writing as being "in the language of the boardroom from the perspective of the shop floor." He adds that "he has no education in journalism other than reading Hunter S. Thompson." But along with life comes the real experience that indeed creates quality writers. Right now, every detail that can help the general public get ahead in life financially, is of paramount importance.
You can write to Ersun at: warncke@comcast.net

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Hank Ruark February 14, 2010 7:58 am (Pacific time)

AR: See mine-previous re Ersun's historical accuracy, lack of bias, quality characteristics of full-strength reporting. Your attempted smear via your revealing own-words shows all here one more evidence of the concerted cabal-action to hurt and harm this open, honest and democratic channel devoted to dialog meant for sharing and learning. Dissent is always welcome here, but demands more than cowardly shoot-and-run from behind "anon"ID meaning naught and bringing but personal bias at belly-button/level.

Ersun Warncke February 13, 2010 9:15 pm (Pacific time)

AR, you offer a stream of empty words with no meaning and no basis. I would be happy to debate any of your assertions if you gave a reasoned argument for a single one of them. My article presents only well documented and widely acknowledge historical facts. To the extent that I make judgments, I make them on an objective and consistent basis. For the most part, I leave others to judge the facts for themselves. I would strongly urge you to present any challenge you may have to the facts I have presented, or any criticism you may mount of any lack of objectivity, consistency, and rationality in my arguments.

AR February 13, 2010 4:40 pm (Pacific time)

The article is simply an example of moral equivalency, and reflects a misunderstanding or failure to understand genocide. The effort to exterminate a people is different than killing enemy soldiers in a declared war, and also different than collateral civilian casualties. The article is Holocaust denial, which is a tool of antisemitism.

Editor: The targeted killing of Palestinian children and civilians is genocide, and you are a nameless spreader of hate. Hitler tried the same sham, you are so flagrantly disgusting to suggest that your country's murder is less than murder, makes me wonder if you are simply an ignorant racist or a truly evil person. The gig is up pal.

Hank Ruark February 13, 2010 2:58 pm (Pacific time)

Re Ersun viewpoint and fact- analysis, can confirm every point as major historical story-now from both master historians and large majority of social scientists, whose domain other issues raised herein it is. Re response of Japanese internees, more significant is that of their children, born American and living through that period OR with deep and painful family-story. Was fortunate enough to work with one, creative science consultant (NDEA) in OR Dept of Ed., who fought free of continuing family resentment to make huge professional contribution to Oregon via his own work.

Natalie February 13, 2010 10:09 am (Pacific time)

Ersun: OK, I can see your point. To others: Let the man speak for himself and explain what he meant. He's not a minor. The whole point of discussion is to find a somewhat middle ground. I might shift my opinion after hearing some valid arguments, but calling names and jumping to another topic is not very convincing to me. Sorry, just the way I am.

gp February 13, 2010 9:22 am (Pacific time)

approximately 6 million people from various countries who were Jews were killed,approximately 3 million Poles were killed,many Catholics, Gypsies and so forth in the Nazi death camps. To my mind, what Ersun is saying,that a hundred million were killed and it doesn't really matter why is correct. Kill someone for their religion, their race, their nationality, their appearance, their occupation or accidentally. Kill someone because they are forced to wear a uniform because they are drafted or had no opportunity for an education or a decent choice, it makes no difference. To me it is all the same. What is most horrifying to me is how the world stands by and watches genocide against Palestinians and does nothing...nothing...they have not escape, no future, no safety, no power, no money, no food, no schools, no hospitals, no jobs, no water, no farms, no ancient orchards, no houses,nada. And Israel is guilty of it all and the world lets Israel get away with murder, genocide and holocoust against Palestine because of crimes committed by people who are mostly long deadl, people who were killed by other people who are mostly long dead. The real danger to Israel is its collective insanity procuced by a pathological cherishing of its victimization. The Holocoust is a shrine that Israel worships at. It prays to its god of vengence to bring death to its neighbors. It is sick beyond my ability to find words. This opinion is then dismissed by Zionists as anti-Semitism so that there can be no discussion of the truth.

Daniel February 13, 2010 7:51 am (Pacific time)

The Nazi's killed between 15 to over 20 million in the labor and death camps , including about 5.2 to 6.1 million Jews. Russia under Stalin killed 20 to 40 million of its own people plus millions of non russians , this does not factor in WW2 where many millions more died . China under mao killed about 30 to 40 million of its own population . I do not think the U.S. shameful treatment of the Japanese Americans is on par with killing millions of your owm population . Not to say the US policy over the last 65 years has caused the death of millions around the globe .It just shows the powerful of any nation can do unspeakable things to others . The powerful are never charged with war crimes , as long as they are in power !

Mike February 13, 2010 7:25 am (Pacific time)

Does anyone have a source on how many Japanese internees were killed by the government? How about government guesses on how many may have been killed by civilians during this time period? Emotions were running quite hot after Pearl Harbor, and as American dead (including civilians) and wounded numbers started to mount those emotions got even hotter. The reports coming back of the Japanese war crimes intensified as the war drug on. Considering that it took two atomic bombs to defeat this country, one can only imagine how many more dead and wounded would have been added to the already high count if a land invasion was needed. Sure these internment camps were unfair, but they did save lives, and you would be hard pressed to provide any evidence that our government executed any of these people as was done by other governments around the world, and Americans and Europeans were executed at high numbers. Comparing what is happening now with any period of history should be done cautiously and with an understanding of the historical "climate of the time."

Ersun Warncke February 13, 2010 1:45 am (Pacific time)

To answer to two comments at the same time: I am not saying that any case is as same as the other. European peoples have a long history of anti-semitism. For hundreds of years whenever the monarchs in Europe would f**k up they would blame it on the Jews, and incite the peasants to violence against them. This is a long running strain in European history. It reached its ultimate expression in Germany in WWII. But that is not the whole story. WWII was about more than just Germany. It was a war between industrial powers: The U.S., Germany, Russia, Britain, and Japan. They all did terrible things. The U.S. interned the Japanese in concentration camps, and slaughtered millions in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the bombings of Tokyo and the rest of Japan. The U.S. and British slaughtered hundreds of thousands of German civilians in the bombings of Germany. The Russians murdered, raped, and expropriated land from hundreds of thousands or millions of Germans who were settled for centuries throughout what became the western part of the USSR. 20 million Chinese died under the Japanese invasion of their country. In the U.S. the government expropriate land, and forced U.S. citizens to work for and fight for the wars. I am not trying to minimize anything. As a matter of well documented historical fact there is a bigger picture in which there were no winners from the world wars, and all of humanity were the losers. That is all that I am trying to point out.

Daniel Johnson February 13, 2010 12:09 am (Pacific time)

Welcome to the club, Ersun, where you make meta-statements that many, if not most readers are unable to rise to, to understand.

shane schnell February 12, 2010 10:54 pm (Pacific time)

What a bunch of hogwash, the holocaust was real and everyone knows it !

JB February 12, 2010 9:21 pm (Pacific time)

You guys are totally whack jobs, to compare what the US did to the Japanese in America in WW II to what Germany and Russia did to people during the same era is crazy. You nut jobs need to lay off the weed for a while.

Tim King: Are your parents Japanese? Didn't think so. Put your crappy bottle of booze down and think before you write. The state I was born in and the state I live in both took everything away from the Americans of Japanese descent and they got a pittance repayment in the 1980's. The point is that a lot of bad things happened to a lot of people then and few nations, if any, were innocent. I see from your past posts that you are a hardcore republican, so it probably doesn't bother you that your own country, Mr. red white and blue, segregated blacks and treated them like animals until two years after WWII was over. Of course not being bothered by that, probably leaves you pretty unaffected by the plight of the Palestinians also. You're in the dark pal.

Natalie February 12, 2010 8:11 pm (Pacific time)

Holocaust was not caused by racism against Jews? Are you serious? In Europe, they are still hated just for being born Jewish. That always was the case including through my school years. Do you know how many of them changed their last names? I trust my grandparents more than your sources when they say that men from interracial families chose to be shot together with their Jewish wives and children rather than to live without them. At least watch this documentary. You can skip the comentators' stuff and watch it mute. If you want to say that it's montage, I'll be glad to show you around that horrible place. People say the soil was still moving the next day from people' breathing. http://www.1-film-online.com/?p=4938 I don't deny that different governments killed their own people, but Holocaust is something different. Gives me chills.

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