The Holocaust Industry
Author | Norman G. Finkelstein |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Subject | Holocaust studies |
Publisher | Verso Books |
Publication date | 2000 |
Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
ISBN | 1-85984-488-X (Newest edition, paperback) |
OCLC | 52486141 |
940.53/18 22 | |
LC Class | D804.3 .F567 2003 |
Preceded by | A Nation on Trial |
Followed by | Beyond Chutzpah |
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman Finkelstein arguing that the American Jewish establishment exploits the memory of the Nazi Holocaust for political and financial gain and to further Israeli interests. According to Finkelstein, this "Holocaust industry" has corrupted Jewish culture and the authentic memory of the Holocaust.
The book was controversial, attracting praise and criticism. While supporters describe the book as a substantive engagement with issues such as the politics of memory, critics argue that it either reuses antisemitic tropes, empowers them, or does both, and that the book's style is harsh and not respectful enough considering the delicate subject.
Conception[edit]
The book began as a journal review of The Holocaust in American Life, by Peter Novick.[1]
Synopsis[edit]
The Holocaust industry[edit]
Finkelstein follows the Holocaust’s standing in American life from the postwar years to the end of the 20th century. Before the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, he argues, the Holocaust took little part in the lives of American Gentiles and Jews. There was, for example, at that time only a small number of books and films on the Holocaust and few works of scholarship. Not until the late 20th century, especially after the 1967 War, did the Holocaust take up its role as the foremost historical event in the American mind – so Finkelstein argues.[2][3]: 12–16, 21–24
Finkelstein views this growing American fixation with the Holocaust through a materialist lens. After World War II, he claims, the leaders of American Jewish organizations (like the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee) understood assimilation and access to elite power to be in their own interest. Thus these organizations distanced themselves from Israel, moderated their demands for German denazification, and collaborated with McCarthyite investigations. In the 1960s, however, the American government began a friendlier relationship with the Israeli government; and the interests of American Jewish leaders changed. Their organizations began openly to support Israel and espouse a Holocaust ideology that emphasized (1) the Holocaust as a unique historical event and (2) the Holocaust as the climax of an eternal anti-Semitism. Finkelstein argues that this Holocaust ideology does not fit with academic Holocaust scholarship. Rather it serves to defend Israel and American Jewish leaders from criticism.[1][3]: 16–24, 41–42
Bad history and fraudulent memoirs[edit]
Many popular Holocaust books by contemporary writers have, in Finkelstein’s view, little scholarly merit. He faults Deborah Lipstadt’s 1993 book Denying the Holocaust for expanding the definition of Holocaust denial to include questioning its uniqueness. He writes that Daniel Goldhagen, in his 1996 book Hitler’s Willing Executioners, inaccurately characterizes the entire German people as eager Jew murderers driven by pathological hatred.[4][3]: 63–69
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., which opened in 1993, gets sharp criticism from Finkelstein. Why, he asks, did the victims of the Holocaust get a national museum but not the victims of American slavery or the American Indian extermination? He also argues that the Gentile victims of the Holocaust – especially the Romani victims of the Porajmos – got only token recognition in the museum. More generally he claims that museum’s leadership is committed to political support of the Israeli state, pointing to its praise of pro-Zionist literature and its condemnation of anti-Zionist literature.[5][3]: 72–78
Finkelstein takes book reviewers and historians to task for praising two Holocaust memoirs that were later revealed to be fraudulent: The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński (1965) and Fragments by Binjamin Wilkomirski (1995).[3]: 55–62
Swiss banks[edit]
In 1995 the World Jewish Congress initiated a lawsuit against Swiss banks to recover the assets in accounts left dormant by victims of the Holocaust. Finkelstein accuses the leaders of Jewish organizations of exaggerating the size of the assets and of using Swiss payouts to fund their own pet projects. He is equally critical of a similar lawsuit directed at German banks and of attempts to get monetary compensation from the Polish government.[3]: 81–133
Reviews and critiques[edit]
The book has been controversial, receiving a number of both positive and negative reviews.[1] It was reviewed positively in The Nation by Neve Gordon.[6] The Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg said:
Referring to the part of the book that deals with the claims against the Swiss banks and to forced labor, he noted:
Israeli historian Moshe Zuckermann welcomed his book as an "irreplaceable critique of the ‘instrumentalisation of the past’ and underlined its ‘liberating potential’".[1]
Oren Baruch Stier reviewing the book for the journal Prooftexts summarized the book as a "small and pungent manifesto" and concluded his review by writing that "there are worthwhile arguments here, if one can stomach the bile in which they float".[8]
Genocide scholar Omer Bartov wrote that "Like any conspiracy theory, it contains several grains of truth; and like any such theory, it is both irrational and insidious."[9]
Enzo Traverso reviewing the book for the journal Historical Materialism wrote that the book has proven controversial, concluding that it "contains a core of truth that must be recognised, but it lends itself, due to its style and several of its main arguments, to the worst uses and instrumentalisations." He suggested that the book should be seen as an opportunity for stimulating public debates about difficult topics related to "the politics of memory and on the public uses of history"[1]
Donald D. Denton, reviewing the book for Terrorism and Political Violence journal, noted that it "will be valuable as an historical piece of research and of interest to those who now attempt to deal with the contemporary genocides and the subsequent generations of children of those who endured such horrors".[2]
Wolfgang Benz stated to Le Monde: "It is impossible to learn anything from Finkelstein's book. At best, it is interesting for a psychotherapist."[10] Jean Birnbaum publishing in the same venue added that Norman Finkelstein "hardly cares about nuance"[11] and Rony Brauman wrote in the preface to the French edition (L'Industrie de l'Holocauste, Paris, La Fabrique, 2001) that some assertions of Finkelstein (especially on the impact of the Six-days war) are wrong, others being pieces of "propaganda".
Historian Peter Novick, whose work Finkelstein described as providing the "initial stimulus" for The Holocaust Industry,[12] said in the July 28, 2000 issue of London's The Jewish Chronicle that Finkelstein's book is replete with "false accusations", "egregious misrepresentations", "absurd claims" and "repeated mis-statements" ("A charge into darkness that sheds no light"). Finkelstein replied to the allegations by Novick on his website, replying to five "specific charges", and criticizing his opponents' "intellectual standards".[13] Jonathan Freedland in a column for The Guardian wrote The Holocaust Industry does not share Novick's book's "sensitivity or human empathy - surely prerequisites of any meaningful debate about the Holocaust". Freedland accused Finkelstein of having constructed "an elaborate conspiracy theory, in which the Jews were pushed from apathy to obsession about the Holocaust by a corrupt Jewish leadership bent on building international support for Israel".[14]
Historian Hasia Diner described Peter Novick and Finkelstein of being "harsh critics of American Jewry from the left," and challenged the notion in their books that American Jews did not begin to commemorate the Holocaust until after 1967.[15]
Andrew Ross, reviewing the book for Salon, wrote:
Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld wrote that The Holocaust Industry "is representative of a polemical engagement with the Holocaust" that places it in line with a number of other works by "critics of Holocaust consciousness, all of whom stress the utilitarian function of memory", and who see many modern references to The Holocaust as "means of enhancing ethnic identity and advancing political agendas of one kind or another". Rosenfeld also noted that the book presents those ideas in a very "harsh and inflammatory way."[17]
It has been suggested by the editor of Terrorism and Political Violence journal that the book "probably cost [Finkelstein] ... tenure at DePaul University".[2]
Finkelstein's response to critics[edit]
Finkelstein responded to his critics in the foreword to the second edition (published in 2003), writing "Mainstream critics allege that I conjured a 'conspiracy theory' while those on the Left ridicule the book as a defense of 'the banks'. None, so far as I can tell, question my actual findings."[3]
Selected publication history[edit]
- 2000; First edition, Verso Books (London) 150 p. Hardcover, ISBN 1-85984-773-0
- 2003; Second edition expanded, Verso Books (London) 286 p. Paperback, ISBN 1-85984-488-X
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ ab c d e Traverso, Enzo (2003). "The Holocaust Industry. Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering". Historical Materialism. 11 (2): 215–225. doi:10.1163/156920603768311291. ISSN 1465-4466.
- ^ ab c Denton, Donald D. (October 3, 2019). "Book Reviews: The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering". Terrorism and Political Violence. 31 (6): 1366–1368. doi:10.1080/09546553.2019.1666573. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 210646022.
- ^ ab c d e f g Norman G. Finkelstein (17 October 2003). The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-84467-487-9.
- ^ Finkelstein, Norman (1997-08-01). "Daniel Jonah Goldhagen's 'Crazy' Thesis: A Critique of Hitler's Willing Executioners" (PDF). New Left Review (I/224): 39–87.
- ^ Sridhar, C. R. (2006). "Historical Amnesia: The Romani Holocaust". Economic and Political Weekly. 41 (33): 3569–3571. ISSN 0012-9976.
- ^ ab Wiener, Jon (June 23, 2005). "Giving Chutzpah New Meaning". The Nation.
- ^ Raul Hilberg interviews on The Holocaust Industry & Finkelstein (2000/2001), available at NormanFinkelstein.com Archived 2006-03-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Stier, Oren Baruch (2002). "Holocaust, American Style". Prooftexts. 22 (3): 354–391. doi:10.2979/pft.2002.22.3.354. JSTOR 10.2979/pft.2002.22.3.354.
- ^ Omer Bartov (6 August 2000). "A Tale of Two Holocausts". The New York Times.
- ^ Benz, Wolfgang (16 February 2001). "Polémique et curiosité en Allemagne". Le Monde.
- ^ Birnbaum, Jean (February 16, 2001). "Le débat s'ouvre autour du livre contesté L'Industrie de l'Holocauste". Le Monde.
- ^ Finkelstein, Norman G. (April 15, 2003). The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Verso. ISBN 9781859844885 – via Google Books.
- ^ G. Finkelstein, Norman (2009-03-21). "To Debate or to Defame? A reply to Peter Novick". Archived from the original on 2009-03-21. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
- ^ Freedland, Jonathan (July 14, 2000). "An enemy of the people". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
- ^ Kirsh, Adam (June 23, 2009). "All Quiet; Were postwar American Jews really 'silent' about the Holocaust?". Tablet Magazine.
- ^ Ross, Andrew (September 6, 2000). "Review: 'The Holocaust Industry'". Salon Magazine. Archived from the original on April 7, 2004. Retrieved 2008-04-02 – via CNN.
- ^ Rosenfeld, Alvin H. (2001). "The Assault on Holocaust Memory". The American Jewish Year Book. 101: 3–20. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23604504.
External links[edit]
- Author's web page for the book
- Review by Tanweer Akram, an economist at Columbia University
- Final Report on the Work of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (CRT-I) Zurich, 5 October 2001 at the Wayback Machine (archived July 5, 2004)
- "The business of death" (Extracted from The Holocaust Industry by Norman G Finkelstein), The Guardian (Wednesday July 12, 2000).
- "Swiss toll II", (Extracted from The Holocaust Industry by Norman G Finkelstein), The Guardian (Thursday July 13, 2000).
- "It Takes an Enormous Amount of Courage to Speak the Truth When No One Else is Out There" -- World-Renowned Holocaust, Israel Scholars Defend DePaul Professor Norman Finkelstein as He Fights for Tenure (Raul Hilberg and Avi Shlaim speak in support of Norman Finkelstein's scholarship and "The Holocaust Industry" specifically.)
===
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering
Norman G. Finkelstein
4.09
2,886 ratings319 reviews
Controversial indictment of those who exploit the tragedy of the Holocaust for their own gain.
In an iconoclastic and controversial study, Norman G. Finkelstein moves from an interrogation of the place the Holocaust has come to occupy in American culture to a disturbing examination of recent Holocaust compensation agreements. It was not until the Arab-Israeli War of 1967, when Israel's evident strength brought it into line with US foreign policy, that memory of the Holocaust began to acquire the exceptional prominence it enjoys today. Leaders of America's Jewish community were delighted that Israel was now deemed a major strategic asset and, Finkelstein contends, exploited the Holocaust to enhance this newfound status. Their subsequent interpretations of the tragedy are often at variance with actual historical events and are employed to deflect any criticism of Israel and its supporters. Recalling Holocaust fraudsters such as Jerzy Kosinski and Binjamin Wilkomirski, as well as the demagogic constructions of writers like Daniel Goldhagen, Finkelstein contends that the main danger posed to the memory of Nazism's victims comes not from the distortions of Holocaust deniers but from prominent, self-proclaimed guardians of Holocaust memory. Drawing on a wealth of untapped sources, he exposes the double shakedown of European countries as well as legitimate Jewish claimants, and concludes that the Holocaust industry has become an outright extortion racket. Thoroughly researched and closely argued, The Holocaust Industry is all the more disturbing and powerful because the issues it deals with are so rarely discussed.
In a devastating new postscript to this best-selling book, Norman G. Finkelstein documents the Holocaust industry's scandalous cover-up of the blackmail of Swiss banks, and in a new appendix demolishes an influential apologia for the Holocaust industry.
GenresHistoryNonfictionPoliticsHolocaustReligionJewishWar
...more
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
Book details & editions
Norman G. Finkelstein31 books1,208 followers
Norman Finkelstein, son of a holocaust survivor, is a fierce and controversial critic of Israeli policy, especially toward Palestinians. He has had a tense rivalry with his pro-Israel counterpart, Alan Dershowitz. In 2007 DePaul University denied his tenure, a decision for which Dershowitz lobbied. For his views and suspected connections to anti-Zionist groups, Israel has denied Finkelstein entry and banned him from the country for a decade.
Readers also enjoyedPage 1 of 7
The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World
Antony Loewenstein
4.46
887
On Palestine
Noam Chomsky
4.25
7,465
The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler-Colonial Conquest and Resistance, 1917-2017
Rashid Khalidi
4.51
14k
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
Ilan Pappé
4.52
7,089
Ten Myths About Israel
Ilan Pappé
4.4
3,410
The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories
Ilan Pappé
4.31
809
The Question of Palestine
Edward W. Said
4.32
2,002
Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians
Noam Chomsky
4.12
1,719
The General's Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine
Miko Peled
4.24
979
If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution
Vincent Bevins
4.31
1,069
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy
John J. Mearsheimer
4.05
3,173
Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians
Noam Chomsky
4.19
1,047
Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat
J. Sakai
4.18
879
The Punishment of Gaza
Gideon Levy
4.18
403
The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon
4.32
26.8k
In Zionist literature
Ghassan Kanafani
4.31
549
The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome
Michael Parenti
4.27
1,691
Palestine's Children: Returning to Haifa & Other Stories
Ghassan Kanafani
4.38
794
=====
Community Reviews
4.09
2,886 ratings319 reviews
5 stars
Margaret
1,188 reviews593 followers
Follow
July 19, 2020
A short, vengeful, insightful, informative, rendition of The Holocaust Industry. Eye-opening, maybe, for some readers, but not so for others. The reason being that Prof. Finkesltein's information have been shared already by various other historians, who also lost their tenure, and were named and shamed for their "Holocaust Denial". One such victims was Prof. Thomas Dalton. Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides . His book was banned in 57 countries.
Then there's Two Hundred Years Together by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. This book is still banned in most countries. What a cruel irony. The author struggled to get his other books smuggled out of Russia to become best sellers world wide, only to be hit by a new wave of restrictions by a different contingent of free speech oppressors in, what us all were forced to believe, a free democratic society.
I did not dare review this book: Breaking the Spell: The Holocaust, Myth & Realityby Nicholas Kollerstrom.
Prof. Finkelstein's other book, Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History , was another rendition of his sadness (that's actually what it is) with the current events in the American Jewish contingent. It is actually a worldwide debate raging in the Jewish psyche. Yet another of his controversial and much despised books, Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom", exposed, what is now regarded in many quarters of the world, as the biggest concentration camp in human history.
Other books, which received the same treatment:
The Master and Margaritaby Mikhail Bulgakov;
The Myth of German Villainy by Benton L. Bradberry. This book is so explosive that I did not venture into a review, but it is also the book strengthening Finkelstein's argument in The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Supported by impeccable research, including photos, this book turns everything we knew upside down.
And on and on it goes. A lot of muckraking went on to banish all these 'anti-Semite' / 'Holocaust denying' books from hitting the streets.
I've read so many books on this issue lately, which I did not list on GR, that I will suffice with the ones I actually did mention on GR.
About this book: Prof. Finkelstein addresses a few issues:
1) The extortion of money from Germany and Switzerland;
2) The lies and deceit surrounding the Jewish victims of WWII; - one famous example is the writings of Jerzy Kosinsky, regarded as a literary giant until his lies behind his Holocaust experience were exposed. I'm addressing this issue in my review of his novel Being There . There are sadly thousands more of these Holocaust myths being presented as the truth. And nothing BUT the truth.
This reminds me of the quote by Mark E. Levine: You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough.
3) The creation of "The Holocaust"-brand after the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. The 'brand' enabled a small group of money-grabbers to enrich themselves instead of the real Jewish victims of WWII.
Holocaust awareness,” the respected Israeli writer Boas Evron observes, is actually “an official, propagandistic indoctrination, a churning out of slogans and a false view of the world, the real aim of which is not at all an understanding of the past, but a manipulation of the present.” ...
The Holocaust has proven to be an indispensable ideological weapon. Through its deployment, one of the world’s most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record, has cast itself as a “victim” state, and the most successful ethnic group in the United States has likewise acquired victim status. Considerable dividends accrue from this specious victimhood – in particular, immunity to criticism, however justified. Those enjoying this immunity, I might add, have not escaped the moral corruptions that typically attend it. ...
The current campaign of the Holocaust industry to extort money from Europe in the name of “needy Holocaust victims” has shrunk the moral stature of their martyrdom to that of a Monte Carlo casino.This short book is meticulously researched and copiously foot-noted. Excellent research concludes Prof. Finkelstein's argument. It depends on the reader what will be taken away from this information.
Norman Finkelstein's parents were both holocaust survivors. He has a dog in the fight. He treasures and respect his background. He is no 'Jew-hater' as so many anti-Finkelstein prophets want to portray him. He is passionate about the plight of the Palestinians. He has an undisputed love for humanity.
Since his book Gaza created so much animosity in some circles, and it is a must-read for anyone interested in the situation, I was wondering why the Palestinians don't sue the Israeli government for compensation, like "The Holocaust" managed to extort from anyone associated with the Nazis. Wouldn't that be fair? And what about all the survivors of WWI & WWII who lost millions of family members in a war they did not start and did not want? Britain lost almost their entire nobility. The latter acted as leaders in the war. Isn't it time for the Jewish organizations who financed these wars to start paying compensation? That's my spark thrown onto this already raging debate.
Excerpt from The Myth of German Villainy:
... the deciding influence in taking America into the war was the pressure on President Wilson by American Jewish financiers. It was these powerful Jews who had financed Wilson’s political career. Without their financial and media support, he probably would never have become president. These Jews exerted extreme pressure on Wilson to take the United States into the war on the side of Britain to ensure an Allied victory, in exchange for the Balfour Declaration which promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine after the war. ...
America’s entry into the war was perhaps the greatest disaster in European history in its unintended consequences. ...
With the offer of the Zionists Jews to bring America into the war in hand, Britain rejected Germany’s peace offer and decided to take the Zionists up on their proposition. The British promised the Jews that if they could, indeed, bring America into the war, that Palestine would be theirs. The Zionist Jews went to work immediately. ...
Prof. Finkelstein's parents received $3500 compensation from the war. They were regarded as "Green Horns", 'unrefined' and not worth the effort to be accepted into society. There were many of these 'Green Horns' who were exploited by lawyers and Jewish organizations to gain financially from The Holocaust. Did this resentment fired up Finkelstein's irk to run over the American Jewish establishment? He is raging against the injustice of it all. Organized groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, shook down Europe, according to the author, via fraudulent claims, by extorting billions of dollars from Swiss and German Banks (as well as government, in effect the German citizenry). Seventy years of extortion paid by generation who never participated in the events. In the end these groups, and the lawyers, only enriched themselves.
The Israeli situation is so complicated and should be considered from different angles, as I'm sure are done where it matters. I have empathy with all the people suffering, including the Jewish & Palestinian citizens. There's no right or wrong - for me at least. There's only tragedy and hope as far as I am concerned.
The most important though is freedom of speech. And that right, as it originally appeared in a 1906 biography Friends of Voltaire by Beatrice Evelyn Hall, and wrongly attributed to Voltaire himself, must reign in all shapes and forms. The book was written under a pseudonym, S. G. Tallentyre.
From Hall's book: "What the book (Essays On The Mind, (by Helvétius, 1715-1771) could never have done for itself, or for its author, persecution did for them both. ‘On the Mind’ became not the success of a season, but one of the most famous books of the century. The men who had hated it, and had not particularly loved Helvétius, flocked round him now. Voltaire forgave him all injuries, intentional or unintentional. ‘What a fuss about an omelette!’ he had exclaimed when he heard of the burning. How abominably unjust to persecute a man for such an airy trifle as that! ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ was his attitude now."Beatrice Evelyn Hall INTERPRETED Voltaire's words with that expression. Voltaire never said it himself. (Just a little tidbit for interest's sake).
I respect Prof. Finkelstein's right to freedom of speech. There are a gazillion books on this raging debate. This author is a dissenting voice. His arguments are sound, whether the reader agrees with it or not.
Would there have been a change in South Africa, if there were not a few million dissenting voicing from within the Afrikaner community who brought a different perspective, and new historical facts, to that particular debate within the enclave? Would any change happen anywhere in the world if introspective, robust debate is not allowed among ourselves?
We have to listen to these voices. History MUST HAVE different voices.
2019-read holocaust nonfiction
...more
74 likes
1 comment
=====
Sue
111 reviews10 followers
Follow
May 8, 2007
Wow, what a book. I had this book for a few months and, after seeing the author on a documentary about the Holocaust, bumped the book to the top of my To Read pile.
This work discusses the Nazi holocaust (the historical event) and how the Holocaust (capital H) was created after Arab-Israeli War in 1967. Finkelstein describes how organizations representing victims of Nazi brutality use tactics similar to those the Nazis used to get money from businesses, countries, and other groups that have any connection to Nazi Germany.
I don't think a Gentile could have written this book without having a death warrant placed on him. While I try to keep an open mind about anything and might not believe everything Finkelstein used as examples, I feel that if even half of what is in the book is true, that it's very, very sad. The survivors and their descendants deserve the return of what was taken from them, but it should be their decision on what to do with any compensation, not groups who fought on their behalf in the courts but then use the settlement to pay for things in Israel or to fund some project of the group.
This is a fairly short book (and small, maybe 7" x 5"), and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the Nazi holocaust, the Holocaust (the created, emotionally-charged "ideological representation" of the historical event), or any type of social justice should read it.
nazi-ww2 on-visualbookshelf
58 likes
Al-Rajhi Miqat
Author 6 books2,192 followers
Follow
January 1, 2018
This book is shocking, but not shocking. Shocking in terms of the truth conveyed by its subject, but not shocking in terms of the continuity of American tyranny, tyranny, and injustice.
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering
The first time I knew Finkelstein was when I read his book The Journey of an American Jew in Search of the Truth, and I was horrified to read about a Jew whose parents were destined to survive World War II as well as Nazism. Despite the author's Jewishness and his family being harmed by the impact of Nazism during World War II (1938 - 1945 AD), he mentions after or during his narration of the Jews' suffering from Nazism how Jewish groups and America used the fabrication of this incident to their advantage.
The author examines the issue of Jewish organizations’ exploitation of what is known as the Nazi Holocaust of Judaism, and how they excelled in exaggerating and exploiting this historical era, which only lasted a few years of the World War period, as an investment that has devoid of all humanity since the 1950s until today, according to every American president and according to most of Europe’s senior leaders, with their consent or under pressure. Politically, they extorted money from banks and governments with their aid. Although the victims did not receive any assistance.
The author also intends to focus on the role of Swiss banks, and this was shocking to me.
From what I found in the book:
There is a large amount of list of sources, references, and (documents), and this is a very important matter in research methodology.
The author's neutrality, despite his Jewishness, will stand in the way of any Zionist or Israeli extremist to challenge the content of his research topic.
The book opens the door to several questions about America's own lack of interest in the rights of the afflicted Africans and Indians. Praise be to them, they have rights just like the Jews. So why does their descendants not receive compensation? And are there no museums built for them to commemorate their catastrophe? Just like what happened to the Jews because of Nazism? These people, along with the victims of Vietnam and the people of Palestine, are all Holocausts from the logic of the Jews, so where are their rights!!
The greatest catastrophe is the reduction of the world war to the Jewish element without any other harmed person.
Germany paid in the first place, then Switzerland - where the banks are located - and most of the countries of Europe, especially the Eastern ones, to pay compensation to the victims who may receive a small amount, and the majority are fed by the Ameristic Jewish organizations, and this is in the interest of America, then Israel, and the Zionist organizations, and thus Israel remains a fertile land and a great friend in the East. For the American interest - until an alternative comes - and its goals.
This book, in brief, is the art of making a profit from the Holocaust industry with all possible Jewish merit.
Away from the conspiracy theory, many of which I reject, and I believe in what is proven. Much of what the Jews were subjected to during World War II, specifically at the hands of Nazism - despite my belief that some of it happened - became by Hitler. The Jews exaggerated it and presented it to us as a reality with these numbers and brutality, as if the world war meant nothing but the elimination of the Jews, until the greatest historians of Europe, America, and even the Chinese neglected. And the Japanese about Hitler's armies entering Russia and overthrowing France and their role in Poland and their entry into Austria, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark... etc. However, there remain only Jews who show their race to us without the rest of the peoples, and we no longer mention from all the holocausts of the world anything but He claimed (the movement of the Jews: the alleged Holocaust) or as the French historian calls it (the Holocaust of the magic ovens) mocking him for its lack of existence. Since there are no documents that tell us about these massacres, ovens, gas killings, etc.
But what is certain is that something happened to the Jews like what happened to the Poles, the Roma, the disabled, and even the Arabs were not spared from the Nazis. Auschwitz, Felsenburg, and Mauthausen are the best evidence of the presence of Arabs among Germany’s victims.
But research, poems, novels, films, theater, and modern and old documentary recordings do not depict or mention anything about what the Roma and Slavic peoples suffered in Poland and Russia, and what happened to the communists and socialists - these last two groups have sufficiently criminalized people and will do greater than what Hitler did after the war, especially communism - and what Nazis did. On the disabled and people with disabilities , as if
they were building a modern state like a utopia free of the sick under what is known as “euthanasia” for them, and many other victims. But only the Jews stand out to us as victims! The book has been amended and added parallels to the book in its first edition without any prejudice. Rather, they are greater additions than the information in the book in its first edition. There is a great cognitive convergence between the writings of Finkelstein and Chomsky regarding their positions on Zionism, the Palestinian issue, and the occupying enemy of the State of Palestine, Israel. Finally, you will feel How much do you mock your Arabism when you find Arab researchers, university professors, and culture claimants who believed the Holocaust in all its dimensions, development, and exaggeration while Jews rejected it!!
Historical-studies
50 likes
Like
Comment
Clif
456 reviews141 followers
Follow
March 27, 2024
Norman Finkelstein is a phenomenon.
He enrages people by always sticking to facts. Backing up his words with copious footnotes referencing the facts upon which he makes his statements, he marches like Sherman through Georgia, laying low everything in his path. All dissemblers must flee before him because there is no rebuttal to the truth.
He is the same in his public appearances, citing the works of the person he debates to turn that person's own words back upon him.
This logical, relentless, driving method is much needed in the area where he is an expert - the terrible hypocrisy that is Israel.
Being Jewish, with parents who were subject to the Holocaust and whose other relatives died in it, no one can say the man has no standing. He has devoted his life to investigating and exposing the myths and falsehoods that crowd densely around the Jewish State. His is a voice greatly needed in the United States, blind as this country is to the machinations of Zionists while subject to Zionist influence at all levels of government, industry and finance. This country stands alone in supporting the decades old oppression that Israel exerts over the natives of Palestine - the largest single factor in the deterioration of the prestige of the United States over the past 40 years.
In this book, Finkelstein examines what can only be called the shakedown of Europe by organized Jewish groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, claiming to act in the name of the victims of the Holocaust but mainly working for their own enrichment. It relates in detail how the Swiss banks and Germany were harassed into providing huge payments to the groups which they intended to use for themselves.
In this grand scheme, non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust were scarcely mentioned, the number of Jewish victims was inflated, people who were nowhere near the death camps were included and the imaginative writing of people who claimed to be survivors of Nazi atrocities but weren't, are lauded as true accounts. So bad was it that actual Holocaust victims sued the Jewish groups for the proceeds.
As Finkelstein relates, United States banks were just as free in dealing in gold with Hitler's Germany as were the Swiss banks. But since the Jewish groups who pressed for reparations were based in the United States and needed U.S. clout to pressure the Europeans, American involvement with Nazi Germany never surfaced.
As the Jewish organizations pushed for quick settlements in the name of survivors nearing death from old age and poor health, once the money was obtained the payouts were delayed for years by these same organizations as they successfully took much of the money for their own projects. An impartial investigative team under Paul Voelker came up with the facts after three years of research but the Jewish organizations had already pressured the Swiss banks into a huge settlement before the Voelker report repudiated most of what had been claimed.
It's a disgusting story, but very much in keeping with the story of Israel - a state that wants the world to pity the plight of Jews in history while at the same time denying any sympathy due the native Palestinians that it rousted from their land at gunpoint.
Israel exists only because of the Holocaust card that it has played relentlessly to this day. Norman Finkelstein deserves praise for following the truth wherever it leads and whomever it indicts.
What is the lesson to be learned? It is that any people who have protection to do wrong will do so. Jews are people just like everyone else but the Holocaust has allowed some of them a free ride under the protection of the guilt of others and the horror of the event that intimidates people frightened that they might be called anti-Semitic. Are we witnessing this invisible protective force crumbling before the facts of Israeli behavior? No. Even the Amnesty International report on Israel's apartheid has been swept aside. But the effort for justice must continue.
Finkelstein's account of the lack of interest in the Holocaust or Israel by American Jews prior to the 1967 war is astounding and profound evidence of the construction of the Holocaust Industry from that time.
Every one of us should first examine ourselves for fault before going after others. This book is the work of someone who does so. It is a quick read, infuriating, and should prompt any American reader to speak up against Israel and for the benighted Palestinians who have been part of the huddling masses the United States has resolutely ignored since 1948.
current-affairs history israel-palestine
40 likes
Like
Comment
Kaelan Ratcliffe ▪ Kaelan Ratcliffe
109 reviews
Follow
March 28, 2019
Uncomfortable Reading
Has anyone read Binjamin Wilkomirski's Fragments? Or The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski? Did you like those books? Did you find yourself affected by either of them? Perhaps they're on your favourite book shelf right now?
If any of the above is true for you, then I would advise you pick this book up. The validity of these authors and their work is the tip of the iceberg in what The Holocaust Industry targets within its conseicse 171 pages.
I've been listening to Finkelsteins strict analysis of Israeli policy for a few years now. However, this is my first outing with the Professors. written work. It's not a random choice that I picked out this essay first (he's written a fair few). This book caused a riot when first released, and still the repercussions of it's criticisms and expośe of the so called Holocaust Industry hold relevance today.
After reading a few reviews of Finkelsteins other work on goodreads, I was expecting a fairly dry, difficult to diffuse, but ultimately intillectually satisfying book. What I received instead, was a pretty amazing read with a damning indictment of a handful of people profiteering from the compensation money paid up by Germany and Switzerland for the horrors of the Holocaust. Not only this, but Finkelstein makes some very poignant observations over the fact that the United States government could have equally shared blame for the same accusations the above countries received.
His further critique of the ideology behind the holocaust in the United States is also very eye opening. I won't press any further as it's a short book and deserves a readers full attention (its available online via PDF), but Finkelstein is a moral force to be reckoned with. I fear for any dishonest author / intellectual who finds themselves caught in his sights and believe me when I say, there are more than a few he locks onto here. Not only this, but he manages to be very funny at times, but only when mocking those who are dishonest in their claims and validity.
Overal, It's a crushing attack. I cant recommend books like this enough, as they ask the uncomfortable questions that others would turn their eyes away from.
Don't stand too close.
Show moreanti-semitism corporation history
...more
27 likes
Like
Comment
Charbel
155 reviews34 followers
Follow
February 15, 2016
Norman Finkelstein is the son of two Holocaust survivors. He is vocal against Israel's crimes against Palestinians, and is strongly opposed to using one of the worst tragedies in history to justify genocide. His willingness to speak the truth without mitigation has put him in many difficult situations; even leading him to lose his job as a university professor.
The Holocaust Industry, however, deals with a different subject. In it, Finkelstein discusses how the nazi holocaust was used to service the greed of individuals and organisations with their own private agendas. It's an intense read to say the least. Finkelstein does not hold back.
Because of what his parents went through, particularly his mother, he takes this subject very personally. He's not wrong to do so.
The term "Holocaust Industry" is used to refer to this wide array of organisations and individuals who claim to be defenders of Jews and Holocaust victims, while in truth they only aim to serve their own interests.
According to Finkelstein, the Holocaust industry has spread the following false ideas into mainstream American culture:
1) Gentiles have an inert hatred of Jews. They possess an irrational need to spill Jewish blood.
2) The Jews have suffered because they are superior to the Gentiles, and it’s the Gentiles jealousy of the Jews that had created silent executioners during the Holocaust.
3) The Holocaust is a unique event in history. To even suggest that the suffering of any other group is just as tragic constitutes holocaust denial.
4) To criticise Israel in any way is an act of anti-Semitism, which will lead to a new Holocaust.
One cannot say that Finkelstein is exaggerating since he offers more than enough support. One citation after another, footnotes extending more than half the page, some of the most detailed referencing that I have ever come across, only serve to strengthen his credibility (that along with his outstanding academic achievements in political science).
Finkelstein explores in depth how "the Holocaust Industry" demanded compensation from countries such as Switzerland and Germany several times over in the name of the actual survivors while, the survivors received very little (Finkelstein's mother only recieved $3500 out of a deal that offered billions in compensation). He explains how the money went to fund "Jewish cultural projects" that, instead of insuring the rights of the survivors or the heirs, only continued to serve the interests of a chosen few. He also goes into great detail about the hypocrisy that lies behind the "Industry's" outcries and accusations of anti-Semitism.
'When Germans or Swiss refuse to pay compensation, the heavens cannot contain the righteous indignation of organised American Jewry. but when Jewish elites rob Jewish survivors, no ethical issues arise: it’s just about money.' (page 86).
The quote refers to how actual Jewish survivors of the Nazi holocaust received very little from the monetary compensation, while the bulk went to financing “various pet projects” and individual payments to rabbis and “outstanding Jewish leaders”.
Finkelstein also discusses the extortion of poor Eastern European countries by the "Holocaust Industry" right after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The demands this time, unlike the many compensation demands against Germany and the Swiss banks, were not publicised; as it might come off as 'grave robbery'.
'To justify the pressures exerted on Eastern Europe, he (Stuart Eizenstat) explained that a hallmark of "Western" normality is to "return or pay compensation for communal and private property wrongfully appropriated". For the "new democracies" in Eastern Europe, meeting this standard "would be to commensurate with their passage from totalitarianism to a democratic states." Eizenstat is a senior US government official and a prominent supporter of Israel. Yet, judging by the respective claims of Native Americans and Palestinians, neither the US nor Israel has yet made the transition.' (page 134).
Finkelstein has been criticised as a self-hating Jew. However, the truth could not be more different. It is his unwillingness to accept the exploitation of his heritage, and his parents' suffering, that motivates him to speak. If anything, it is his self-respect as a Jew that has driven him to take up this position.
In conclusion, The Holocaust Industry is a must-read for anyone interested in learning more than the superficial on this topic. People like Finkelstein care about the truth; they deserve to be heard.
2016-bingo-challenge society
26 likes
Like
Comment
Grapie Deltaco
739 reviews1,864 followers
Follow
December 19, 2023
A wildly informative and eye-opening exploration on the sinister exploitation of (and language surrounding) the Holocaust and its victims.
The book took me quite a while to get through in spite of its short page length as the way information is formatted/presented tends to be very overwhelming. It doesn’t allow for any breathing room and required me to reread sections to better understand what the flow was supposed to be.
CW: focus on: antisemitism, Islamophobia, Zionism, the Holocaust, Nazism, genocide, political corruption
25 likes
Like
Comment
Christopher
171 reviews29 followers
Follow
September 5, 2012
When you start a book like this, you sort of go, "Jeeze, I almost hope I don't like it," because you know if you do, you're going to have to explain yourself. And, confound it, I liked it.
I want to conflate a couple of the points from the letters section of this book with an anecdote of my own:
In 2005, while I was living in China, the whole of China became incensed at yet another inaccurate history textbook published in Japan. The text described the Nanjing Massacre (a.k.a. The Rape of Nanking) as "The Nanjing Incident." In response, the Chinese government mobilized college students. They took to the streets, chucked bottles at the Japanese embassy, and called for a worldwide boycott of Japanese goods.
Around the same time, I'd attempted to set up an information booth/charity collection for the genocide in Darfur (a genocide, it should be noted, that the Chinese government helped to arm in exchange for oil). The response was supreme indifference. They claimed that they'd love to help but, pitifully, there were too many Chinese citizens in need of help first.
"Why," I asked, "is the rest of the world meant to care about a massacre that occured 70 years ago when you don't care about a genocide ocurring right now?"
It's because people are consumed by this implicit belief that they really are special. OUR pain is greater. THIS crime is unprecedented. And so on and so forth. And when you feel you've been wronged, you can justify any theft or crime of your own. I've seen this attitude elsewhere in the world, too. Apologies are rarely recognized and when they are, they're not enough. Generations of people cling to the idea of reparations, no doubt because it's tough getting by in this world and people will take what they can get. But perpetuating guilt perpetuates conflict. It's terribly short-sighted.
This is part of what Finklestein tries to point out about Israel and it's important that he does. Communities need dissent from within. God forbid you're an outsider. Look at what they're saying about Gunter Grass. Suddenly Grass is an anti-semite and banned from Israel, despite his belief in the right to a Jewish nation. All anyone can do now is point out that he'd served in the Waffen SS. Well, so did the Pope. If even a bad poem can get their panties in a bunch, clearly they need to hear from dissenting Jews. Of course, then they just say that he's a self-hating Jew. The larger Jewish community has sealed itself off from valid criticism. Plenty of other groups do the same.
Remember when Bill Cosby had some hard words for the black community in America? Oh, how they were pissed. He'd betrayed them! And what would the white people think when they heard him talk like that? Do you remember what he said? He said (and I'm paraphrasing), "I don't care what the white people will say. I'm not talking to the white people. I'm talking to YOU." His point, obviously, is that you can't worry about how others might twist the argument. You have to deal rationally with what you know. So, yes, white supremecists loved Cosby's criticism. Sure, radical Palestinian factions adore Grass's poem. And of course neo-Nazis have clung to Finklestein's arguments, but you just can't let that affect your thinking. Do they have a point or don't they?
Of course, Finklestein needs to be kept in check, too. At the end of the documentary "American Radical," Finklestein tells the Palestinian media that he believes there is hope and that that hope is Hezbollah. That made me wince a little. I don't agree, but I do get why he has such an extreme reaction to bullying.
First they laughed at Finklestein, calling him unbalanced. Then they banned him from Israel (like children in tree-houses), and next?
“All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; Second, it is violently opposed; Third, it is accepted as self-evident.”
~ Arthur Schopenhauer
Let's hope we all see jingoism for what it is, very soon.
2012 ebook essay
...more
23 likes
1 comment
Like
Comment
ren ♡
376 reviews802 followers
Follow
November 17, 2023
The Holocaust industry has always been bankrupt. What remains is to openly declare it so. The time is long past to put it out of business. The noblest gesture for those who perished is to preserve their memory, learn from their suffering and let them, finally, rest in peace.
If you thought you knew about the holocaust, trust me, you don't.
Before anyone starts casting stones or calling this author an anti-semitic or a Holocaust denialer, Finkelstein himself is Jewish and the son of two Nazi concentration camp survivors so he very much has a personal vested interest in this matter. I first came across this author, Norman Finkelstein, because of his activism around Israel's crimes against Palestine, and knew I had to read this book when it was suggested in a comments section...
As the title suggests, this book is about the exploitation of the holocaust and Jewish suffering, in particular, how the 'nazi holocaust' became 'The Holocaust'. 'The Holocaust' being an ideological construct and an industry full of distorted facts in which its legacy is used for political gain, particularly to serve American and Israeli interests. He also highlights how the myth that 'Jews uniquely suffered under Nazi rule' has been used to acquire 'victim status' and deligitimize criticism of Israel and American Jewry.
This book is not for readers with delicate sensibilites, nor is it for readers who want an easy and digestible narrative of the holocaust. This book is controversial for a reason and Finkelstein writes in a harsh and somewhat sarcastic manner that might rub people the wrong way. Some critics have labelled him 'too angry' - and you can tell that he is enraged at the way Jewish suffering has been capitalized to become a cultural obsession and used to further colonial endeavours- but who wouldn't be angry?
Here's the thing, history is oftentimes confronting, and so is the truth. This book is full of robust scholarship and well researched. I think Finkelstein makes a cohesive argument in exposing the holocaust industry as a propagation of an American-driven myth.
In the face of the sufferings of African-Americans, Vietnamese and Palestinians, my mother's credo always was: We are all holocaust victims.
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (Paperback) is brutally honest, confronting, eye-opening and damning. I cannot recommend this book enough. I beg of you all, know your history, question dominant narratives and never stop researching. It is the warping of history that has deemed Zionists "worthy victims" and Palestinians "unworthy victims" today.
Rating: 5/5
Show moredecolonize-your-mind free-palestine history
...more
34 likes
6 comments
Like
Comment
Mr.
149 reviews74 followers
Follow
October 8, 2008
Unlike the precision of research that his characteristic of Norman Finkelstein when it comes to the issue of the Israel-Palestine conflict, 'The Holocaust Industry' is a disorganized and ultimately spotty work of political science.
Finkelstein's aim is to present an "anatomy and an indictment of the Holocaust industry," meaning the subsequent exploitation of the historical tragedy that was the Holocaust for political and financial ends. The book is composed of three basic sections, 'Capitalizing the Holocaust,' 'Hoaxers, Huxters, and History,' and 'The Double Shakedown.'
Chapter one deals with the evolution of American awareness of the Holocaust as an event throughout the course of the post-war era. In it, Finkelstein alleges that the Holocaust was basically not discussed in America prior to the June 67 war in Israel. The majority of his arguments here are quite correct, though the general thrust of the argument is borrowed heavily from Peter Novick's book, 'The Holocaust in American Life,' which Finkelstein cites as a major influence but not a "radical critique" (5). In this section, Finkelstein oscillates between sharp political analysis and careless ranting. He includes bizarre footnotes to designate his 'terminology' such as footnote 7 on pg. 13, which states: "In this text, Jewish elites designates individuals prominent in the organizational and cultural life of the mainstream Jewish community." Unfortunately for Finkelstein, this is not really a proper "organization" which can be referred to on a whim. It are these kinds of generalizations which severely limit the quality and veracity of the arguments presented.
Chapter 2 deals with the apparent influx of fraudulent "Holocaust literature" which has inundated the American public with pro-Israeli propaganda. Finkelstein discusses hoaxes like Wilkomirsky's "Fragments," and Kosinsky's "The Painted Bird," and rails on Elie Wiesel for charging for his lectures. While it is true that many individuals have turned a profit off of the Holocaust in this way (particularly in recent years), this argument remains entirely too reductive. What about the excellent and serious-minded work of Primo Levi, Ruth Kluger, and Paul Celan? Are these artists and historians trying to capitalize off of the Holocaust as well? At what point does an author become a Holocaust "Huxter"? The problem with this line of argumentation is that it lumps individuals into one enormous category that they may not necessarily deserve.
The final chapter is the strongest of the book. Finkelstein ruthlessly scrutinizes the actions of the WJC in their claims against Swiss and German banks for Holocaust Survivors. He has documented a record of falsification that is difficult to believe. After winning the European monies (at an inflated sum), the relevant organizations subsequently refused to distribute the money to the actual Holocaust survivors. This is a difficult topic to stomach, and it raises many troubling questions. However, Finkelstein's evidence in these final sections is a valuable resource.
The Holocaust Industry suffers from its polemicist ravings and broad generalizations. At the heart of it is an important issue, namely the issue form of historiography and memory regarding the Holocaust and other outrageous acts of genocide. Finkelstein is angry that the Holocaust has apparently been elevated above all human suffering, and he is angry that individuals have positioned themselves in such a way as to capitalize off of this horrible tragedy. Yet his work deteriorates in his tendency to rant and rave, as well as his frequent use of generalized and unsupported claims. Near the end of the book, Finkelstein writes that "The abnormality of the Nazi holocaust springs not from the event itself but from the exploitative industry that has grown up around it." (150). Are there no other instances of the exploitation of human tragedy? I am inclined to cite 9/11 and the U.S.S.R under Stalin as other examples of the same phenomenon.
19 likes
Like
Comment
Displaying 1 - 10 of 319 reviews
More reviews and ratings
No comments:
Post a Comment