Differences in Denials of the Holocaust: Comparative Study of Two Case Studies

Abstrakt

Denial of the Holocaust is a topic that is largely discussed and attracts public attention to this day. However, the language used when debating historical revisionism is oftentimes limited to the Jewish victims and survivors, while other groups, which were targeted during World War II, are regularly omitted from the discourse. The objective of this qualitative study is to establish what are the common patterns of two types of Holocaust denial – denial of the Jewish genocide and denial of the Roma genocide – and how these are treated by the international community. The findings of this research indicate that the deniers adhere to similar ideologies that result in questioning the existence of the Holocaust. The international community poses as an interesting case as the Roma genocide is not denied; however, its existence has been largely unacknowledged until a recent slight turn towards more equal treatment of survivors and victims in several countries.