Bishop Seeks Holocaust Denier's Help

After being expelled from Argentina in February, Holocaust-denying Society of St. Pius X Bishop Richard Williamson returned to his native England, promising to further "study" the history of the Holocaust. And who did Williamson choose to consult with? A respected Holocaust historian, perhaps?

Not a chance.

Instead, the much-criticized bishop reached out to Britain's most notorious Holocaust denier, David Irving, who served 13 months in an Austrian prison for his ahistorical views. Irving's beliefs are so extreme that in 2000 a British judge in a libel case ruled that he had a "pro-Nazi and anti-Jewish bias" and that his research "deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence."

Irving told The New York Times that Williamson had contacted him asking for assistance in assessing the Holocaust. Irving said Williamson wrote to him through an intermediary, saying that he needed to "conform my mind to the truth." He added that Williamson wrote that his lawyer, who is defending Williamson against possible criminal Holocaust denial charges in Germany, was "convinced" that "the H was more or less for real," referring to the Holocaust.

Irving, who often speaks at events organized by white supremacists and neo-Nazis, responded by telling Irving that "[t]here is much dispute over numbers and methods of killing," but suggesting that the bishop "accept that there were organized mass killings from the spring of 1942 to October 1943" at three sites.

The H-word apparently didn't come up in Irving's interview with The New York Times.

— Heidi Beirich