Double genocide – contemporary revisionism
The founders of The Seventy Years Declaration on the Anniversary of the Final Solution Wannsee Conference are urging Australian individuals and organisations to support their movement against Holocaust revisionism.
They have recently launched the ‘Defending Truth in History’ campaign with a brand new website: www.seventyyearsdeclaration.org.
Danny Ben-Moshe
Against the backdrop of rising ultra-nationalism and antisemitism in Eastern Europe, the campaign aims to fight an insidious form of Holocaust revisionism – double genocide. This notion, which equates the Nazi genocide with Stalinist atrocities and calls for joint memorialisation of the two tragedies, is gaining popularity across Europe, and even in America.
Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel recently called double genocide the “white- washing of a tragic and criminal episode,” a sentiment echoed by co-founder of the Declaration, Danny Ben Moshe, who today said, “The memory of the Holocaust is under assault by right wing activists and Governments seeking to downplay their own country’s role in the Holocaust.”
This has been seen with the controversial 70th anniversary commemorations of the Nazi occupation of Hungary as well as the lauding of Ukrainian wartime nationalist Bandara as part of the current conflict in the Ukraine.
“The awful crimes of Stalinist Communism must be recognised, but not at the expense of the truth about the Holocaust,” Ben Moshe said.
The Seventy Years Declaration arose from Ben Moshe’s acclaimed documentary, ‘Rewriting History’, in which he joined co-founder Dovid Katz in investigating the Lithuanian promotion of double genocide, including the glorification of Nazi collaborators. Rewriting History will soon be available as video-on-demand at the Seventy Years Declaration website.
“Stalinism and Nazism were each tragedies in their own right, respectively producing enormous numbers of victims. But they were not the same, and must be acknowledged as distinct experiences, so that neither has the opportunity of being repeated”, Katz added.
Initially signed by a symbolic 70 politicians from twenty European countries and from across the political spectrum, the Seventy Years Declaration has gained further support from a wide range of individuals and organisations. Recent endorsements have come from the UK Jewish Board of Deputies, as well the European Union for Progressive Judaism and the United Synagogue of Great Britain.
The newly-launched website provides the opportunity for others to add their voice to the campaign, with Katz and Ben Moshe calling on all those who value truth in history to become signatories to the Declaration.
“The Rewriting History film and the Seventy Years Declaration emerged in Australia. We hope Australian individuals and organisations who are concerned about the rewriting of history will sign on and support this campaign”, said Ben Moshe.
Supporters can follow the campaign at the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/DefendingHistoryOpposingDoubleGenocide
The Declaration’s founders have also launched a crowd-funding campaign at www.mycause.com.au/events/70yearsdeclaration and are calling for donations to help pursue this important work.
