Melbourne – Holocaust denial leaflets were again
distributed at university campuses in Melbourne last week, this time arguing a
new Hollywood movie is wrong in its portrayal of discredited British historian
David Irving.
The leaflets, associated with a group called
ChemTrailsGeelong, were found on Monash and Melbourne University campuses and
distributed last Thursday. It follows similar leaflet drops by the group in
September.
Isabella Polgar, national chairwoman of the Australasian
Union of Jewish Students, said leaflets state that the official version of the
Holocaust is “demonstrably false”.
“These leaflets
are the result of a nationally organised campaign to spread poisonous
anti-Semitic conspiracies at our nation’s top universities,” Ms Polgar said.
“Universities
have a responsibility to ensure the safety of their students and protect those
vulnerable to racial discrimination.”
The leaflet claims a new film, Denial, “would have us
believe that a court case in 2000 proved the official version of the Holocaust.
Did it really?”
It then quotes American-based conspiracy theorist and
holocaust denier Michael Hoffman as saying “history is so often tried by
Hollywood. They … create these puppet figures, these simulacrums, these
strawmen of David Irving in the movie and then attack that and present that as
reality”.
The movie the leaflet is referring to is based on a book
called History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier in which
Deborah Lipstadt, a scholar of modern Jewish history and Holocaust studies, was
sued for libel by Mr Irving.
The group’s website describes the Holocaust as a “lie” and
“the greatest swindle of all time”.
The site also rails against Geelong Council, solar power
and psychiatry.
A spokesman for Monash University said leaflets had been
left in three carparks on the Clayton campus and that security footage was
being investigated.
He said the university would meet student representatives
to offer support if needed and to express its concern regarding the leaflets’
content.
