Holocaust denial documentary in the works

Marina Berkovich, JHSSWF President

I do not take the April birthdates of two of the most tyrannical dictators of the 20th century lightly — Adolf Hitler was born April 20, 1889, and Vladimir Lenin was born April 22, 1871. Between these two men, most of European and world civilization was distorted beyond recognition. Their ideology was so rooted in the removal of God from society, it never returned to the place it was prior to their takeovers. The impact of the evil they brought on still affects the population of the world.

Their workings and legacies are the foundation of what properly manipulated masses can be brought to. How the originally seemingly innocent and poorly informed people, who expected idealistic outcomes, allowed themselves to be prolifically controlled is a fairly recent historical study case that no one really bothers to study.

Both Lenin and Hitler, though of different prongs of theoretical socialism, practiced it in eerily similar ways, by extermination of perceived enemies of their movements, expropriating their wealth, interning them in concentration camps while nationalizing resources, expanding territorial and dictatorial domination through wars and terror, and establishing instant gratification programs where each citizen willingly denounced their undesirable neighbors.

The list of such and other preventative and re-educational measures for the proliferation of what they each deemed ‘social justice’ is long. Their biographers study their personas, often focusing on the cause and effect of their philosophies and values.

One such biographer is the notorious Holocaust denier David Irving. You know of him largely in connection with Deborah Lipstadt’s lawsuit and the Hollywood movie, “Denial.” This April also marks 10 years since I interviewed him face-to-face and had him authenticate our rendezvous by having him sell me his book, “A Hitler’s War,” and take a photo of the two of us with it.

I since came to consider that interview day to be the most important workday of my life. You can hear my account of it in the WGCU program I did back then. After surviving my initial shell-shock reaction of the proximity to and interactions with Irving, having spoken about it and shown some clips at various presentations, we put together an idea for a documentary film, but never pursued it because Holocaust denial is a harsh, draining material to work with and I hesitated in fear.

Then, the Oct. 7 massacre and resultant surge in worldwide antisemitism moved this project up my personal and Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida (JHSSWF) priority lists. On Jan. 27, after decades of delaying, I finally sat down to watch the 9-hour-long documentary, “Shoah,” and it empowered my resolve.

If Claude Lanzmann did it, so can I — and so can you, and all of us. Together, we are strong.

Please help us fund the denier documentary project so we can expose why seemingly ordinary people choose to be vile antisemites.

Stay historically informed through us

Our second local Jewish History Film Festival continues at the Nina Iser Jewish Cultural Center on Friday, April 5 at 11 a.m. and Thursday, April 9 at 2 p.m. It is free for members, but you must register. Non-members can buy film tickets for only $9 at jhsswf.org.

Your generosity helps us in our research, future films and presentations. Donate online, by mail or contact us at office@jhsswf.org. Sign up for a membership to receive announcements, reminders and news. To sponsor Goldstein’s new composition recording, please reach out to us directly. We can be reached at The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida, 8805 Tamiami Trail North, Suite # 255, Naples FL 34108, 833-547-7935 (833-JHS-SWFL) www.jhsswf.org, office@jhsswf.org.

The Jewish Historical Society of Southwest Florida is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. Contributions are deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.