The Holocaust on Trial

I just watched this film on PBS, and as always, my mind was boggled by the ability of a nation to perform such atrocities. Almost as bad were the distorted arguments of David Irving. The film took the (correct) slant of being anti-holocaust denier. However, I felt that this slant sometimes got in the way of the educational value of the film. It seemed to be preaching to the choir, as opposed to trying to convince other deniers of their own flawed reasoning. I also felt that the audience would have been better served if we could have seen some of the effects of the trial on the denier movement, if any. Instead, the narrator just summed it up as "and now arguments of holocaust-deniers have no weight."

I want to start by saying I immerse myself in political content broadly, and have seen a thousand David Irving in their various forms. It is clear he is vile but cunning, knowing it is better to cast doubt to a broader audience than to deal with the obvious conclusions borne out by the evidence. However, the documentary and script is edited in such a way that the arguments are often presented, I would argue mostly convincingly, against Irving's hair splitting and denials, but frequently gives Irving the final word on each segment. It does some great work explaining the scholarship on these subjects, but it is not constant enough. Another review here said it preaches to the choir rather than attempt to argue to another potential denier, which I wholeheartedly agree with. A Nazi watching this will undoubtedly believe this portrays Irving in a positive light. The direction did not consider this viewpoint adamantly enough, which I personally believe should have been the foremost consideration. Yes, some will always come down on the wrong side, but it is the duty of the filmmakers to keep those on the fence from ever seeing a reason to sympathize with a Denier such as Irving on such an important topic.

Worth a watch, but disappointing.