Holocaust denial facts for kids

Countries with laws against Holocaust denial

Holocaust denial is the idea that The Holocaust never happened, or that it was not as terrible as most people believe. During World War II, the Nazis killed millions of people. This included many people in concentration camps. History experts agree that the Holocaust happened. They say there is more proof about the Holocaust than any other large-scale killing of people. This proof includes writings, pictures, and physical places.

People who deny the Holocaust often call themselves Holocaust revisionists. They use this term to make their ideas sound like real history. They claim the Holocaust is a made-up story by Jewish people working together. Many countries in Europe, especially Germany, have laws against denying the Holocaust.

What Do Holocaust Deniers Claim?

People who deny the Holocaust often make these claims:

• They say the Nazi government only wanted to move Jewish people, not kill them. They claim there was no official Nazi plan to kill Jews. They also say no Nazi leader ever ordered the killing of all Jews.
• They say the Nazis did not use death camps or gas chambers to kill Jewish people.
• History experts agree that the Nazis killed about 5 to 6 million Jewish people. Holocaust deniers say far fewer Jews died. They also claim many victims died from diseases, like typhus, not from being murdered by the Nazis.

Holocaust denial also includes these ideas:

• They claim that during World War II, the Allies made up fake stories about the Holocaust. They say this was to make Germans look bad. Then, they say, Jewish people spread these fake stories. They claim this was part of a plan to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine. They also say these stories are still spread to get sympathy and support for the country of Israel.
• They claim that evidence about the Holocaust is fake.
• They say there are mistakes and differences in stories told by Holocaust survivors. Because of this, they claim these stories cannot be trusted.
• Many Nazis confessed to war crimes after being captured. Holocaust deniers say these confessions were not true. They claim these people were forced to say things.
• They also claim the Allies treated enemy prisoners of war as badly as the Nazis treated Jewish people.

Why Historians Say the Holocaust Happened

Evidence includes the words of Sonderkommando members like these.

History experts worldwide agree that the Holocaust truly happened. They say that Holocaust deniers use poor research, misunderstand facts, and sometimes invent information to support their claims.

Many different types of proof show that the Holocaust did happen:

• Written documents: These include Nazi laws, newspaper articles from that time, speeches by Nazi leaders, and confessions from captured Nazi prisoners. The Nazis kept very careful records, and many of these records still exist today.
• Eyewitness stories: People who saw what the Nazis did have shared their experiences. This includes people who survived the Nazi concentration camps. It also includes Jewish Sonderkommandos (camp prisoners who helped move bodies from gas chambers). Their work gave them a chance to survive. Nazi leaders, camp guards, and Allied soldiers who found the camps also shared their stories.
• The camps themselves: Parts of Nazi concentration camps, death camps, and work camps still exist today. These places are physical proof of what happened.
• Other evidence: This includes things like population statistics that show the huge loss of Jewish lives.

Related Topics

• Nazi concentration camps and death camps
• Anti-Semitism
• Willis Carto (an American who denied the Holocaust)

Images for kids

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  Members of a Sonderkommando 1005 unit pose next to a bone-crushing machine in the Janowska concentration camp (photo taken in August 1944, after camp's liberation).

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  United States Army clerks with evidence collected for the Nuremberg trials

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  Protest in Brazil against former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticising his Holocaust denial

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  Jewish World Population without Holocaust (mln people) by Sergio Della Pergola

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  Countries where Holocaust denial is illegal

See also

In Spanish: Negacionismo del Holocausto para niños