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 Posted Sunday, July 7, 2002


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Kershaw Mr. Kershaw said he dismissed the idea of interviewing surviving members of the Nazi regime, including one of Hitler's secretaries, Traudl Junge, who was still alive. 'I didn't want to be involved with those people with their trite memories,' he said. -- New York Times, Monday, March 19, 2001

Hitler's WarSeveral correspondents have asked whether Prof. Ian Kershaw in his new bestseller "Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis" (W.W. Norton) over-relies on David Irving's standard biography Hitler's War We invite readers comments on this puzzle. [Mail us]

 

 

de Standaard

[Largest Dutch-language newspaper in Belgium]

November 23, 2000

 

Jorn de Cock: «Bij uw bronnenmateriaal valt op dat u geregeld moet verwijzen naar David Irving, de beruchte Britse holocaustontkenner. Stoort dat u niet?

Ik heb bewust niets van Irving gebruikt zonder daarbij eerst de bronnen te checken die Irving zelf had gebruikt. Maar Irving is een zeer goede verzamelaar van bronnen - hij is een uitstekend archiefdepot, maar geen goede historicus.

Fundamenteel hebben we een probleem: de held van zijn boeken is Hitler, bij mij is die een negatief figuur. En zeker wat de Endlösung betreft: er speelden natuurlijk tal van factoren mee, maar Hitlers cruciale rol bij de uitroeiing van de joden heb ik nooit in vraag gesteld. Zonder Hitler geen holocaust. Irving houdt Hitler ver weg van alle schuld.

 

Jorn de Cock: Among your references ,it's striking that you regularly HAVE to cite David Irving the disreputable British Holocaust denier. Does this disturb you ?

KershawKershaw: I have on purpose not used anything from Irving without first checking the sources that Irving uses himself. But it must be said that Irving is a very good gatherer of material -- he is an excellent archivist, but no good historian.

We basically have a problem : the hero of his books is Hitler, in mine he is a negative figure. And as far as the Endlösung is concerned: obviously a wealth of factors are involved, but I have never questioned the crucial role of Hitler in the Ausrottung of the Jews. Without Hitler there is no holocaust. Irving places Hitler far away from any guilt.

Jorn de Cock: « U bent ook de eerste Hitler-biograaf die structureel gebruik maakt van de Goebbels-dagboeken. Zijn die betrouwbaar als bron?

,,Bepaalde uittreksels uit die dagboeken waren al langer bekend, maar de volledige dagboeken zijn pas door Moskou vrijgegeven na het einde van de Koude Oorlog. Het voordeel ervan is dat Goebbels bijna dagelijks in Hitlers aanwezigheid was. Je krijgt dus een lopende commentaar op Hitlers activiteiten gedurende jaren.''

,,Cruciaal is bij voorbeeld Goebbels commentaar op de Reichskristallnacht [de eerste grote pogrom op de Duitse joden, JDC] in november '38. Goebbels schrijft daarin: 'Ik leg de zaken aan de Führer voor, hij beslist. Trek de politie terug, laat de demonstraties doorgaan, laat de joden het volle gewicht van de Duitse woede voelen.' Uit andere bronnen is zoiets niet bekend.'' »

Jorn de Cock: You are also the first biographer of Hitler to make structural (?) use of the Goebbels diaries. Are these reliable sources ?

Kershaw: Certain passages from the diaries were already known for some time, but the complete diaries have just been released by Moscow after the end of the Cold War. The avantage of these diaries is that Goebbels was in contact (present) with Hitler on an almost daily basis. You thus get a running commentary on Hitler's activities during years. "

Goebbel's commentary on the Reichskristallnacht [the first large pogrom against the German Jews] in November 38 is, for instance, of crucial importance. Goebbels writes : 'I presented the matter to the Führer, he decided. Pull the police out, let the protest continue, let the Jews feel the full weight of the German wrath.' This kind of information is not found in any other source."


Libération

[One of the leading new left French dailies]
December 7, 2000

 

http://www.liberation.fr/livres/2000dec/0712kershaw.html

Recueilli par
OLIVIER WIEVIORKA

 

«Les livres sur le Führer ne manquent pas... [KERSHAW : ]J'espère, malgré les travaux de mes prédécesseurs, avoir pporté du neuf. D'abord, en utilisant pour la première fois l'intégralité du Journal tenu par Goebbels. Ensuite, parce que j'ai bénéficié des récentes avancées historiographiques, par exemple sur le génocide - point que les biographies plus anciennes abordaient peu. J'ai, enfin, proposé une nouvelle approche fondée sur le concept de «pouvoir charismatique» qui permet - du moins je l'espère - de mieux comprendre le lien unissant Hitler à la société allemande. »

 

«Books on the Führer are aplenty...

[Kershaw:] I hope, despite the works of my predecessors to have brought something new. First of all, by my using for the first time the whole of the Goebbels diaries. Second, because I have been able to benefit from recent progress in historiography, for instance on the genocide -- an issue that earlier biographies barely touched upo. And lastly, I have proposed a new approach founded on the concept of the "charismatic power" which allows one -- at least I hope so -- better to grasp the bond that united Hitler to German society.

diaries in boxes

 

 

Picture on right: The original unopened boxes of Goebbels diaries microfiches on the desk in the Moscow archives, photographed by David Irving, 1992
 

 

Related items on this website:

Dossier: Under ADL pressure, St Martin's Press violates its contract to publish David Irving's best-selling Goebbels biography
Free download, Millenium edition of David Irving: Hitler's War
 Other David Irving free book downloads
 

Reviews of Prof. Kershaw's books:

N Y Times, Dec 10, 2000: "In Volume II of his biography, Ian Kershaw shows that Hitler had the perfect personality for a cult leader"
The Observer, Oct 15, 2000: "Ian Kershaw reveals a Führer who was a clinically insane monster but a dull amateur with bad breath in Hitler 1936-45"
The Times, Sep 27, 2000: Hitler's last days: Hitler screamed: "You have all betrayed me"
New York Times, March 19, 2001: "After 10 Years With Hitler, a Biographer Declares His Liberation."
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