1994
Deborah Lipstadt is a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of Georgia and has just published a critical book on Holocaust’s deniers, mostly against British writer and Holocaust opinionist David Irwing, who’s the principal and greater supporter of the thesis that the Holocaust actually never happened.
Deborah Lipstadt is a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of Georgia and has just published a critical book on Holocaust’s deniers, mostly against British writer and Holocaust opinionist David Irwing, who’s the principal and greater supporter of the thesis that the Holocaust actually never happened.
After a first discussion between the two, in 1996 Irwing sues Lipstadt for libel at the Royal Courts of Justice and that’s where the first obstacle appears: in the USA it’s the accusatory part that has to prove what claimed is the truth while in England is the other
way around: the accused have to prove those claims are wrong.
Deborah decides to hire Anthony Julius, a lawyer famous for being a ruthless one, and Richard Repton, who will be the chief lawyer of the defense. David Irwing decides to defend himself.
The trial lasts from 1998 to 2000, a period of time
where both parts showed their motivations and tried to discredit each other.
After historian Richard Evans testified against Iriwing, he showed up with the
“Loichter” report, that states “no human being died in
Auschwitz”. The trail takes more time and funds than expected and Deborah sometimes feels overwhelmed by all the mediatic attentions, but she finds the strength to keep on moving.
The judge deliberates on Deborah’s side on April, 11th 2000, with the utmost joy of the entire Jewish community in London and worldwide. Irwing, thou, won’t change his mind and will stick with his ideas…
My Opinion👍👎
This trail is the first in its genre and what I liked about the movie is the successful combination of historical and legal genre, emphasizing its importance, the pressure to which Deborah was subjected, and Irwing's blind convictions.
Over the year the process became the go-to whenever anyone denies the historicity and actual occurrence of the Holocaust...which, unfortunately, happened again.
Over the year the process became the go-to whenever anyone denies the historicity and actual occurrence of the Holocaust...which, unfortunately, happened again.
The movie balances the Holocaust theme with the actual protagonist: the trail. Deborah's character is to take a role model: a woman who's determined and ready to do anything to assert a truth often questioned.
This is a beautiful film, perfect for the
International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Ph: impawards.com
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