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Public Lecture by Deborah Lipstadt - History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving

March 4, 2015

4:30 PM - 6:00 PM

Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons

Contact: Megan McLean

Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt is Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. Her most recent book THE EICHMANN TRIAL published by Nextbook and Schocken Books, received excellent reviews. Her earlier book HISTORY ON TRIAL: MY DAY IN COURT WITH A HOLOCAUST DENIER (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2005) is the story of her libel trial in London against David Irving who sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier and right wing extremist. The trial was described by the Daily Telegraph (London) as having "done for the new century what the Nuremberg tribunals or the Eichmann trial did for earlier generations." The Times (London) described it as "history has had its day in court and scored a crushing victory." The judge found David Irving to be a Holocaust denier, a falsifier of history, a racist, an anti-Semite, and a liar. Her legal battle with Irving lasted approximately five years. According to the New York Times, the trial "put an end to the pretense that Mr. Irving is anything but a self-promoting apologist for Hitler." In July 2001 the Court of Appeal resoundingly rejected Irving’s attempt to appeal the judgment against him.

Her book DENYING THE HOLOCAUST: THE GROWING ASSAULT ON TRUTH AND MEMORY (Free Press/Macmillan, 1993), is the first full length study of those who attempt to deny the Holocaust. It was the subject of simultaneous front page reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The book has been published in Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand

Lipstadt was an historical consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and helped design the section of the Museum dedicated to the American Response to the Holocaust. She was appointed by President Clinton to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council on which she served two terms. She was a member of its Executive Committee of the Council and chaired the Educational Committee and Academic Committee of the Holocaust Museum. Dr. Lipstadt has been called upon by members of the United States Congress to consult on political responses to Holocaust denial. From 1996 through 1999 she served as a member of the United States State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. In this capacity she, together with a small group of leaders and scholars, advised Secretary of State Madeline Albright on matters of religious persecution abroad.

Dr. Lipstadt has also written BEYOND BELIEF: THE AMERICAN PRESS AND THE COMING OF THE HOLOCAUST (Free Press/MacMillan, 1986, 1993). The book, an examination of how the American press covered the news of the persecution of European Jewry between the years 1933 and 1945, addresses the question "what did the American public know and when did they know it?"

She has taught at UCLA and Occidental College in Los Angeles. She received her B.A. from City College of New York and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Brandeis University. Professor Lipstadt is frequently called upon by the media to comment on a variety of matters. She has appeared on CNN, Sixty Minutes, Today Show, Good Morning America, NPR’s Fresh Air, the BBC, Charlie Rose Show, and is a frequent contributor to and is widely quoted in a variety of newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and the New York Times.

She has received numerous teaching awards including Emory's student government association's award for being the teacher most likely to motivate students to learn about new and unfamiliar topics and the Emory Williams award, for her courses on modern Jewish and Holocaust studies. Given to Emory's outstanding teachers, the award is based on nominations by alumni of the professor who has had the greatest impact on them. She has received an Honorary Doctorate from Ohio Wesleyan, Yeshiva University, Bar Ilan University, and Hebrew Union College. The Forward named her number two on its list of the “Forward Fifty”: the fifty top Jewish newsmakers for the year 2000.

This event is sponsored by W&L Hillel, the German Law Journal, the Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA) and the History Department.

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