The Holocaust Industry

The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein which argues that an "industry" has exploited the memory of the Holocaust to further Jewish and Israeli interests, and has corrupted the Jewish culture and Jewish heritage of Judaism as well as the history of the Holocaust.

Content of the book

Many of the book's specific charges are hotly disputed:

• That various parties are exploiting of the tragedy of the Holocaust for political and financial gain.
• That some attempts to redress the grievances of Jewish Holocaust victims have been dishonest.
• That some agencies claiming to represent Holocaust survivors in reparations suits have kept cash payments due the survivors.
• That many American Jews are not practicing Judaism but have replaced it with a dogma of fund-raising for Jewish causes.

In response, the book's critics argue that the reason for a delay in the distribution of compensation by Swiss banks is that United States courts have yet to decide on a method of distribution, not any attempt at withholding the funds.

A new, expanded edition of the book has been published. In the foreword to this edition Finkelstein writes:

My concern in this book is not at all Swiss bankers or, for that matter, German industrialists. Rather, it is restoring the integrity of the historical record and the sanctity of the Jewish people's martyrdom. I deplore the Holocaust industry's corruption of history and memory in the service of an extortion racket.

Reviews and critiques

The critical response has been varied. Some view it as "a breath of fresh air", and praise him for "speaking truth to power"[1] (http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=26). Others have said that he misrepresents history, and that he promotes anti-Semitic stereoypes. A number of prominent historians have denounced the book in harsh terms, though few have written detailed reviews.[2] (http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=3&ar=11)

Raul Hilberg, a distinguished Holocaust historian, says of The Holocaust Industry:

When I read Finkelstein's book, The Holocaust Industry, at the time of its appearance, I was in the middle of my own investigations of these matters, and I came to the conclusion that he was on the right track. I refer now to the part of the book that deals with the claims against the Swiss banks, and the other claims pertaining to forced labor. I would now say in retrospect that he was actually conservative, moderate and that his conclusions are trustworthy. He is a well-trained political scientist, has the ability to do the research, did it carefully, and has come up with the right results. I am by no means the only one who, in the coming months or years, will totally agree with Finkelstein's breakthrough.

Omer Bartov, Professor of History and European History at Brown University:

What I find so striking about "The Holocaust Industry" is that it is almost an exact copy of the arguments it seeks to expose. It is filled with precisely the kind of shrill hyperbole that Finkelstein rightly deplores in much of the current media hype over the Holocaust; it is brimming with the same indifference to historical facts, inner contradictions, strident politics and dubious contextualizations; and it oozes with the same smug sense of moral and intellectual superiority.

This book is, in a word, an ideological fanatic's view of other people's opportunism, by a writer so reckless and ruthless in his attacks that he is prepared to defend his own enemies, the bastions of Western capitalism, and to warn that "The Holocaust" will stir up an anti-Semitism whose significance he otherwise discounts. Like any conspiracy theory, it contains several grains of truth; and like any such theory, it is both irrational and insidious. Finkelstein can now be said to have founded a Holocaust industry of his own.[3] (http://www.anti-rev.org/textes/Bartov00a/index.html)

Andrew Ross reviewed (http://edition.cnn.com/2000/books/reviews/09/06/salon.review.holocaust/) the book in Salon magazine and says about Finkelstein:

On the issue of reparations, he barely acknowledges the wrongs committed by the Swiss and German institutions — the burying of Jewish bank accounts, the use of slave labor — that gave rise to the recent reparations drive. The fear that the reparations will not wind up in the hands of those who need and deserve them most is a legitimate concern. But the idea that survivors have been routinely swindled by Jewish institutions is a gross distortion. The chief reason why survivors have so far seen nothing of the $1.25 billion Swiss settlement, reached in 1998, is that U.S. courts have yet to rule on a method of distribution. On other reparations and compensation settlements, the Claims Conference, a particular bete noire of Finkelstein, says that it distributed approximately $220 million to individual survivors in 1999 alone.

Finkelstein responds to his critics in the foreword to the second edition:

Apart from an abundance of ad hominem slurs, criticism of my book has fallen largely into two categories. Mainstream critics allege that I conjured a "conspiracy theory" while those on the Left ridicule the book as a defense of "the banks". None, so far as I can tell, question my actual findings.

See also: Finkelstein's biography for more controversies surrounding both the book and his related statements.