Nolte and Revisionism in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XIX

Nolte and Revisionism

Gutman’s response follows the development of Nolte’s views on Nazism and the Holocaust through his writings published between 1963 and 1987. He states that in the 1970s Nolte’s growing scholarly output began to show signs of his tendency to offer biased and erroneous assessments, buttressed by dubious historical analogies. Nolte’s major arguments are analyzed, mainly three: that the atrocities perpetrated by Nazi Germany cannot be considered as unique; that the Nazi persecutions of the Jews were not devoid of a basis in reality and can even be traced to provocations by the Jews; and the need for the “historicization” or the “relativization” of National Socialism. Gutman quotes from Nolte’s works, pointing to the errors and bias of his views, which are close to those of Holocaust deniers.