Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 10:26:32 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: MT: Goldhagen in news?



This is bizarre. I've heard of author's resentment of bad publicity, but
going to court seems a bit extreme. 

The Goldhagen book is worthless. I think Noeman Finkelstein has utterly
demolsihed it in New Left Review. 

I wouldn't call G a "racist": he doesn't think Germans are a "race" and
among his many inconsistencies is the claim that after a 1000 years of
pathological Jew Hating the post war Generaton of Germans are mysteriously
free of it. I think "idiot" is a more correct term than "racist." (So sue
me, Dan!)

--Justin

On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, Jukka Laari wrote:

> Ciao! 
> 
> Has anyone heard of the "case Goldhagen" recently? I did: 
> 
> This morning I saw part of an interview of historian Hans-Ulrich 
> Wehler in "Kulturzeit" (a culture program of "3Sat", satellite/cable 
> channel). Neo-racist Daniel Goldhagen, author of "Hitler's Willing 
> Executioners", had sued his critic! She had apparently showed some 
> inconsistensies in DG's book. Wehler was stunned; after over 50 
> scientific critiques Goldhagen decides to sue this particular critic. 
> 
> Wehler also wondered that Goldhagen's book was somehow alien piece of 
> publicity right from the start: it's a dissertation in politology, 
> examined by two politologists and one political economist, none of 
> them had done research on nazi period; original university publisher 
> gave up of publishing the book which finally was approved by 
> commercial publisher; book got wide publicity before it appeared into 
> bookstores, and it finally became a commercial success both in North 
> America and Europe. All that despite that book was, according to 
> Wehler, full of errors. He called the situation scandalous, 'minimal 
> scientific standards should be fulfilled'. And now Goldhagen tries to 
> deny the criticism by using the law - that has happened never before 
> in US or Germany, according to Wehler. 
> 
> How this all should be understood? Has anyone more info on that? 
> 
> Yours, Jukka L