Holocaust on Trial

Last year, British historian and Holocaust denier David Irving had to defend himself against a libel case in a British court brought by American scholar Deborah Lipstadt. To those who followed the trial, it quickly became clear that, far beyond the truthfulness and integrity of one historian, the battle in this quiet courtroom really revolved around the archived historical materials long believed to provide concrete proof that the Nazis had ruthlessly planned and carried out their "final solution" of genocide against millions of Jews and others. Even though Irving was declared an active Holocaust denier who had wrongfully manipulated historical evidence, with the amassed weight of Holocaust evidence, it remains a bit unsettling that a trial was even necessary. In this entry from the acclaimed NOVA series, dramatic reenactments of the courtroom proceedings are interwoven with graphic, often disturbing footage of actual Nazi atrocities, as the program traces the history of the Holocaust against the background of a bizarre legal case. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (E. Smith)