Ernst Nolte

[Robert]

-----Original Message-----
From: Spencer Thiel <spen at fictiondepartment.com>
To: Pynchon List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Date: 23 czerwca 2000 22:02
Subject: Re: Ernst Nolte


>Am I the only one freaked out about all this?  Write a paper with such and
>such a thesis, and get dismissed?  Since when has history been
>objective?

I wouldn't say it's wholly subjective and whimsical, either. How about
historical
facts? They get interpreted, sure, but nevertheless they are established
facts. Sometimes it's hard to draw the line, I agree, especially if someone
like Nolte cunningly avoids crossing the border-line between interpretation
and
falsification. But should we really make it hush-hush?The Polish case is
very
clear to me. This guy denied the facts:
we have Auschwitz records, witnesses and extant extermination
infrastracture. Hard evidence not to be refuted in any courtroom. He's a
damned liar! Do you
really think he should still be called "historian" and accepted as such
by his former professional colleagues? Do you really think he should
continue enjoying all the academy-related privileges (prestige, credibility
etc.)? And that would be the case, hadn't he
been fired. His right to free speech wasn't violated, as he is still in
position to voice his views. But he can't
do it ex cathedra any more, using (or abusing) his academy as the validator
of his mumbo-jumbo. Firstly, I do believe the university has right to
preserve its scholarly reputation. Secondly, the university is responsible
for the
quality of its learning. Hadn't the guy been kicked out, he'd be teaching
students this very moment, which I find objectionable, if not wholly
unthinkable.
Thirdly, such a dismissal seems to be an important message to the public who
are laity after all, as we all are in every field except our own.

What I am so frightened by is that Holocaust scholars on both
>sides of the coin are handcuffed by the reactions of the ruling academic
>class (and by public opinion).

Agreed, they are, but that's life, isn't it? It always comes down to one's
integrity. They are under pressure as any judge who is
supposed to give a just verdict, when the public want death.


Academics should be free to write about
>exactly what they want.


Or free to write what they think is right and be responsible for it. I view
these dismissals as a part of their responsibility. You seem to defend
scholarly independence, but that's precisely what these people are
undermining! They are politically motivated. You might even say they've been
"commissioned" to produce such and such "scholarly" results. In both
cases (Nolte's and the Polish historian's) it is a way to achieve specific
political goals.



If they come to conclusions that aren't in
>agreement with the current paradigms in their respective fields, it is
>likely that their work will get ignored.  If they continue to produce work
>like this, then they serve no purpose to their institutions and are
>expendable.  However, the quick dismissals give these scholars way more
>exposure and press then they would ever have received from their original
>work, and thus martyrs the dismissed academics and their cause.

How quick is quick for you? Here, the said university authorities first
suspended the guy from teaching, then
investigated the case, read the book  reviewed it and concluded his
writings were in glaring disagreement with established facts (I think the
wording was: "historical truth") and of no scholarly value. Thus he was
found "expendable", to use your parlance. And I don't think indifference for
fear of crowds of pilgrims bringing flowers to his grave is a good
tactics. It is a mistake.
>
>But this is a situation that is far removed from the original Ernst Nolte
>story.  Somehow his work hasn't been ignored (at least by the Christian
>Democratic Party).  But how is it that 'one of Germany's most prestigious
>literary prizes' is given by a group that is associated with the far right
>anyway?  The problem seems to be that political interests have gained
>strongholds both inside and outside the German institutions and are
>superseding the academic institutions by legitimizing works that fit in
>with their political agenda.  They are the real criminals, not the
>historians who wittingly or not serve their cause.
>- st.


Right, but then I see these dismissals as endeavours on the part of
universities to protect and retain their scholarly independence. No?
Politicians want to
make the whole world political, as that would allow them to call the shots
in every issue, but let's face it, it's some scholars who are venal here.





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