Expert reports for the defence

The defendants submitted six expert reports after the court ruled on December 15, 1998 that each side could call expert historians and political scientists. Four address the historical record. They cover the shootings and gassings, whether the killing was systematic, Hitler's role, and Irving's right-wing connections. Evans examined Irving's methods as a historian, and van Pelt examined the architecture of Auschwitz. The reports are reproduced in full, retaining the paragraph numbering and footnotes of the original submissions.

Electronic edition PDF: all six reports
1,552 pages · 4.0 MB

1. Evidence for the Implementation of the Final Solution

   Christopher R. Browning

   The evidence for the shooting operations on Soviet territory after June 1941, the gassing operations at Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka, the Wannsee Conference, and Operation Reinhard.

   120 numbered paragraphs in 5 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 54 pages · 143 KB

2. David Irving, Hitler and Holocaust Denial

   Richard J. Evans

   Evans examines Lipstadt's allegations, that Irving is a discredited historian, a Holocaust denier, a manipulator of documents, and an apologist for Hitler, against Irving's books and printed speech texts.

   1,367 numbered paragraphs in 6 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 575 pages · 1.3 MB

3. David Irving, Holocaust Denial, and his Connections to Right Wing Extremists and Neo-National Socialism (Neo-Nazism) in Germany

   Hajo Funke

   The allegation that Irving allied himself with representatives of extremist and antisemitic groups. Maps Irving's appearances at NPD, DVU and Association for Free Journalism events.

   370 numbered paragraphs in 8 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 115 pages · 303 KB

4. Hitler's Role in the Persecution of the Jews by the Nazi Regime

   Heinz Peter Longerich (first of two reports)

   Argues from the body of documents that Hitler was the moving force behind the persecution and murder of European Jewry, against Irving's assertion that no written order for it ever existed.

   305 numbered paragraphs in 24 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 68 pages · 189 KB

5. The Systematic Character of the National Socialist Policy for the Extermination of the Jews

   Heinz Peter Longerich (second of two reports)

   Argues that the policy was systematic, not the sum of local initiatives, against Irving's assertion that the killings on the Eastern Front were unauthorised excesses.

   249 numbered paragraphs in 6 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 79 pages · 211 KB

6. The Van Pelt Report

   Robert Jan van Pelt

   Van Pelt's architectural and forensic report on Auschwitz-Birkenau was examined across days 9 to 11 and cited again at closing. It addresses Crematoria 2 and 3, the Leichenkeller, roof apertures, the Vrba-Wetzler report, and the chemistry of Zyklon B.

   257 numbered paragraphs in 4 sections.

   Electronic edition PDF · 660 pages · 1.5 MB