News
Stop Denial
Holocaust denial is not just a lie. It is a tool of ideological hatred, spread today primarily through social media. Its aim is the systematic erasure of the truth about the greatest crime in the history of Europe. Thanks to the new “Stop Denial” tool, everyone can now easily take meaningful action to defend historical truth and the dignity of the victims of Auschwitz.
“A decade or two ago, few people would have dared look Holocaust Survivors in the eyes and coldly claim that all their testimonies were lies. Today, there are very few of them left. And so antisemitic, xenophobic, and populist voices grow louder, trying to profit from lies. Let us show that we are greater in number, that truth is stronger. Together, we can stop their hateful words,” said Dr. Piotr M. A. Cywiński, Director of the Museum and initiator of the “Stop Denial” campaign.
On the dedicated “Stop Denial” website: stopdenial.auschwitz.org, we have prepared a collection of materials that clearly debunk the most common lies propagated by deniers regarding the history of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz.
The assembled documents, photographs, eyewitness accounts, and historical research results demonstrate, step by step, the nature of these falsehoods and manipulations. They equip anyone with tools to respond effectively and accurately to Holocaust denial.
“Fighting deniers online is extremely difficult work, because those who deny the Holocaust ignore all available facts and endlessly repeat the same lies. Their goal is not the search for truth, but the desecration of the memory of the victims,” said Dr. Igor Bartosik of the Museum’s Research Center, author of the online lesson on denialist strategies which served as the foundation for the “Stop Denial” campaign.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
1. If you come across an attempt to deny the truth about the Holocaust on social media—do not stay silent. You may not convince the denier, but remember: others see and read their lies.
2. Go to stopdenial.auschwitz.org website and find the topic that directly refutes the post or comment you encountered.
3. Paste a link to our prepared response underneath that post.
4. If none of our published topics match the denialist claim you found, let us know using the provided form. We will try to prepare answers to the most frequently recurring new lies.
The special website currently provides analysis of fourteen topics, including the following denialist claims:
“There is no mention of extermination in official documentation about Auschwitz,”
“Zyklon B was used only for disinfection,”
“The crematoria could not have burned so many bodies,”
“The chimney at Crematorium I could not have worked because it was not connected to the building,”
“There were no openings in gas chambers II and III through which Zyklon B could have been introduced,”
“The International Red Cross raised no objections after visiting the camp.”
“This website will be regularly expanded in the future. So if you come across denial content online that we haven’t yet addressed, please report it. That way, we can keep improving our online materials. Only through collective effort can we oppose the falsification of history and the spread of hatred,” emphasized Paweł Sawicki of the Museum’s Press Office.
In addition to the online lesson on strategies used by Holocaust deniers, the “On Auschwitz” podcast series includes a conversation on this subject featuring Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz and Dr. Igor Bartosik.
