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The research examines how Holocaust denial emerged in postwar France and its implications for far-right ideologies.

June 14, 2026

The Construction of the Holocaust Denial Argument and the French Far Right in the Postwar Period : The Emergence of ‘Historical Revisionism’

Key Points

The research examines how Holocaust denial emerged in postwar France and its implications for far-right ideologies.
Analyzed letters and works of Maurice Bardèche, particularly his books on the Nuremberg Trials and Holocaust denial.
Explored the evolution of the term ‘historical revisionism’ in relation to far-right rhetoric in France.
Documented the legal consequences faced by Bardèche for advocating Holocaust denial.
Bardèche's writings laid the groundwork for the Holocaust denial discourse in France.
Holocaust denial was rebranded as ‘historical revisionism’ by French far-right thinkers.
The discourse gained traction in media and intellectual circles, influencing public perceptions.

Abstract

After the Second World War, a discourse of Holocaust denial formulated by Maurice Bardèche began to emerge. In a letter to François Mauriac, Bardèche contended that the postwar purge of collaborators was unjust and that collaboration with Germany had been, in certain circumstances, unavoidable. He also regarded the Nuremberg Trials as biased, on the grounds that the victorious Allied powers were unlikely to administer fair treatment to the defeated nations. From this perspective, he wrote Nuremberg, or the Promised Land, to call for a revision of the grounds for conviction in the war crimes trials. But, he was convicted of advocating crimes against humanity and was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 50,000 francs for this book. Nevertheless, he subsequently wrote Nuremberg II, or the Counterfeiters, in which he developed an even more elaborate argument for Holocaust denial. His “Defense of murder” trilogy laid the foundation for Holocaust denial discourse. His ideas then circulated in the media and extended beyond academic circles. French far-right intellectuals later described Holocaust denial as ‘historical revisionism’, a term later redefined as négationnisme by Henri Rousso.

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