Arthur R. Butz is an associate professor of

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and a

Holocaust denier Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: * ...

, best known as the author of the

pseudohistorical Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudohi ...

book ''

The Hoax of the Twentieth Century ''The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry'' is a book by Northwestern University electrical engineering professor and Holocaust denier Arthur Butz. The book was originally published in 1975 ...

''. He achieved

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

in 1974 and currently teaches classes in control system theory and

digital signal processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...

Education and career

Butz attended the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

from which he received both his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and, in 1956, his

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degrees. In 1965, he received his PhD from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. His doctoral dissertation considered a problem in

control engineering Control engineering or control systems engineering is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with desired behaviors in control environments. The discipline of controls o ...

Holocaust denial

In 1976, Butz published '' The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry'', an

antisemitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

, pseudohistorical book which argues that the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

was a propaganda hoax.Noami Schaefer Riley, ''The Faculty Lounges and Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Paid For'', Lanham, Maryland: Ivan R. Dee, 2011, p. 33 From 1980 to 2001, Butz was on the editorial board of the ''

Journal of Historical Review The ''Journal of Historical Review'' was a non-peer reviewed, pseudoacademic periodical focused on advancing Holocaust denial. It was published by the Institute for Historical Review (IHR), based in Torrance, California. It ran quarterly from 19 ...

'', a publication of the Institute for Historical Review, a Holocaust-denying organization.

Faculty reaction

Butz's Holocaust denial sparked an outrage among the Northwestern University's faculty and community, after the existence of the book was disclosed by ''

The Daily Northwestern ''The Daily Northwestern'' is the student newspaper at Northwestern University which is published in print on Mondays and Thursdays and online daily during the academic year. Founded in 1881, and printed in Evanston, Illinois, it is staffed primar ...

'' in 1977. His views were also criticized by

Robert H. Strotz Robert Henry Strotz (September 26, 1922 – November 9, 1994) was an American economist who served as the 13th President of Northwestern University from 1970 to 1984. During his tenure, Northwestern grew in terms of faculty and student, "made cap ...

, Northwestern University's then-president at the time of the book's publication. In 1997, Butz drew further criticism after using the university's Internet domain to publish his views. In 2006, sixty of Butz's colleagues from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science faculty signed a censure describing Butz's Holocaust denial as "an affront to our humanity and our standards as scholars". The letter also called for Butz to "leave our Department and our University and stop trading on our reputation for academic excellence." University President Henry Bienen issued a statement condemning Butz' Holocaust denial, but noted that tenure and academic freedom protected Butz from dismissal as he had kept his denialism separate from his work as an instructor.

Debunking

According to the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, "some Holocaust deniers argue that Butz's book has never been refuted by mainstream scholars, but in fact many of his arguments were thoroughly debunked" in books by

Deborah Lipstadt Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947) is an American historian, best known as author of the books '' Denying the Holocaust'' (1993), ''History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier'' (2005), ''The Eichmann Trial'' (2011), and ...

('' Denying the Holocaust'', 1993), John C. Zimmerman (''Holocaust Denial: Demographics, Testimonies and Ideologies'', 2000) and online web sites such as Nizkor Project and www.anti-rev.org.

Removal from Amazon

In 2017, Amazon.com removed the book along with other Holocaust-denying books from its US and UK sites. The ban of the books was requested by the director of the

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

library, Robert Rozett, who sent an email directly to Amazon CEO

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former presi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Butz, Arthur 1933 births Living people Academic scandals American Holocaust deniers Engineers from New York City Northwestern University faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Writers from New York City Activists from New York City Control theorists American electrical engineers Electrical engineering academics