Professor Watchlist

Arthur Butz is an associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northwestern University. Butz is an open Holocaust denier and has authored a number of books and articles denying that millions of Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps.

Antisemitism

In his book, The Hoax of the 20th-Century, Butz claims that there is no proof of any intent by the Nazis to exterminate Europe’s Jews. Butz states,

Butz has used his university-provided internet access to further publish his views. In an op-ed for the Daily Northwestern, he claimed that the Jews that did perish in the camps died from typhus, and there was no concerted effort by the Nazis to exterminate Jews. In the same article, Butz claimed that the Nuremberg Trials were needed to establish the “legend” of the holocaust, due to there being no physical proof of an extermination campaign by the Germans.

In a 1996 paper, Butz openly attacked Holocaust victims, accusing them of “malicious lying,” and greatly exaggerating atrocities suffered by their families:

In an interview with an Iranian news station, Butz stated that he agreed with Iranian Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Holocaust was a “myth.” He went on to state that the Holocaust was a “deliberately conceived falsehood” in order to create the state of Israel and congratulated the Prime Minister for denying its existence:

“I congratulate him on becoming the first head of state to speak out clearly on [the Holocaust] and regret only that it was not a Western head of state”

Despite his beliefs, Northwestern University continues to employ Butz. University President Henry S. Bienen stated that while his opinions are “reprehensible,” no action can be taken as Butz’s views are personal and expressed outside of the classroom.

 

 

Updated – Spring, 2021