Why is there always someone who denies the Holocaust?

Answer 1

Holocaust denial is a form of antisemitism or Jew-baiting. What the Jews suffered in the Holocaust was terrible, and then to tell the remaining Jews and their descendants that it's "all in their heads" or a lie is odious.

Most Holocaust deniers have a political agenda. They want to stir up hatred against the Jews and rehabilitate the Nazis.

In some countries in the Middle East (where Holocaust denial is widespread) many Muslims believe that the Holocaust is used or misused to 'legitimate' Israel.

The main purpose of denying genocide is usually to rehabilitate the perpetrators, in this case the Nazis, and to mock the victims and survivors. After all, neo-Nazis are well aware that the Holocaust and a host of other Nazi crimes and atrocities are abhorrent to all decent minded people.

Denial of genocide is common - for example, many Turks deny that the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against the Armenians in 1915-1917.

In World War 2 the Allies did nothing specifically targeted at disrupting tyhe Holocaust. There is a widespread assumption (for example in the US) that the guilt-ridden Allies established Israel after the war as some kind of consolation for the Jews. In fact, the key reason was that the British Mandate was about to expire and there was civil war in the British Mandate of Palestine. The United Nations opted for partition. If it's felt that Israel or "the Jews" or some Jews are exploiting the Holocaust it's perfectly possible to confront that specific issue without denying the Holocaust.

The majority of Holocaust deniers refuse, by choice, to believe that the Holocaust took place. The motives of the denialists is to mock the victims, the survivors and to bait Jews. Of course, another motive is the rehabilitation of the perpetrators.

See also the related questions below.
People don't truly deny the holocaust and will often say it never happened simply to get a rise out of you.