In
1979,
Robert Faurisson, a French literary critic and professor of literature, published two letters in
Le Monde which included claims that the
gas chambers used by the
Nazis to exterminate the Jews did not exist.
[29] The outrage caused by Faurisson’s writings resulted in his conviction for
defamation and subjection to a fine and prison sentence.
Serge Thion, a French
libertarian socialist scholar and
Holocaust denier, asked Chomsky to lend his signature to a petition which supported Faurisson’s right of academic freedom. Many French intellectuals
I][URL=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_words”%5D%5BCOLOR=#0000ff%5Dwho?%5B/COLOR%5D%5B/URL%5D%5B/I considered this petition to be a legitimization of Faurisson’s denial of the Holocaust, and a misrepresentation of Faurisson’s credentials and intentions. Having signed the petition Chomsky wrote an essay
[30] which was heavily critical of the French intellectual response. In this essay Chomsky determined that Faurisson was “a relatively apolitical liberal of some sort” but felt that this was irrelevant when defending absolute freedom of speech. Faurisson’s editors subsequently used this essay as a preface to
Mémoire en défense, Faurisson’s book intended to defend his controversial views.
