Paul Rassinier
by Richard A. Widmann
Paul Rassinier, widely considered to be the father of Holocaust revisionism, is an unlikely man to have earned such a title. He was born on March 18, 1906 in Beaumont, France. Rassinier would never forget the memory of his father, Joseph, a farmer and a veteran of the French colonial army in Tonkin (present-day Vietnam) being mobilized for World War I. Rassinier refused to take an active role in the War to end all Wars, and rather suffered incarceration in a military prison for his pacifist ideals. Young Paul would also become a dedicated pacifist, a principle that he held to thr
oughout his life.1
The France of Rassinier's youth was a mélange of political movements and ideologies. At the age of 16 Rassinier became a member of the Communist Party, having been drawn to it by anarchist Victor Serge. Rassinier's flirtation with Communism would not last long. Turning against its principles, he quickly found himself expelled. His political activities in the years that followed included several attempts at unifying the workers' movement. He joined the Socialist Party in February of 1934.2
By the Summer of 1940, Rassinier would witness France's military collapse and surrender to Nazi Germany. He became one of the founding members of the "Libre-Nord" movement, the French Resistance movement to liberate the northern occupied zone of their country. Even during this difficult time, Rassinier continued to preach the principles of non-violence and pacifism. His ideals were unwelcome to many within the movement and he would find himself condemned to death by members of the Communist resistance.3 His "rescue" from a death sentence came in October of 1943 when he was arrested by the Nazi Gestapo for various activities including the smuggling of Jewish refugees over the Franco-Swiss border. Rassinier was sent to the concentration camp at Buchenwald for his activities. Later he would be moved to Dora where he would stay through the war's end.
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