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The Holocaust Industry is a book by Norman G. Finkelstein, an American political scientist. He contends that leaders of the Jewish community inappropriately use the Holocaust to seek reparations from European governments, and that actual Holocaust survivors are getting little.

Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg, whose 'The Destruction of the European Jews' is a standard text , has said of the book,

"When I read Finkelstein's book, The Holocaust Industry, at the time of its appearance, I was in the middle of my own investigations of these matters, and I came to the conclusion that he was on the right track. I refer now to the part of the book that deals with the claims against the Swiss banks, and the other claims pertaining to forced labor. I would now say in retrospect that he was actually conservative, moderate and that his conclusions are trustworthy. He is a well-trained political scientist, has the ability to do the research, did it carefully, and has come up with the right results. I am by no means the only one who, in the coming months or years, will totally agree with Finkelstein's breakthrough." .

On the other hand Norman Steinberg of the World Jewish Congress, complains"'The language he is using is anti-Semitic" and "His facts are wrong. His language is intemperate. He quotes me but he never spoke to me."

Finkelstein believes that many American Jews are not practising Judaism, and have replaced it with mere fear of anti-Semitism and fund-raising for Jewish causes. His book has been criticised by some other scholars as being exaggerated.

External links

• Finkelstein's homepage
• Shoah business by Viktor Frölke
• The Holocaust Industry by Andrew Ross
• British Newspaper Article on "The Holocaust Industry" and Finkelstein