Serge Thion
Encyclopedia
Serge Thion is a French sociologist. A former researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, he was dismissed from his position there for Holocaust denial
activities.
and Vietnam
. Thion was the subject of some controversy when he wrote that "genocide" was, technically, not a proper description of what happened in Cambodia
during the Khmer Rouge
rule, because it was not a type (or an attempt) of killing based on purely ethnic grounds. According to Thion:
compared to other mass deaths since World War II
. He also criticized the prosecution of Robert Faurisson
for Holocaust denial
, and cast doubt on the accuracy of Filip Müller
's book Eyewitness Auschwitz.
Thion has been described as a Holocaust denier
, and in November 2000 was dismissed from CNRS for Holocaust denial activities. He was condemned and fined for defamation by the French Correctional Tribunal Court of Appeal in December 2002 for attacks on writer Didier Daeninckx
. Thion attended the 2006 International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
in Iran, often described at a Holocaust denial conference. Israeli philosopher Elhanan Yakira has cited Thion as one of a number of deniers on the radical left (and right) in France whose extreme views on the Holocaust have made Holocaust denial "a central issue in France and elsewhere".
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
activities.
Career
Thion worked as a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) from 1971 to 2000. Most of his research there focused on CambodiaCambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Thion was the subject of some controversy when he wrote that "genocide" was, technically, not a proper description of what happened in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
during the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
rule, because it was not a type (or an attempt) of killing based on purely ethnic grounds. According to Thion:
The reality is that genocide, massacres, wiping out entire peoples or cultures, and other inhuman atrocities, torture, massive corruption, and so on, are part and parcel of government policies, most usually applied to foreign countries. There is no other law than the law of the jungle. If we want to change this situation, we must reform our own laws first, strip the authorities of their political immunity, abolish the "Reason of State" and the system of official secrecy which covers up all these crimes. If we could reach a stage in which any official would be tried according to the same rules that apply to you and me, to any other ordinary human being, we would not need all these extraordinary concepts because common law is quite enough.
Holocaust denial
In 1993 Thion privately published Une Allumette sur la banquise (A Matchstick on an Ice Flow). The book criticized what he perceived as sensationalization of the HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
compared to other mass deaths since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He also criticized the prosecution of Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson
Robert Faurisson is a French academic who is a Holocaust denier. Faurisson generated much controversy with a number of articles, published in the Journal of Historical Review and elsewhere, as well as various letters he has sent to French newspapers , which deny various aspects of the Holocaust,...
for Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, and cast doubt on the accuracy of Filip Müller
Filip Müller
Filip Müller was one of very few Sonderkommandos to have survived Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German extermination camp....
's book Eyewitness Auschwitz.
Thion has been described as a Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, and in November 2000 was dismissed from CNRS for Holocaust denial activities. He was condemned and fined for defamation by the French Correctional Tribunal Court of Appeal in December 2002 for attacks on writer Didier Daeninckx
Didier Daeninckx
Didier Daeninckx is a French author and left-wing politician, best known for his romans noirs. He frequently uses fictional settings to transport social critique; his writings are characterized by a sobering social realism...
. Thion attended the 2006 International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference that opened on December 11, 2006, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust.....
in Iran, often described at a Holocaust denial conference. Israeli philosopher Elhanan Yakira has cited Thion as one of a number of deniers on the radical left (and right) in France whose extreme views on the Holocaust have made Holocaust denial "a central issue in France and elsewhere".