ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the British Second World War publications of Alexander Ratcliffe, a supporter of fascism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism and leader of the neo-fascist Protestant Defence League. It examines the antecedents of British Holocaust negationism in the United Kingdom during the Second World War from an historical perspective. The chapter also examines other individuals, most notably the anti-Nazi anti-Semite journalist Douglas Reed, who was also proclaiming that the Jews were not being exterminated and arguing against the reports in the British media and House of Commons, for purposes of comparison. During the Second World War the British government adopted a policy of playing down the distinct Jewish dimension of Nazi crimes. The arguments and sources used by Ratcliffe would also be adopted by the deniers who succeeded him, and indicate why such individuals believed that the Jews would 'benefit' from the Holocaust and understood the creation of the State of Israel from this conspiratorial epistemology.
