LONDON — The man who is arguably the world’s most famous Holocaust denier has been declared bankrupt.
But David Irving is pressing ahead with his fight to “revise” history.
In a highly publicized case in London in 2000, Irving lost his lawsuit against Deborah Lipstadt and her publisher, Penguin Books, who had accused him of being a Holocaust denier.
In what was a crushing defeat for Irving, Britain’s High Court ruled in April 2000 that he was a racist who had deliberately misrepresented and distorted historical evidence about the Holocaust. The court found that Irving had portrayed Hitler in a favorable light for ideological reasons.
Irving was ordered at the time to pay Lipstadt’s legal costs, estimated at nearly $3 million. The ruling ruined him financially.
Irving, based in London, was served with bankruptcy proceedings in January when he came back from the United States. He indicated he had no chance of paying the sums involved.
His defeat in the Lipstadt lawsuit has not deterred the disgraced historian from pursuing his libel action against the writer Gitta Sereny and The Observer newspaper, even though that case hinges on many of the same issues. The law allows bankrupt individuals to sue for libel and they can keep any money awarded from such lawsuits.
Now it’s expected that Penguin Books, which hired lawyers to defend against Irving’s long-running libel action, will try to seize Irving’s property.
Eighteen months ago, his apartment in central London was estimated to be worth several hundred thousand dollars.
But the house, which Irving, 63, shares with his partner, Bente, and their 7-year-old daughter, Jessica, reportedly has had no fewer than five simultaneous mortgages on it.
Soon after he lost the libel action, Irving was quoted in The Guardian newspaper as saying: “Undoubtedly they will come for their pound of flesh but will find I’m made of British beef. I’ve always suspected they were into money and gold, with a capital G.”
Mark Bateman, a lawyer for Penguin Books, said at the time: “He knew what the consequences would be — professional and financial ruin — and he brought that on himself. He doesn’t deserve an element of compassion. I can’t see how we won’t get his house.”
Irving said benefactors had donated hundreds of thousands to a fund backing him.
Bateman had said the backers could also be pursued, if they exist.
“If they were considered to be maintaining the legal action, then we could go after them. But I reckon he’s been given small amounts by fruitcakes.”