Deborah Lipstadt

Deborah Lipstadt, yeah, she’s one of those names you just kinda know if you’ve ever even glanced at anything about Holocaust history or denial. Born in NYC back in ‘47, she’s been stirring the pot for decades—mostly because, let’s be honest, some people still think it’s okay to play dumb about the Holocaust. Lipstadt, though? She wasn’t having any of that nonsense. She’s written books, given talks, and basically made it her life’s work to call out the idiots and frauds who deny the facts. Her story even got the Hollywood treatment in “Denial” (2016), which is wild if you think about it—most historians don’t end up with Rachel Weisz playing them on screen. That movie? It’s all about her fight against David Irving, a so-called “historian” who sued her for libel in the UK because she called him a Holocaust denier (which, let’s be real, he absolutely was). The trial was a circus—seriously, the British legal system is a whole thing—and Lipstadt had to basically prove that the Holocaust happened. In court. In the 2000s. Mind-boggling. She’s popped up in documentaries, too. “American Experience” had her on, and she’s been involved in stuff like “State of Dispute.” Lipstadt doesn’t just stay in the academic bubble—she’s out there, mixing it up, making sure people remember what happened and why it still matters. Her work’s not just about history; it’s about fighting for truth, no matter how much noise the deniers make. And honestly, the world needs more people like her.