Erich Feigl

Erich Feigl
Born	1931 Vienna, Austria
Died	2007
Nationality	Austria
Occupation(s)	Film producer and author

Erich Feigl (1931 - 2007) was an Austrian documentary film producer and author. He produced close to 60 documentaries, mostly for the Asutrian ORF, but some for BR (Bavarian), ZDF (German) and TRT (Turkish Radio Television) in co-production. His best-known books are on the Habsburgs, whose restoration he supprted, and on the Armenian Genocide, which he described as a "myth".

Biography

He was born in Vienna, Austria. He began writing while still a student, but soon switched over to documentary film-making, continuing his career at Austrian State Television (ORF). He toured the Middle and Near East and Western Asia extensively and produced many documentaries about these places and their cultures and religions ("Journey to the Early Christian World", "Men and Myths"). He worked with the Dalai Lama on various projects ("Bardo", "Rebirth").

He became interested in Turkic cultures and history especially ("Kanuni Sultan"). After 1984 he began writing about the Armenian Genocide, and he subsequently also focused his attention on Kurdish issues and the PKK guerrilla organization, which resulted in his book published under the title Die Kurden in 1995. He was one of the first authors and commentators to investigate this topic in a contemporary context. He also wrote about the history of the Habsburgs ("Kaiser Karl", "Kaiserin Zita"). The Prof. title was conferred on him in 1984 in recognition of his scholarly work. He was also a Chevalier of the Lazarus Order and the Konstantin Order.

Feigl was a long-time monarchist activist and in 2006 was awarded honorary membership of the Schwarz-Gelbe Allianz, which favors the return of the House of Habsburg to power. Described by Der Spiegel as a "fervent admirer" of Empress Zita, he was part of the monarchist committee which organized her funeral in 1989.

Feigl received the Medal for the Progress of the Republic of Azerbaijan and was a honorary Board member of the Congress of European Azeris. After he died, his inheritor, Azerbaijani student Ergun Naftaliev commented, that there will be legal problems to bury him in Baku, but "the Azerbaijani side will do everything to organize his funeral".

Criticism of alleged Armenian Genocide

After 1984 Feigl became known as a sceptic of Armenian Genocide. His work had already brought him close to the tragic events of 1915 in Anatolia, where he had investigated the ancient civilizations of Asia Minor. In 1984 the Turkish labour attaché in Vienna, Erdogan Özen, a close friend of Feigl, was murdered in Vienna by Armenian terrorists. As a response, Feigl wrote a book titled A Myth of Terror, Armenian Extremism: Its Causes and Its Historical Context. Initially published in German, an English version was later produced and is now available as a free download from the Azerbaijan Ministry of National Security. A short time before he died he finished his last book, called Armenian Mythomania.

A report by the Simon Wiesenthal Center called Feigl's book, A Myth of Terror: Armenian Extremism, "a revisionist publication" that "abounds with misleading details":

The work follows the standard Turkish argumentation that denies the genocide. According to Feigl, the death marches into the deserts and the concentration camps of Mesopotamia were a part of a legitimate relocation program (see map inside cover). While the Armenians are denounced as terrorists who made genocidal attempts on the Turkish majority, the Moslems are portrayed as culturally superior victims (pp. 88ff.). Feigl compares the Armenians to the Nazis (pp. 78-79) and proclaims all and any Armenian documentation as forgery. Vidal-Naquet, "By Way of a Preface," p. 4, summarizes this type of argument: "There has not been a genocide of the Armenians; this genocide was fully justified; the Armenians massacred themselves; it was they who massacred the Turks." Playing on greed and materialist jealousy, Feigl includes photos of luxurious buildings to drive home the point that Armenians were pros- perous and thus guilty of a world conspiracy, as is repeatedly insinuated, for instance, when Armenian-American as well as Armenian-Russian relations are slanderously exposed... He cites instances of contem- porary Armenian "terrorism" out of context to justify the Turkish massacres retroactively. He goes so far as to deny the existence of an Armenian people and an Armenian identity... He dismisses scholarship contradicting his findings, suggesting that authors expressing pro-Armenian points of view do so out of fear of becoming the targets of Armenian terrorism (pp. 6 et al.).

Books

• Feigl, Erich. A Myth of Terror : Armenian Extremism, Its Causes and Its Historical Context, An Illustrated Expose. Freilassing ; Salzburg : Edition Zeitgeschichte, 1986. English edition - online book
• Feigl, Erich. Kaiserin Zita. Kronzeugin eines Jahrhunderts. Amalthea, Wien 1989, ISBN 3-85002-277-3
• Feigl, Erich. Geschichte und Schicksal eines Volkes. Universitas Verlag München 1995
• Feigl, Erich. Armenian Mythomania 2007