La Vieille Taupe
Encyclopedia
La Vieille Taupe is a publishing house and bookshop in Paris
, France
. The establishment went through two distinct phases in its history. Between 1965 and 1972, it had a politically ultra left slant. In 1980 a project with the same name was launched by one of La Vieille Taupe's previous participants and became renowned for publishing antisemitic and Holocaust denial
literature.
and other ultra-left groups. The works of Jean-Paul Sartre
and Simone de Beauvoir
were available, but only in a waste bin. Marx's Theses on Feuerbach
were available as a poster thanks to Guy Debord
. The situationists did much of the fly postering and along with Pouvoir Ouvrier who turned up for the opening party.
In 1966 the Situationists fell out with La Vieille Taupe and withdrew their publications. The bookshop continued as a focus of ultraleft activity until its closure in 1972. In 1973 La Vieille Taupe published La gauche allemande: Textes du KAPD, de L'AAUD, de L'AAUE et de la KAI (1920-1922) with La Vecchia Talpa (Naples) and Invariance.
approached Gérard Lebovici
with a proposal to publish the Holocaust Denial
text Le Mensonge d'Ulysse by Paul Rassinier
. Lebovici refused, so in 1980 Guillaume relaunched La Vieille Taupe as a negationist publishing house. Rassiner's book was the first published. Many of Guillaume's former associates deplore his reuse of the name for a purpose they regard as completely at odds with their former involvement. Some also regard Guillaume's suggestion that Guy Debord
was a secret negationist as obscene. Some people view ultra-left negationism as evidence that the ultra-left and ultra-right are very similar - the meeting of the extremes. However most ultra left activists would distance themselves from all forms of negationism, and regard Guillaume's more recent development as a sad decline. Guillaume sees La Vieille Taupe as a genuine ultra left venture which concentrates on exposing the lies of the capitalist
victors of the Second World War, even if most of the people who listen to him are from the far-right.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The establishment went through two distinct phases in its history. Between 1965 and 1972, it had a politically ultra left slant. In 1980 a project with the same name was launched by one of La Vieille Taupe's previous participants and became renowned for publishing antisemitic and 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...
literature.
Ultra Left origins
The name means Old Mole and comes from a communist conception of the maturation of social forces beneath the surface of society which eventually erupt in revolutionary movements. The bookshop was founded in 1965 at 1, rue des Fosses Jacques, Paris 5, Odéon 39-46. It was the major source for texts by the Situationist International, Amadeo BordigaAmadeo Bordiga
Amadeo Bordiga was an Italian Marxist, a contributor to Communist theory, the founder of the Communist Party of Italy, a leader of the Communist International and, after World War II, leading figure of the International Communist Party.- Early life :Bordiga was born at Resina, in the province of...
and other ultra-left groups. The works of Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
and Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
were available, but only in a waste bin. Marx's Theses on Feuerbach
Theses on Feuerbach
The "Theses on Feuerbach" are eleven short philosophical notes written by Karl Marx in 1845. They outline a critique of the ideas of Marx's fellow Young Hegelian philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach...
were available as a poster thanks to Guy Debord
Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
. The situationists did much of the fly postering and along with Pouvoir Ouvrier who turned up for the opening party.
In 1966 the Situationists fell out with La Vieille Taupe and withdrew their publications. The bookshop continued as a focus of ultraleft activity until its closure in 1972. In 1973 La Vieille Taupe published La gauche allemande: Textes du KAPD, de L'AAUD, de L'AAUE et de la KAI (1920-1922) with La Vecchia Talpa (Naples) and Invariance.
Holocaust Denial revival
In 1979 Pierre GuillaumePierre Guillaume
Pierre Guillaume is a French political activist. He was the founder of the Paris book shop La Vieille Taupe in 1965 and later the negationist publishing house of the same name. A former member of Socialisme ou Barbarie, he moved to Pouvoir Ouvrier with Jean-François Lyotard and P....
approached Gérard Lebovici
Gérard Lebovici
Gerard Lebovici was a French film producer, editor and impresario.His mother was executed in a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War...
with a proposal to publish the 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...
text Le Mensonge d'Ulysse by Paul Rassinier
Paul Rassinier
Paul Rassinier was a French pacifist, political activist, and author. He was also an anti-Nazi French Resistance fighter, and a prisoner of the German concentration camps at Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora. A journalist and editor, he wrote hundreds of articles on political and economic subjects...
. Lebovici refused, so in 1980 Guillaume relaunched La Vieille Taupe as a negationist publishing house. Rassiner's book was the first published. Many of Guillaume's former associates deplore his reuse of the name for a purpose they regard as completely at odds with their former involvement. Some also regard Guillaume's suggestion that Guy Debord
Guy Debord
Guy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
was a secret negationist as obscene. Some people view ultra-left negationism as evidence that the ultra-left and ultra-right are very similar - the meeting of the extremes. However most ultra left activists would distance themselves from all forms of negationism, and regard Guillaume's more recent development as a sad decline. Guillaume sees La Vieille Taupe as a genuine ultra left venture which concentrates on exposing the lies of the capitalist
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
victors of the Second World War, even if most of the people who listen to him are from the far-right.