Erich Feigl (1931 – 27 January 2007) was an Austrian documentary film producer and author. He produced almost 60 documentaries, mostly for the Austrian ORF but some for BR (Bavarian), ZDF (German) and TRT (Turkish Radio Television) in co-production. He authored books about the Habsburgs, whose restoration he supported, and the historical fact of the Armenian genocide, which he denied until his death.

Biography

Erich Feigl 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"). Feigl 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"). Feigl was a long-time monarchist activist, and in 2006 was awarded honorary membership of the Black-Yellow Alliance, 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 an honorary board member of the Congress of European Azeris. Feigl had died of kidney failure after being hospitalised for a stomach hemorrhage. He was cremated at Feuerhalle Simmering, with his ashes being buried on February 5 at Simmering Cemetery in Vienna.

A Myth of Terror

In 1986 Feigl became well known after the publication of his book A Myth of Terror: Armenian Extremism: Its Causes and Its Historical Context. In the book's introduction, Feigl writes he had written it as a response to the murder of close friend and Turkish labour attaché, Erdoğan Özen, by the members of the Armenian Revolutionary Army. Initially published in German, an English version was later produced. Complimentary copies of the book were distributed by Turkish organisations to US governmental officials, university libraries and individuals. A short time before he died he finished his last book, called Armenian Mythomania. Dagmar Lorenz, in a book review of author Edgar Hilsenrath for the Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual, notes Feigl as a supporter of "Turkish cryptofascist anti-Armenian propaganda" and condemns A Myth of Terror as a "revisionist publication" that "abounds with misleading details". "The work [A Myth of Terror] ''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 prosperous 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 contemporary 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.).''" Feigl's work was also criticized by Klas-Göran Karlsson for misinterpretations.

Honours and awards

Works

Books

Films