Erich Feigl (24 September 1931 – 27 January 2007) was an Austrian documentary film producer and author. He produced almost 60 documentaries, mostly for the AustrianORF but some forBR (Bavarian),ZDF (German) andTRT (Turkish Radio Television) in co-production. He authored books about theHabsburgs, whose restoration he supported, and the historical fact of theArmenian genocide, which he denied until his death.[1]
Erich Feigl was born inVienna,Austria. He began writing while still a student, but soon switched over to documentary film-making, continuing his career atAustrian State Television (ORF).[2] He toured theMiddle andNear East andWestern 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 theDalai Lama on various projects ("Bardo", "Rebirth").
Feigl became interested inTurkic cultures and history, especially ("Kanuni Sultan").[citation needed] After 1984 he began writing about theArmenian genocide, and he subsequently also focused his attention onKurdish issues and thePKK guerrilla organization,[3] which resulted in his book published under the titleDie 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 theHabsburgs ("Kaiser Karl", "Kaiserin Zita").
Feigl was a long-timemonarchist activist, and in 2006 was awarded honorary membership of theBlack-Yellow Alliance, which favors the return of theHouse of Habsburg to power.[4]Described byDer Spiegel as a "fervent admirer" ofEmpress Zita, he was part of the monarchist committee which organized her funeral in 1989.[5]
Feigl received the Medal for the Progress of theRepublic of Azerbaijan and was an honorary board member of the Congress of European Azeris.[6]
Feigl had died of kidney failure after being hospitalised for a stomach hemorrhage. He was cremated atFeuerhalle Simmering, with his ashes being buried on February 5 at Simmering Cemetery in Vienna.[7]
In 1986 Feigl became well known after the publication of his bookA 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 theArmenian Revolutionary Army.[3][8][9] 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.[10] A short time before he died he finished his last book, calledArmenian Mythomania.[11][12]
Dagmar Lorenz, in a book review of authorEdgar Hilsenrath for theSimon Wiesenthal Center Annual, notes Feigl as a supporter of "Turkish cryptofascist anti-Armenian propaganda" and condemnsA Myth of Terror as a "revisionist publication" that "abounds with misleading details".[13]
Erich Feigl (2008).Seidenstrasse durchs Feuerland : die Geschichte Aserbaidschans. Wien: Amalthea Signum.ISBN978-3-85002-667-3.
an illustrated exposé by Erich Feigl. (2007).Armenian Mythomania. Wien: Amalthea Signum.ISBN978-3-85002-583-6.
Erich Feigl. Mit einem Vorw. von Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen (2006).Gott erhalte … - Kaiser Karl : persönliche Aufzeichnungen und Dokumente. Wien: Amalthea.ISBN3-85002-520-9.
Erich Feigl. (1999).Turkey, Europe and Public Opinion: A Myth of Error. Wien: Amalthea.ISBN3-85002-423-7.
Translated to French asUn mythe de la terreur : l'extrémisme arménien: ses causes et ses origines; une documentation illustrée Salzburg : Druckhaus Nonntal, 1991.ISBN3-85453-013-7
Pravda o terrore : armi︠a︡nskiĭ terrorizm—istoki i prichiny Baku : Azerbaĭdzhanskoe gos. izd-vo, 2000.OCLC63146231
La mitomanía Armenia : el extremismo Armenio: causas y contexto histórico Freilassing; Salzburg : Edition Zeitgeschichte, 2007.OCLC301562113
Erich Feigl. (1985).Musil von Arabien. Vorkämpfer der islamischen Welt. Wien: Amalthea.ISBN3-85002-199-8.
herausgegeben von Erich Feigl. (1984).Kaiser Karl : persönliche Aufzeichnungen, Zeugnisse und Dokumente. Wien: Amalthea.ISBN3-85002-179-3.
Halbmond und Kreuz. Marco d'Aviano und die Rettung Europas. Amalthea, Wien 1983,ISBN3-85002-326-5
Der militärische und hospitalische Orden des hl. Lazarus von Jerusalem : Memento. Wien: Kanzleramt des Grosspriorates v. Österreich des Ordre militaire et hospitalier de Saint-Lazare de Jérusalem. 1974.OCLC4858479.
^http://www.ataa.org/reference/diplomats.htmlArchived 2018-10-30 at theWayback Machine June 20, 1984 - Vienna, Austria: A bomb explodes in a vehicle owned by the Assistant Labor and Social Affairs Counselor of the Turkish Embassy, Erdogan Ozen, killing Ozen and seriously injuring five Austrian nationals, including two law enforcement officers. The "Armenian Revolutionary Army" of the Justice Commandos against Armenian Genocide (JCAG) claims responsibility for the attack.
^http://www.byegm.gov.tr/YAYINLARIMIZ/CHR/ING2005/04/05x04x22.HTM#%2013Archived 2010-04-09 at theWayback Machine "He became acquainted with the events of 1915 while doing historical research, and he quickly developed an interest in the issue. Meanwhile, Turkish Attaché for Labor and Social Affairs in Vienna Erdogan Ozen, a close friend of his, was murdered by the terrorist Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) in 1984. Ozen's murder affected him so much that he investigated, researched and wrote a book on Armenian terror titled 'A Myth of Terror'."
^"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.)."Dagmar C. G. Lorenz (1990)."Hilsenraths Other Genocide".Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual (7): footnote 20.ISSN0741-8450. Archived fromthe original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved2009-08-20.
^Collective traumas: memories of war and conflict in 20th-century Europe. ed. Conny Mithander, John Sundholm, 2007, p. 30
^Robert Rie (1983). "Book Review: Erich Feigl, ed. Kaiserin Zita—Legende und Wahrheit. Preface by Cardinal Jószef Mindszenty. Vienna: Amalthea Verlag, 1977. Pp. 547".Austrian History Yearbook.19. Cambridge University Press:357–359.doi:10.1017/S006723780000165X.S2CID146255839.
