Why do far right wingers have such a strong tendency to deny the Holocaust? Even among literal Nazis who would be glad that it happened, I see many times that they just flatly deny it exists, and I honestly can't figure out why. It's mostly anecdotal evidence, but it seems fairly evident. There's obviously some appeal to them from denying it but honestly I can't see why they would do it. Does anyone have any ideas as to why?
It's a contradiction on their behalf, but a cold and calculating move.
They want to establish a complete distrust in mainstream history. By denying the holocaust they can say that it's some Jewish conspiracy to change history entirely and argue that "the Jews control everything".
On the flip side, many of them want a Holocaust to happen, which is also part of their contradiction here. As another commenter pointed out, fascism without the holocaust is more socially acceptable to people. Just look at Marine LePen as an example of a kinder, more gentler fascist when compared to her father.
I first encountered holocaust denial in the early 2010s when going through conspiracy stuff. It truly is the endgame result of the rabbit hole when someone gets into conspiracy stuff and keeps searching for something harder and more crazier than what they already have. David Irving was a popular holocaust denier I remember and I was recommended his videos on Youtube way back in the day and seeing this stuff was one of the things that snapped me out of conspiracy thinking. Irving is only one of them though. Most of the old school white supremacists like Weber and the one who wrote the Turner Diaries are connected to holocaust denial in one way or another. It's a deep rabbit hole.