I have a friend (more of a person Im with one class period of the day and thus have associated with them), who recently brought up their belief that (at first), only ~500,000 jews were killed in total during the holocaust. Now he has linked me to a video which is about the event happening at all. I doubt he actually watched the whole thing, he likes to give me info from sources he hasnt checked because their name has what he wants, the other day he said I should read Dissecting the Holocaust: The Growing Critique of "Truth" and "Memory", when he had only skimmed pages 1 and 2 (he didnt admit it, but I watched him skim them, and find the book itself in on block).
He also likes to bring up that SS officers at the Nuremberg trials claimed only 500,000 were killed, I've yet to find a source on that one. Also when asked to find me a source on that info, unbiased/factual, he claimed that was impossible, because "there is no such thing as an unbiased source", which is true to an extent, but it is obviously his last line of defense when he had no info.
This is getting long, so Ill end it there/here: what info can I use to prove him wrong? I cannot stand to believe someone could deny the suffering of so many human beings due to nonfactual numbers and no credible sources.
I'm sorry if this is a bad place to ask this, or if my format isnt perfect. I don't frequent this sub, and its the best place I could think to get info with sources.
Someone asked a Professor this once when I was at uni. She responded by saying "We, as historians, don't waste our time on holocaust deniers."
This old thread, which is in the FAQ, may be of some use. Talleyrayand's post links to a site with a lot of useful material; several other posts there give some detailed reasons why it's usually not worth trying to argue.
Some other websites with collections of primary evidence are the Yad Vashem site and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
You might find this thread from our FAQ has some useful advice, which includes a link to this fantastic website on how terribly flawed Holocaust denial arguments are.
Holocaust denial is almost without failure an argument from ideology, not an argument from ignorance; it depends on a willful rejection and distortion of a rich historical narrative that thoroughly permeates our culture and from which it is virtually impossible to escape awareness of. For any number of reasons, these people deny the truth because it is fundamentally incompatible with something about their world view; without knowing what that is, you can't deal with the problem.
There's probably very little you can ever do to change their mind if you can't challenge the disordered thinking that leads them to the rejection of the Holocaust. So as noted already here, your best bet is honestly just to ignore them. A fire cannot burn in the absence of oxygen, so don't give it to them - they're probably relishing the rare opportunity to actually share these views.
For what it's worth, there's a chance they'll get better. You say you're in class with them, and young people - often otherwise very smart young people - can get attracted to some very curious and dubious things in their enthusiasm for new, radical ideas. You may have noticed that the average university campus has rather more Communist Party (or whatever far left movement is in vogue at the moment) enthusiasts than the general population; whilst student radicalism strongly tends to the left, it does also have its right-wing currents. In ten years you might well find your friend is thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed of these views.
hi! not discouraging anyone from chipping in here, but meanwhile, check out this FAQ section
Also, consider x-posting to a psychology sub or perhaps /r/AskSocialScience for their input on dealing with denialists or conspiracy theorists