I find it really interesting that Leifer uses the term hijacking to describe the manipulation of holocaust memory. It really is a fitting term when I thought about it because this sort of approach does not align with revisionist history at all. In that field, it is all about taking additional sources and contexts in order to “revisit” historical time periods and events and see if that additional information changes anything. The “hijacking” of holocaust memory on the other hand is exactly that, as it simply seeks to change what actually happened for the sake of an agenda. In the specific case of the conference, it is completely unsurprising to me that it received backlash. It’s only natural that people who are brainwashed by a political agenda would snap back when they are challenged with factual information. The unfortunate side of this conference is that even if a consensus is arrived, there will always be some who disagree, and their ideals will spark up again in the future to cause more problems. The only way to stop that would be to completely stamp out anti-holocaust ideology which is just impossible and unrealistic.
Sources:
https://jewishcurrents.org/the-challenge-of-defending-memory-in-germany
Hate 2.0 