derived from the logical argument called Reductio ad absurdum. The variant takes its form from the names of many classic fallacies such as . The variant may be further humorously derived from . Limits to classification as a fallacy Historian Daniel Goldhagen, who had written about the Holocaust, argues that not all comparisons to Hitler and Nazism are logical fallacies since if they all were, there would be nothing to learn from the events that led to the Holocaust. He argues in his book Hitler's Willing Executioners that many people who were complicit or active participants in the Holocaust and subsequently in fascist and neo-Nazi movements have manipulated the historical narrative to escape blame or to deny aspects of the Holocaust. Claims that allegations of antisemitism are reductio ad Hitlerum have also been employed by David Irving, a British Holocaust denier. In 2000, Thomas Fleming claimed that reductio ad Hitlerum was being used by his opponents against his values: Leo Strauss called it the . If Hitler liked neoclassical art, that means that classicism in every form is Nazi; if Hitler wanted to strengthen the German family, that makes the traditional family (and its defenders) Nazi; if Hitler spoke of the "nation" or the "folk", then any invocation of nationality, ethnicity, or even folkishness is Nazi ... Antecedents Although named for and formalized around Hitler, the logical fallacy existed prior to the Second World War. There were other individuals from history who were used as stand-ins for pure evil. Author Tom Holland compares the use of Hitler as the standard of evil with earlier invocations of the Devil (such as the phrase 'Deal with the Devil'). In the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, the Pharaoh of the Book of Exodus was commonly seen as the most villainous person in history. In the years prior to the American Civil War, abolitionists referred to slaveholders as modern-day Pharaohs. After VE Day, Pharaoh continued to appear in the speeches of social reformers like Martin Luther King Jr. Judas Iscariot and Pontius Pilate were also commonly held up as pure evil. However, there was no universal Hitler-like person and different regions and times used different stand-ins. In the years after the American Revolution, King George III was often vilified in the United States. Andrew Jackson was also called King Andrew the First. During the American Civil War, some Confederates called Lincoln a "modern