H's parents were John and Lorraine H. and he was given the name Stuart Andrew H. In 1986, he got married. In 1989, H. changed his first name to Joel, following what he would later explain was a "choice to go through life with a first name that has deep spiritual significance for me." H. developed an interest in Jewish history and the Hebrew language as a result of his maternal grandmother's self-identification as a Jew. He gained a strong reading ability in Hebrew and made trips to Israel, and was a member of a national organization with both Jewish and Christian membership, The New Zealand Friends of Israel, Inc.

In 1988 H. enrolled with the University of Canterbury in Christchurch to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree, which he received on 8 May 1991 with papers taken primarily in the Departments of History and Classics. In 1989, while pursuing his undergraduate studies, H. took part in founding an association called Opposition to Anti-Semitism Inc.(OAS), which he headed until 1991, when he left the group. He later stated he left the group due to a personality clash with another member; in a biographical note to an article he published in January 1992 in an Australian Jewish publication in January 1992, he said he left the organization due to pressure of work. While with OAS, H. published several articles on anti-Semitism and became interested in the historiography of Holocaust denial.

Following the award of his B.A., H. commenced a Master's Degree program at University of Canterbury. He first considered a thesis topic in Ancient History, but was informed by faculty in the Classics Department that he would need to study another year of Greek and Latin first. After consultation with Dr. Vincent Orange, an Associate Professor in the History Department who became his thesis supervisor, H. settled on the topic of the historiography of Holocaust denial. H. later stated that this topic combined three of his great interests: World War II, the German language, and Jewish history. Besides his thesis, H. was also required for the M.A. degree to complete four honours papers, which he wrote during 1992. The four honours grades together constituted fully half of H's master's program. All four papers underwent examination both internally and externally before their grades (an A-, two As, and an A+) were confirmed.

The bulk of H's thesis was written in 1991, prior to his four honours papers, with the conclusion written in early 1993. Entitled "The Fate of Jews in German hands: An Historical Enquiry into the Development and Significance of Holocaust Revisionism", the thesis underwent examination by internal examiner Dr. Vincent Orange and external examiner Professor John Jensen of Waikato University before its grade of A+ was confirmed by Professor W. David McIntyre, also of University of Canterbury's History Department. H's M.A. in History with First Class Honours was conferred on 7 May 1993.

Within his 360-page thesis, H. argued that 'Holocaust revisionism' was not only a legitimate school of historical thought, it actually provided a far more accurate record of what did actually occur to European Jewry at the hands of National Socialist Germany. In the conclusion of the thesis, H. stated that the gas chambers did not exist and far fewer than six million Jews died. H. even questioned whether there was ever an official Nazi policy to exterminate Jews. Nazi gas chambers may in fact have fallen into the category of "atrocity propaganda". For his conclusions, H. relied i. a. on Shmuel Krakowski, archives director of the Jerusalem Yad Vashem, who considered in 1986 that of the 20,000 testimonies he had on hand from survivors of the holocaust, "most were untrustworthy, fraudulent, lacking support or in some way untruthful". What happened to Jews historically was - according to H. - not fundamentally different from atrocities perpetrated against native Americans, Africans, Gypsies, the victims of the witch hunts in early modern Europe, those trapped in the Stalinist purges in the Soviet Union, heretics hunted by crusaders, and indigenous peoples around the world throughout human history, in which large numbers of people have been subjected to campaigns of mass extermination.  

H. went on to pursue a Ph.D. degree, also at University of Canterbury, again under the supervision of Dr. Vincent Orange. He initially considered to enroll for the Ph.D. with a biography of David Irving as a dissertion topic, apparently at Irving's suggestion, but instead embarked on a study of German air operations during World War II. In 1994, the U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, located within the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, awarded him a research scholarship to conduct research for his dissertation in its archives; he subsequently received a research fellowship from the Federal Government of Germany which enabled him to conduct doctoral research in the German Military Archives in Freiburg, Germany. H. was awarded a Ph.D. in 1996. His thesis, Seeking the Philosopher's Stone: Luftwaffe Operations during Hitler's Drive to the East, 1942–1943[14] became the basis for his first book "Stopped at Stalingrad: The Luftwaffe and Hitler’s Defeat in the East 1942-1943", which was published in 1998.

In June 1996 H. joined the History Department at Massey University (Palmerston North Campus) as a Lecturer in Defence and Strategic Studies, receiving promotion to Senior Lecturer in August 1999. He specialized in the theoretical and conceptual aspects of modern warfare, airpower, joint doctrines, and manoeuvre warfare. While at Massey, H. in 1999 was organizer of New Zealand's largest defence conference, held 21-22 August at Massey University's Turitea campus. The conference, entitled "Coalitions and Conflict — The Transition of Warfare 1899 to 1999 and Beyond," focused on coalition warfare and was jointly hosted by Massey University and the New Zealand Army's Military Studies Institute. H. was conference convenor of Massey's third annual defence conference in August 2000, again co-hosted by the New Zealand Army, with discussion focusing on the trend towards integrating the three armed services under unified command. H. also acted as editor of the conference proceedings, which took its title from the conference's theme, Joint Future? The Move to Jointness and Its Implications for the New Zealand Defence Force.

From 1997 to 2004 he was also lecturer at the Officer Cadet School of the New Zealand Army, where he taught general military history from Alexander the Great to the Balkan War, and at the Command and Staff College of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, where he taught airpower history and doctrine and supervised advanced research in military history. During the same period he also taught strategic thought at the Royal New Zealand Naval College. He also wrote academic articles for general military and military history publications.

H. has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 2004, first teaching strategy and operational art at the Joint Services Command and Staff College. In November 2005 he became the head of the newly created Air Power Studies Division, a specialist unit of twelve Defence Study academics established by the Royal Air Force and King's College London at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell. H. was appointed Dean of the RAF College, Cranwell in April 2007. He is a Director of the Royal Air Force Centre for Air Power Studies and holds fellowships from the United States Air Force and the Federal Government of Germany.

H's M.A. thesis was opposed even before it was completed, and there were attempts to censure Hayward at the time. The university was contacted by members of H's own group, Opposition to Anti-Semitism Inc (OAS) who had in 1991 recorded Hayward making statements which in their view constituted Holocaust denial. OAS stated that H. had argued that Hitler did not personally plan the Holocaust and that the "final solution" was a very brutal policy of "forced expulsion". The OAS intervention was rejected by the university which went on to assess the M.A. thesis and consider it worthy of the highest grade. Dr. Orange summarised its conclusion in the words "H’s thesis is that the Nazis did not attempt the systematic extermination of Jews during the Second World War. In particular, he finds the evidence that gas chambers were built and used for this purpose unconvincing."

Aware of these circumstances, H. embargoed the thesis for three years as soon as it was examined. When the embargo expired, he notified the University Library that the thesis could be made available to researchers. The library replied that it had decided to restrict the thesis so that it could be consulted only with H's permission until January 1999. When the dissertation became available, it ignited controversy. H. was again accused of citing and supporting the arguments proponents of Holocaust denial. In 2000, at the request of the New Zealand Jewish Council, calling on the University of Canterbury to revoke the degree, the University of Canterbury convened a "Working Party" which issued a report admonishing the university for inadequately supervising H's work. The report found that H's thesis was "seriously flawed" but did not "establish dishonesty" on his part. Subsequent to the issuance of the Working Party's report, the university apologized to the New Zealand Jewish community, as H. also had earlier in the year. H. has repeatedly repudiated his thesis and apologized for his errors, but David Irving praised Hayward's work as a "landmark in the turning of the tide in the favour of historical revisionism". H. agreed to the extraordinary step of including an appendix to his thesis modifying his findings. Under pressure, the University appointed a Working Party to investigate the claims against the thesis. Its lengthy report concluded the H. thesis was "seriously flawed" and that H. "should not have essayed a judgment in such a controversial area..." The report did not recommend withdrawal of the thesis by the University and did not agree with the allegations that H's argument was racist or motivated by malice. While the opinion that the thesis did not deserve the high marks it received was widely publicized in the media, no fewer than six serving or retired members of the History department persisted in their own judgment that it was a first-class effort.

Notwithstanding the apparent finality of the report and its qualified exoneration of H., during 2000, 2001, and 2002 H. received hundreds of pieces of hate mail, abusive telephone calls, threats against himself, his wife and small children, harassment at Massey University and continued negative media attention. Believing that even among his colleagues at Massey sentiment had turned against him, H. suffered an emotional breakdown. He spent over two years under medical care. In December 2001, in deep depression, H. tendered his resignation from Massey University effective in June 2002. Massey appeared to have made no effort to assess H's condition or provide support of the kind usually available to distressed employees. Further attempts to publish as well as efforts at finding other employment had been unsuccessful. In early December 2002 H. was informed by HarperCollins, a major international publisher, through their Auckland office, that they wished to withdraw from publishing a book of which H. was co-editor. The volume in question was a collection of essays about New Zealand airmen. The book was fully prepared and ready for printing. H. was shocked at the news and pressed for an explanation. HarperCollins was reluctant to provide H. with an explanation for their decision apart from saying they had been put under considerable pressure not to associate with H. on account of the negative publicity surrounding him. Nor was HarperCollins alone in shunning H.. People feared being seen in a café with him. Others were afraid that emails might be monitored and association with him might have serious consequences for their own careers. 

Shortly after the HarperCollins shock, H. was hired by Fonterra, the large dairy and meat company as Communications Coordinator with responsibilities for writing the company's internal communications, information and training documents. His employment with Fonterra, however, ended the day he began when the company decided to terminate the position having been advised that employing him was a very risky proposition. 

In 2003, Hayward published his story in the Internet. His web site has not been updated since then and will not be updated in future.

Anschrift von / Address of H.:  Dr Joel Hayward,  Dean of the Royal Air Force College & Head of Air Power Studies, KCL 
Royal Air Force College, Cranwell, Lincolnshire NG34 8HB, United Kingdom 

Werke von / Works of H.: 

Literatur über / Writings concerning H.: 

Literatur von und über Joel Hayward im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek / Writings of and about Joel Hayward in the catalogue of Deutsche Nationalbibliothek 
* Stopped at Stalingrad: the Luftwaffe and Hitler's defeat in the east ; 1942 - 1943 / Joel S. A. Hayward

Letzte Änderung / Last update: 27.05.2011 

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