The Tolerant Man Who Could Not Be Tolerated

In 2019, and for a couple of years after, we all heard about the “Holocaust-denying” high-school principal William Latson. Most who heard about that of course never checked whether the characterization was accurate. Even some politicians who stated forceful opinions on the matter, it turns out, apparently never bothered to check what they were saying. On the whole it seems that most people who had anything to say about the matter had an oversimplified and distorted picture of the dispute.

The instigation of the public controversy was a story that appeared in the Palm Beach Post on 5 July 2019. It was based on information supplied to journalist Andrew Marra by a perpetually unidentified Jewish woman. The report focused on an exchange between her and Principal Latson over a five-day period more than one year earlier, 13 to 18 April 2018, after she contacted him to urge an increase of “Holocaust education” at the school. Principal Latson told this Jewish woman that Spanish River Community High School offered “a variety of activities” for Holocaust education: it was incorporated into 9th and 10th grade English, various history courses, and there was a special elective devoted entirely to the Holocaust, and an annual assembly for the 10th grade featuring a visitor who would speak about the Holocaust. Some of these activities were optional and  “not forced upon individuals.” Of course the Jewish woman wanted more. The English course that read selections from Elie Wiesel’s Night should instead read the entire book! (This concession was granted.) She also complained that the Holocaust did not always receive the time that it was supposed to receive in some classes, and thus there was a demand for greater documentation of what was being taught. The complaint about Latson himself however was his refusal to confront parents who did not believe in the Holocaust:

“She didn’t doubt that Latson knew the Holocaust was real, she said in an interview, but she feared his reluctance to say so stemmed from a desire to avoid confronting parents who deny the Holocaust’s reality.”  (A Marra, Palm Beach Post,  5 July 2019)

That was the essential complaint against Latson, his refusal to take a personal stand in favor of belief in the Holocaust, because he wanted to avoid confrontation. Marra then cites the SPLC as an authority for the claim that denying or minimizing the Holocaust is “an essential manifestation of anti-Semitism.” (Ibid.)

Latson’s contention that it was not his job to confront parents about their views of history, as a principal of a public school, seems eminently reasonable, just as it would not have been his place to confront parents about whether they believed in Creationism or Darwinism. It is inherent in a free society that we allow people to have beliefs that we regard as false, and although a private, religious school may demand adherence to a particular dogma it is definitely not the place of a public school official to align himself very conspicuously with one particular belief, much less to try to suppress disagreement. If a free society is one where people are allowed to disagree, then there can hardly be a more radical negation of freedom than this kind of demand that officials who are supposed to serve the entire public become enforcers of conformity, as was demanded of Principal William Latson.

It was part of William Latson’s job to be uncontroversial, and he made a valiant effort to be uncontroversial by stating no position on the Holocaust, but Jewish activists would not allow this. The Jewish activists’ position was: Either you are with us, or you are against us. Organized Jewry evidently would like to believe that their Holocaust is 100% uncontroversial, but the unwelcome news from Dr. Latson was that in Boca Raton this was no longer the case, and the fact that he acknowledged it and adjusted to it as a public school administrator was regarded as intolerable.

It should not be controversial to say that many have doubts about the Holocaust, because the ADL itself periodically publicizes this fact. A Roper poll in 1992 found that 22.1% of Americans believed that it was “possible […] that the Nazi extermination of the Jews never happened,” while another 12.4% said “don’t know.” A poll by Pew Research Center in February 2019 showed that 15% of Americans believed that 3 million or fewer Jews died in the Holocaust while 30% were not sure of the number.

Of those in the Pew study who estimated 3 million or fewer:

“[…] the data suggests that relatively few people in this group express strongly negative feelings toward Jews. […] nine-in-ten non-Jewish respondents who underestimate [sic] the Holocaust’s death toll express neutral or warm feelings toward Jews […]” (“What Americans Know About the Holocaust,” Pew Research Center, 22 January 2020)

Today there are even some Jews well known for disputing the Holocaust: Jeremy Corbyn’s friend Paul Eisen, (“ex-Jew”) Gilad Atzmon, publisher Ron Unz, and of course David Cole. Non-belief in whatever exactly the Holocaust is supposed to have been is not a clear indicator of hostility toward Jews (nor is belief in the Holocaust necessarily an indicator of affection for Jews, since it may be viewed as a response to provocations – whether Bolshevism, or disloyalty, or usury, or other predatory behavior).

In fact, for a real educational experience it would make sense for schools occasionally to expose students to spokesmen for the opposing view, but Florida’s 2019 law against “Anti-Semitism” would seem to outlaw any unironic presentation of skepticism about the Holocaust at public educational institutions.

The controversy around William Latson was a relatively early sign of a trend that becomes ever more obvious, that tolerance for disagreement in the USA – long touted as the great glory of the union founded by Washington and Jefferson – is coming to an end.

Vengeance and Appeasement

In response to the public controversy initiated by the report in the Palm Beach Post – certainly not in response to any real malfeasance on Latson’s part – Palm Beach County Public Schools began efforts at appeasement.

On 7 July 2019 the Palm Beach County School Board’s chairman Frank Barbieri issued a written declaration: that the board

“is and always has been, committed to teaching all students, in every grade level, a historically accurate Holocaust curriculum; one which leaves no room for erroneous revisions of fact or the scourge of anti-Semitism.”

There was no reason for historical accuracy to be in question (that is to say, not in the sense that Barbieri was addressing), since Latson’s offense had been merely to respect the right of some students or parents of students – not teachers – to entertain heterodox views. In the worst case, it was alleged that in some instances mandated subject-matter about the Holocaust was omitted, not that contradictory views were presented. Barbieri’s premise seems to be that Latson had espoused a heterodox view of history, which he certainly did not do. Discussion of Latson’s case in mass-media was permeated with that kind of distortion.

In a somewhat contradictory point however, Barbieri also said:

“It is only through high quality education, and thought-provoking conversations, that history won’t repeat itself.” (Frank Barbieri quoted by A. Chiu, The Washington Post, 8 July 2019)

“Thought-provoking conversation” would seem to include questioning, which is exactly what organized Jewry seemed to want to prohibit. Matthew Levin, CEO of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, complained (really without foundation) to WPTV that Latson was “certainly asking questions that he should not be asking” (Jewish News Syndicate 8 July 2019)

Within Chairman Barbieri’s own initial response to the controversy, a contradiction is evident between the ideal of a liberal education that allows disagreement, and the Jewish demand for conformity.

Furthermore, it has become evident that many persons active in public life in this era not only lack tolerance for dissenting opinion but also regard with suspicion anyone who displays such tolerance. Only the similarly intolerant are tolerated.

In a “media advisory” the Palm Beach County School District announced that Latson had made “a grave error in judgment in the verbiage” when he said that it was not his place as a public servant to affirm the Holocaust as an historical fact. The media advisory begins with a declaration of the School District’s total adherence to the Holocaust Narrative:

“The School District of Palm Beach County is, and always has been, working diligently to be a leader in mandatory Holocaust education for students in grades K-12. The District’s curriculum is based on historical fact.” (Boca News Now, 2019 July 8)

The District seeks to flatter the promoters of the Holocaust by calling it “historical fact,” after Latson had been attacked for prudently avoiding any dogmatic assertion about history.

On 8 July 2019 it was decided – after having counseled Latson, after having ordered him to expand the Holocaust curriculum at Spanish River High, after having sent him to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for several days – that since there was still controversy, Latson would be “reassigned” to remove controversy from Spanish River High.

On that afternoon, in an email to the faculty and staff of the school, Latson described the situation this way:

“I have been reassigned to the district office due to a statement that was not accurately relayed to the newspaper by one of our parents. It is unfortunate that someone can make a false statement and do so anonymously and it holds credibility but that is the world we live in.”

In what seems an outrageous non sequitur, and an obvious attempt to enflame the situation, State Representative Randy Fine posted on Twitter a screenshot of this farewell message as supposed evidence that Latson was  “an unrepentant anti-Semite.” (M. Marchante, Miami Herald 9 July 2019)

The chairman of the Florida Jewish Legislative Caucus, Representative Richard Stark, praised the decision to reassign Latson but wanted his employment to end:

“We expect more from our educators than to cater to those who deny the truth that millions of Jewish people died in the Holocaust.”

And of course, William Latson had done no such thing. But, in any case, Representative Stark would like to prohibit difference of opinion.

On 10 July, U.S. Senator Rick Scott asserted that Latson had engaged in “Holocaust denial” and “anti-Semitism” and opined that he should no longer be employed:

“There is no excuse for what he expressed. There is no excuse for holocaust denial. There is no excuse for anti-Semitism of any kind.” (Twitter)

On the same day, State Representative Mike Caruso (R-Delray Beach) opined:

“William Latson is unfit to educate our children and must be terminated immediately. He is either demonstrably incompetent or a Holocaust denier.” (Facebook)

Jewish state representatives Randy Fine (R- Brevard County) and Lauren Book (D-Plantation) also wanted Latson to lose employment altogether. They had jointly called for Latson’s dismissal already on Monday, 8 July 2019. They issued a joint statement in which they stated that they had read about Latson in the Palm Beach Post of 5 July 2019, and proceed to call for what seems to be the ex post-facto application of the new (anti-BDS) law that they had sponsored:

“And under new statutes just signed into law in May, which every single member of our legislature supported, Holocaust-denial is defined as anti-Semitism. Instances  of anti-Semitism by public employees in our k-20 public education system must be treated the same as racism. […] As a result, we demand the immediate termination of Principal Latson.” (Space Coast Daily, 11 July 2019)

Furthermore, wrote Representatives Fine and Book:

 “[…W]e demand a full and complete investigation into how such anti-Semitic conduct could have been tolerated and covered up by the school district’s bureaucracy for more than a year.” (Ibid.)

On 10 July 2019 the Commissioner of Education, Republican Richard Corcoran (a former speaker of the Florida House) issued a press release seeming to echo the positions of the Jewish legislators Fine and Book, stating:

“Be sure that I will use every tool at my disposal to ensure that this type of behavior is not tolerated at any school in Florida.”

What “type of behavior”? The Commissioner urged superintendent Donald Fennoy to investigate what he bizarrely called Latson’s “discriminatory behavior.” Corcoran pointed to Florida’s new law against anti-Semitism that had just taken effect on 1 July 2019, which included in its definition of that offense: “accusing Jews as a people or the State of Israel of inventing or exaggerating the Holocaust.” Corcoran also demanded an explanation of why the school supposedly did not meet state mandates to teach about the Holocaust.  (WPTV, 11 July 2019)

William Latson of course was culpable of none of that (most obviously not in the few days since that new law against “anti-Semitism” had taken effect). Latson’s offense was not “discriminatory behavior” but rather trying too hard to be fair to everyone, and he had not remotely accused Jews of anything.

Nonetheless, as poorly informed as he unmistakably was, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran ultimately played the key role in determining Latson’s fate.

In addition to the calls for vengeance against William Latson and also, ultimately, against the school bureaucracy that had tolerated him, the hoopla was exploited by Senator Marco Rubio and three other (all Jewish) U.S. senators – Kevin Cramer, Jacky Rosen, Richard Blumenthal  – as the occasion for a new federal law, the Never Again Education Act. (Rubio has never admitted to being Jewish, but among Republican candidates he was clearly the favorite of Jewish hedgefund managers in 2016 and his professions of Christianity seem questionable when he has seemed to adhere to several widely varying forms simultaneously.) The purpose of the bill was to give $10 million to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum for increasing its outreach in schools throughout the USA. On 29 May 2020 the World Jewish Congress thanked President Trump for signing the Never Again Education Act into law.

The Reality

Much was made of Principal William Latson’s supposed “Holocaust-denial” and even “anti-Semitism,” but in reality he had done nothing wrong.

First, there was no shortage of “Holocaust education” at Spanish River Community High School. Southern Palm Beach County is about one-third Jewish by population, and the school-curriculum naturally reflected that. Michelle Marchante, writing in the Miami Herald, noted:

“The Palm Beach County school district has received national recognition for its Holocaust curriculum, which is said to have significantly exceeded what has been mandated by the state since 1994.” (9 July 2019)

A story in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel of 19 July 2019 is headed: “Holocaust education is a giant jumble in Florida.” It says:

“Florida requires schools to teach children about the Holocaust, but it’s OK if two students learn vastly different lessons. The state leaves it up to school principals to decide […] which leaves a patchwork of approaches around the state. […] it’s up to principals to implement as they see fit, even though the state has required it since 1994.” (L.K. Solomon, Sun-Sentinel, 19 July 2019)

Principal Latson was not in violation of that 1994 law, nor any formal policy. Proof of this can be found in the fact that when the calls for Latson’s dismissal eventually were placated several months later, neither Latson’s performance as principal nor his statements to the complaining Jewish activist could be used to justify his dismissal. The report recommending Latson’s termination does not address his statements about the Holocaust, where in fact he had done no wrong. Rather, it nitpicks his failure to respond to communications from superiors after the controversy broke, which happened to be while he was traveling to Jamaica. The report invokes this failure to communicate as a pretext for firing him.

Latson’s attorney opined that because the system had not found fault with Latson in 2018, it was now retroactively blaming him in excess to appease the ADL. (WPTV 2019)

The reliance on flimsy pretexts led, in the following year, to the finding by Administrative Law Judge Robert Cohen that Latson had been treated unfairly and should be rehired.

How it All Began

On the morning of Friday, 13 April 2018, Principal William Latson of Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Florida received an email, ostensibly from a group of concerned citizens interested in learning about how the school was implementing “the Florida Mandate to include Holocaust Education.” The Jewish “concerned citizen,” who has never been required to abandon anonymity, wrote to Latson:

“We would like to know in what ways/classes is Holocaust education provided to all of the students?”

This “mandate,” enacted as law in 1994 in the aftermath of Schindler’s List, was in fact quite vague. It did not require that all students at all schools take the same courses.

In order to impart some urgency to the alleged need for “Holocaust education” in one-third Jewish southern Palm Beach County, and to convince Latson, the Jewish correspondent portrayed a plague of anti-Semitism.

First she referred to an “Anti-Semitic incident” across the street at Omni Middle School, which she accused the principal there of trying to conceal. Although it had become a matter of reckless journalistic exaggeration, the incident to which she refers seems in reality to have been hardly any incident at all.

In early 2017 the Palm Beach Post reported that a swastika was found “drawn on a boys’ bathroom stall,” prompting principal Gerald Riopelle to issue a robocall to parents informing them that the hate-symbol had been “immediately removed,” and soliciting tips about who had perpetrated “this act of vandalism and harassment.” (J. Millian, Palm Beach Post, 16 February 2017)

A “drawn” swastika can presumably be erased, washed away, or in the worst case painted over. Until recently such graffiti was never considered newsworthy. In the present era, however, after decades of Holocaust propaganda, such graffiti may be regarded as newsworthy, especially if some Jewish organization says something about it.

The ADL’s blog on 24 February 2017 went a little farther than the Palm Beach Post, stating that the swastika was not drawn but “etched” into the stall’s door – which would be a more serious form of vandalism, harder to repair. Graffiti that has been “etched” would likely still be visible after painting.

It turned out that both the ADL and the Palm Beach Post had exaggerated. The author of a local news blog who happens to be Jewish stated that the incident consisted of:

“an idiot kid drawing something that might look like a swastika on a Post-It note, only to have it immediately removed by staff and referred to administration.” (Boca News Now, 9 March 2017)

This is hardly graffiti or even any kind of vandalism. Boca News Now commented that the attention given to the Post-It note was grossly excessive. Boca News Now was a voice of sanity in a sea of hysteria.

Although the “citizen” who contacted Principal Latson had accused Principal Riopelle of trying to cover up the so-called incident, there really was not much to it – only an (in itself) inconsequential drawing of a swastika on a sticky piece of paper – which after all may very well have been left by a Jewish student.

The importance given to the Post-It note incident should have served as an early warning to William Latson to watch his step on that Friday the 13th, because he was now dealing with some extremely unreasonable people, whose unreasonableness happened to be supported by local journalism.

On top of that, Latson knew that these “concerned citizens” had already been in touch with the ADL, which has a reputation for exaggerating and exploiting “anti-Semitic incidents.” For example, in 2017 when a wave of hundreds of bomb-threats to synagogues and Jewish community centers was traced to a Jewish teenager named Michael Kadar in Israel, the ADL continued to count those hoaxes as anti-Semitic incidents.

After the incident with the Post-It note that was misrepresented as an “etched” swastika, ADL met with Omni Middle School’s administration and arranged that in the coming spring the students would be subjected to “anti-bias and pro-diversity training” and that teachers would be “equipped […] to effectively develop a culture of inclusion,” with implementation of  No Place For Hate® in the following school year.

The ADL had made sure to exploit the artificial hysteria at Omni Middle, and now it was Spanish River High’s turn.

Latson’s Jewish correspondent recalled that the so-called anti-Semitic incident at Omni: “led to the discovery that the principal there was not ensuring that Holocaust education was being incorporated into classes.”

Then she commented:

“Hopefully this is not an issue at Spanish River, and there is a priority placed on educating all students about the Holocaust.”

There  was no indication of trouble at Spanish River Community High School that needed to be addressed. Indeed, this had not even been the case at Omni Middle: the fictitious bogeyman of Anti-Semitism at the school was used to coerce acceptance of the ADL’s impositions.

Regardless of how Principal Latson might respond to that inquiry, whatever was already being done in the way of  “Holocaust education” was unlikely to be  regarded as enough.

Until the public controversy erupted and extraordinary pressure was applied, the district’s officials did not punish Latson – simply because he had done nothing wrong. His remarks were not controversial. As a principal of a public school he did indeed have “the role to be politically neutral.” Only organized Jewry’s view of what William Latson had said, and the inimical distortion that organized Jewry thereupon perpetrated and promulgated, made William Latson’s position appear controversial.

Meanwhile Latson’s superiors in the school district had made efforts to placate the complaining of Jewish ethnic activists, but predictably those efforts were in vain.

A Brief Interlude of Reason

When William Latson appealed his dismissal, it came before Administrative Law Judge Robert Cohen, who found that Latson had committed no offense deserving of dismissal. Judge Cohen said that students at Spanish River High were indeed learning about the Holocaust as required by law (M. Marchante, Miami Herald 7 October 2020). On 14 August 2020 Judge Cohen ruled that Latson “made some unfortunate choices in expressing his thoughts” but that his words and deeds did not constitute “gross insubordination” and “did not rise to the level of just cause for suspension or termination because the conduct was not so severe as to support that level of discipline.” Judge Cohen said that Latson had been grossly overpunished and should not have been subjected to more than a reprimand.

Judge Cohen recommended that he be rehired.

The Palm Beach County School Board heeded Judge Cohen’s recommendation to rehire, but powerful forces mobilized in opposition.

In October 2020 the Palm Beach County School Board met to consider rehiring Latson and listened to hours of testimony at a meeting attended by hundreds of citizens. The actual vote is postponed. (T. Wilson WPTV 5)

The Palm Beach Post reported that Latson’s attorney Thomas Elfers declared that taking a position on the Holocaust had not been within Latson’s responsibilities as a principal:

“Two or three parents were Holocaust deniers; Dr. Latson was pressured by one mother to confront them, and he declined. Confronting parents about their beliefs was outside the scope of his duties. After a century of contention between creationists and evolutionists, most educators have learned to teach the curriculum and to stay neutral.”

On 7 October 2020 school-board members Chuck Shaw, Marcia Andrews, Debra Robinson, and Barbara McQuinn voted to rehire Latson, while Chairman Frank Barbieri, member Erica Whitfield, and the only Jewish member Karen Brill, voted against. The school board assigned Latson to an administrative post and awarded him $152,000 in back pay.

Diabolus ex Machina Prevents a Reasonable Resolution

The Jewish agitators did not give up. Jewish school board member Karen Brill told a reporter: “For me, this isn’t over.” (R. Schultz, Boca 13 October 2020) After the rehiring, more than 1,300 public comments of up to three minutes each were left on the school district’s voice-mail. This method of commenting happened to be allowed at the time because of coronavirus precautions, and obviously was exploited by organized interests.

Karen Brill, obviously seeing this as support for her position, hailed the volume of public comment as “unprecedented.”

Board member Erica Whitfield, who had also voted against rehiring Latson, tried to describe the comments in a flattering way but nonetheless noted the ignorance of many of the commenters:

“Some of them are copied off others, but not everybody is on the same script. Some are sharing personal stories, like my mother was in the Holocaust. A lot of personal stories in there. They don’t have his name right. They don’t know what he did or what happened. But it’s pain. People are speaking to their own pain.”

School board member Debra Robinson was less charitable:

“I’ve had to resist the urge to respond to the emails we’ve gotten with erroneous information in them. Talk to me about the facts. I hate when people get bad information and then scream at me.”

In the school board’s next meeting two weeks after the rehire, several hours were taken up with in-person comments from hundreds, mostly complaining about the rehiring, although some had come to show support for Latson. One very poorly informed commenter who happened to appear in WPTV’s coverage stated:

“Either Mr. Latson lacked the knowledge or the courage to respond properly, or he deliberately chose to deny that the Holocaust actually happened.”

Since there was insufficient time for all comments to be heard, the meeting was continued and the rehire was reconsidered on 2 November. (Todd Wilson, WPTV)

Latson posted to YouTube an apologetic video stating:

“I am not a Holocaust denier,”

and,

“I was wrong. I apologize to the Palm Beach community, the school board, the school administration,  the parents, students, teachers of Palm Beach County, the Jewish community, and everyone offended or hurt by my mistake.” (Peter Burke, WFLX, 27 October 2020)

This is bending over backwards, since it is not evident that Latson was really “wrong” about anything. He had never even expressed an opinion about the Holocaust, except that it was not his place to express an opinion. It turned out that he was not allowed to refrain from endorsing the Holocaust. His “mistake” was taking the obligation of evenhandedness too seriously and failing to defer to Jewish demands.

Latson’s mea culpa and testimony of faith in the Holocaust helped nothing.

On Monday, 2 November, the school board voted unanimously to refire Latson.

In the period between the rehiring and the refiring, Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran sought to revoke Latson’s teaching certificate, bizarrely asserting that Latson “took advantage of his position of trust.” He wrote to the chief of Flroida’s Bureau of Educator Certification:

“The safety of Florida students was recently jeopardized when it was reported that MR. Latson, a principal in Palm Beach County, took advantage of his position of trust. […] I am committed to minimizing any potential threats to Florida students.”

“Potential threats”? From William Latson? This was deranged talk. It was on the same day, perhaps spurred by Corcoran, that the chairman of the school board, Frank Barbieri, called for reconsideration of the 4-3 decision from the previous week. (A. Marra, Palm Beach Post, 16 October 2020)

Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran requested cancellation of Latson’s teaching certificate. Michelle Marchante insinuated that this was unjust by including some significant context in the Miami Herald:

“Latson, who has worked for the Palm Beach public school district for more than 20 years, had a nearly spotless record and had been the principal of Spanish River High for 11 years.” (M. Marchante, Miami Herald, 2 November 2020)

This ended up being most consequential of all the measures taken against Latson: the Department of Education bars Latson from ever again being a principal or administrator but decides to let Latson keep his teaching certificate if he will endure a course on the Holocaust followed by three years of probation.

In November 2021 the Fourth District Court of Appeals upheld the refiring (eliciting approval from the Palm Beach County School Board’s only Jewish member Karen Brill) and on 17 January 2022 a brief was filed with the Supreme Court of the State of Florida. On 8 March 2022 the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

In March 2022 it was reported that Latson had accepted a “settlement” with the Florida Department of Education. Latson would never again be allowed to work in Florida public school as a principal or administrator, but he could become a teacher again, conditional upon completing a college-level course on the Holocaust, whereafter he would be on probation for three years.

The condition seems to take as its premise that Latson in 2018 had said that he could not affirm the factuality of the Holocaust because he lacked knowledge, when it is clear that his motive was simply to avoid taking sides in a dispute. (J. Malkin, WFLA Tampa, 28 March 2022)

Monika Schaefer gets involved

Near the end of Latson’s saga, on 9 January 2021, Monika Schaefer of Truth and Justice for Germans mass-emailed the faculty of Spanish River Community High School a letter explaining why Latson should not have been punished. She correctly noted that Latson had not disputed the Holocaust but merely maintained a “neutral” and “noncommittal” position. She also presented reasons why the Holocaust should be open for discussion, specifically the changes in the alleged death-tolls at Auschwitz and Majdanek.

Significantly, Boca News Now, with some disclaimers, published the entire text and supplied a link to the original message (including images) from this “known Holocaust denier.”

There were people in the media, including Boca News Now, who seemed to understand that what was being done to William Latson was unreasonable, but did not want to challenge the propaganda stampede head-on. Republishing Monika Schaefer was a way to say things that needed to be said under the aegis of reporting news, and thereby to avoid overtly owning those criticisms.

Amid the hoopla about William Latson, Florida’s very vague mandate for “Holocaust education” enacted in 1994 was superseded by stricter requirements – first bureaucratically, and then legislatively. And of course, the example of what happened to William Latson would deter other public-school officials from supposing that even-handedness should take precedence over Jewish wishes.