Letters

In addition to revisionist history, there is the related matter of the history of revisionism, a subject I do not think can be done at the moment. The person I thought capable of doing this right was Keith Stimely [editor of The Journal of Historical Review in the early 1980s], and I am still grieving his demise [1993]. In my opinion he was the next H.E. Barnes.

I am led to ruminate upon the fate of the vintage of revisionists which I was part of, those immediately on the scene following our teachers, who created the field to begin with. I must say that those such as I underwent a dismal experience, ultimately losing our reputations, our careers, our livelihoods and finally even our names, reduced to a generic peon class (“the revisionists”) and our work subjected to massive ugly slander and then denied even existence. But this is narrative commentary, not complaint. Anyone essaying forth as a critic has no business expecting to be honored, esteemed, rewarded or even employed.

These states are always reserved for the hacks and flacks of a given Establishment, the grinning lackeys and the compliant conformers at the court, understood acutely by de la Boetie in his Discours de la Servitude Voluntaire, and before him by a succession of students of this phenomenon ranging from Erasmus to Horace (the latter wrote that thelock-step of his time was too dangerous even to try to satirize).

One of the eminent social philosophers of this century, Bertrand Russell, wrote: “No society can flourish long without a leaven of rebels—that is to say, of men who pursue some aim regardless of public approval or disapproval” (in The Dial, May, 1924, p. 463). My own guess is that we have finally evolved one here; “rebels” of any decent composition in this land are about as welcome as bubonic plague (Mencken spelled it “boobonic”). Anyway, when they are safely dead, it may be permissible to accord respect to critic troublemakers, and commend those who cannot or will not work docilely as tractable mules in harness.

James J. Martin.

Dr. James J. Martin, author of American Liberalism and World Politics, 1931-1941; The Saga of Hog Island and Other Essays in Inconvenient History, The Man Who Invented “Genocide,” and numerous other books and articles, has been called “the dean of living revisionist historians.” Like his contemporary David Hoggan a protégé of the great revisionist scholar Harry Elmer Barnes, James Martin paid highly (in terms of the academic and monetary rewards and honors that would have normally fallen to a scholar of his skill and productivity) for his adherence to revisionist methods and findings. For all that, Dr. Martin’s scholarship, knowledge, and counsel have provided inspiration to a new school of revisionist historians, working entirely outside the academy, including such editors of the JHR as Stimely, Ted O'Keefe, and Mark Weber.

I have only recently come across your Website and must congratulate you on your excellent work. Immediately I shared your articles with my father. He could hardly believe his eyes. He is now 70 years old, born in Yugoslavia of ethnic German heritage. His one great hope was to live long enough to see the truth of what he experienced emerge. On his behalf I thank you—you have our gratitude and support.

A.B., PA

I am not a holocaust denier, because the law will catch up with me if I say I am. Besides, I was also a holocaust survivor of a bombing raid of my home town Bielefeld, Westphalia in winter, 1944. I never made a compensation claim. I didn’t want to be laughed at.

Christian Borleis, Australia

Thank you. I love you guys.

Saber Amine, Morocco

It’s obvious to me that what is desperately needed is a revisionist guide in booklet form to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Perhaps you can float this idea in the next SR and see if there is any interest, or better, offers of help. If so, maybe you can set up a scholarship fund or a stipend for such a project.

Casey O’Toole, MT

You're right-such a project is needed. I started work on this one four years ago with my friend Ross Vicksell. Ross was doing the research and taking the photographs. Before we could get very far into the project, to the great loss of all who knew him, Ross fell sick and died. The work he did is lost to me. A revisionist guide to the Museum would be a very valuable tool for us. I wonder who there is who could pick this one up and run with it?

The recent statement by the Vatican about the Holocaust etc. is getting lukewarm reactions from the Jewish community here, with a particularly nasty N.Y. Times editorial today. The reasons for the reaction seem to be that they wanted the Vatican to agree that all Christians, particularly Catholics, were responsible for the Nazi anti-Jewish laws and actions. But there is more here than meets the eye. The lobby (I like your use of the word “cult”) is aware of the inroads of revisionists such as yourself even though they studiously don’t mention it. They were hoping that the Vatican statement would lend support to their cult beliefs about the six million, the gas chambers, etc. It did not, but they don’t dare complain about it directly since to do so would draw attention to the controversial nature of the cult claims. Hence, the vague “dissatisfaction.”

A number of more gutsy Catholics (still a minority) are getting tired of the attacks on Pope Pus XII, a saintly man who really did what he could to help the Jews (a fact recognized by many Jews), and are responding. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights ran a particularly good op-ed ad in the Times recently defending the record of the Pope. But even they have not yet picked up the fact that the Vatican’s failure to protest the gas chambers was that they did not have any information about them for the very good reason that they didn’t exist. And the Vatican, like the Red Cross, did have inside contacts on both sides during the war and certainly would have heard. I have called this to the attention of the Catholic League, but apparently even the gutsy Catholics don’t want to take on the Holocaust cult on that one. But I think they will ultimately have to in order to not be forced to crawl.

Albert Doyle, NY

If I can scrape up the money I shall be at the house of horrors in Washington DC the 19-20th of April. From Florida it’s almost 1,000 miles but I haven’t missed a year since it opened. All at my expense, with the help last year of a generous revisionist. The turnout has never been a smashing success, but then none of the “newsletter” publishers bothered to mention the event, even though asked. Maybe you’ll break with that tradition this year.

Johannes Pfaeffle, FL

SR readers: If you would like to join in the yearly celebration at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum but don't know how to go about it, get in touch with Johannes, whom I have known for many years. As a matter of fact, he is the one who manufactured the “No Gas Chambers, No Six Million” T-shirts that my daughter Paloma likes so much. He may still have some in stock. If you can't travel to Washington yourself, perhaps you will be able to help Johannes with his expenses. If he gets enough help, he will be able to help others. Telephone or fax him in Florida at: (904) 274 4292.