Christian News Writers Meet at Revisionist/ Institute for Historical Review Convention

Editor’s note: The following essay was originally published in the Vol. 28, No. 42, November 12, 1990 issue (pages 1, 18) of Christian News (CN), a Lutheran weekly published out of New Haven, Mo. It was a front page article, accompanied by a photograph of Revisionist writers who attended the 1990 conference of the Institute for Historical Review (IHR). We republish this in memory of the late Charles Provan.

On October 13, 14, and 15, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) held its 10^th International Revisionist Conference in Washington, D.C. Christian News (CN) readers may be interested in knowing that certain CN writers were present, and some met at for the first time.

Pictured at the conference site, from left to right: Dr. Robert Countess, Dr. Clarence Lang, Charles Provan, Jack Wikoff, and Paul Grubach.

This is the third IHR conference that I have attended, and I must say, I am duly impressed by the superb quality of the speeches given. At various different conferences, Mark Weber, Ted O’Keefe, Robert Countess, David Irving, Robert Faurisson, Clarence Lang, Jerome Brentar, Herman Otten, etc., delivered interesting lectures on various aspects of Revisionist history and current affairs.

The opponents of the IHR have claimed that its followers and supporters are, for the most part, a group of intolerant bigots, Nazis, and anti-Semites. I have found this to be patently false.

For example, just about every Revisionist that I ever spoken with at these conferences is willing to listen to and objectively examine the Exterminationist point of view. This tolerant attitude contrasts sharply with the intolerance of a large number of the IHR’s enemies who refuse to listen to Revisionist viewpoints, or have attempted to have the IHR censored.

It is true that some of the people who attend the IHR conferences are Nazis—but the majority certainly are not. In fact, at these conferences I have met a significant number of people who are very critical of and reject outright right-wing Nazism.

In addition, I have met at these meetings only a very few irrational, Jew-hating anti-Semites. I have met a far greater number of legitimate intellectual critics of Jewish political power and influence. This latter group consists of those people who have put forth rational and valid critiques of such things as the “Holocaust” propaganda, the Zionist lobby, the ADL, etc. It is unfortunate that many people in our society cannot differentiate between the two types of individuals.

It is also interesting to note how, in my opinion, the opponents of Christian News have attempted to paint a false image of certain CN writers. For example, Pastor Roger Kovaciny and Mr. Eugene Faulstich have insinuated that Charles Provan is an unthinking “trained seal” and “neo-Nazi hatchet man” for CN. I met Chuck at the most recent IHR conference for the first time, and found that the real man is totally different from this false image. Chuck struck me as being an intelligent, tolerant and friendly man who is willing to give his opponents a fair hearing.

The Revisionist scholar, Harry Elmer Barnes, pointed out that Revisionism is “the bringing of history into accord with the facts.” And this is precisely what the speakers at the IHR conferences have attempted to do. The readers of CN should note that this Revisionist agenda is congruent with the commands of the New Testament. For it is written (John 8: 2): “Know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” The Revisionist motto could very well be: “Know the truth about history, and it shall make our people free.”