Letters

A Great Man

David Irving seems convinced that his appeal of the judgement in the London Irving-Lipstadt libel case will succeed. [See the March-April 2000 Journal.] And while it would in any “pure” legal arena, I think the decision will go against him. The widely accepted view that British courts are somehow fairer or more impartial than our own corruption-ridden system is fallacious.

Irving made a fundamental strategic mistake in going headon against massively betterfunded adversaries. As he documented in his pleadings and in the evidence he marshalled with consummate skill, his adversaries' wealthy backers had already lined up most of the western world against him. No rational person could doubt, therefore, that a lone London judge who dared to flout such power faced, and knew he faced, professional ruin. Justice may exist somewhere in this universe, but it is not of this world.

While it is easy for an outsider to criticize, it should be remembered that Irving was impelled by the strongest of all human motives – self-preservation.

That the governments of supposedly enlightened and British countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada deny entry to Britisher Irving is a disgrace.

The many years of devious and vicious attacks against him and his reputation, livelihood and family, documented in this court case, form a catalog of depraved, cowardly intolerance. Against all this putrescent political power a lone man, proxy for free people everywhere, has stood and fought a lopsided battle for free speech. Such sustained bravery over decades, is the purest rarity. Courage such as his overshadows everything else about David Irving.

This distinguished author is also remarkably helpful to other writers and historians, and he replies to historical queries courteously and fully, often with illuminating detail – hardly what one would expect from such an inhumanely busy man.

His books will bulk large in the records of our age, and so will David Irving himself. As General Douglas MacArthur said, “The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave.” Irving's turbulent life proves that.

By any measure, he is one of the world's truly great men.

T. C.
Desert Hot Springs, Calif

Giving Ammunition to Liars

David Irving's lawsuit against Deborah Lipstadt came out pretty much the way many of us predicted it would – with Irving losing. I admire Irving a great deal, but to be fair, he brought much of this on himself by, for example, addressing meetings sponsored by such groups William Pierce's National Alliance, which has a strong racialist agenda. Such associations give ammunition to the liars in academia, the media and the government.

M. R.
W. Milford, New Jersey

Valuable Writing

Robert Faurisson's 30-page article, “Impact and Future of Holocaust Revisionism” (Jan.-Feb. 2000 Journal) is the most valuable writing I have ever encountered that sums up the case against the “Holocaust.” I found his lucid explanations of the origins of, and motivations behind, the “Holocaust” campaign (pages 16-19) of particular importance. The essay's length and persuasiveness make it quite appropriate for mass distribution as a booklet, especially for students who have been subjected “Holocaust” courses. Every journalist with a sense of fairness and objectivity could benefit from it, especially those who touch on “Holocaust” issues in their writings. Jews should read Faurisson's article because a constant dwelling on the “Holocaust” demoralizes them and makes their relations with non-Jews ultimately more difficult. Germans should read it for the important historical perspective it provides.

Charles E. Weber, Ph.D.
Tulsa, Okla.

The Crucial Issue

While I don't agree with everything I find on your web site, I think that some of your arguments are important and correct. However, your focus on whether six million, or six, Jews were murdered by the Nazis seems irrelevant – certainly not the place to wage an academic battle. (l accept that the Nazis killed large numbers of Jews.)

Today, more than half a century after the end of World War II, the crucial issue is not whether there were gas chambers, or how many died in ovens, and so forth, but rather how Jews wield their great power and influence, including using the “Holocaust” as a device to advance their interests.

In this regard, it is important to realize that the Jewish practice of profitably portraying themselves as sacrificial innocents is nothing new. Far from starting with the “Holocaust,” it has always bElen part of the Jewish self-conception.

Along with, I assume, many other “outsiders,” I suspect that those who so emphatically focus on the alleged non-existence of gas chambers have a vested interest, to some degree, in defending the honor of Germany.

My politics have always been mostly to the left. I began to change my view of Jews in 199293 when I lived in Israel as a Fulbright scholar, and observed routine humiliating mistreatment by Jews of non-Jews. That experience profoundly troubled me, and led me to intensive research of Jews and the “Jewish question.

For the past several years I have been working on an encyclopedic book about the Jews and their role in society. For example, I have dug up tremendous detail about the Jewish role in the sports and pornography businesses. Most of the sources in this massive study are, of course, Jewish.

My book addresses just about every aspect of this vast issue, including Jewish identity, Jewish ethnocentrism, Jewish racism, Jewish history (including the perpetual problems with non-Jews), the “Russian” mafia, Wall Street, Jewish double-standard “ethics,” Jewish dominance of AfricanAmerican organizations, “antiSemitism,” Israel/Zionism, and the Jewish power role in the mass media, modern art, government, and “intellectual” life.

In this book I try to tie it all together, showing why identifying Jews who hold power and wield influence is not irrational or “prejudicial” but, to the contrary, essential. My moral outrage at what I have found has led me to devote huge amounts of time to this project.

R. K.
[bye-mail]

No to 'Exterminationist'

I wish you would stop using the term “exterminationist” to refer to those who uphold or defend the traditional Holocaust extermination story. For the uninitiated the term is confusing. It sounds bizarre, like the name of a professional wrestler, an insecticide brand name or a comic book villain. As an alternative, I suggest “holocausterian.”

Beyond that, I appreciate Robert Faurisson's desire to avoid the term “Holocaust,” because it appeals to pseudo-religious, irrational and fantasy impulses.

D. D.
Böblingen, Germany

Recalling German Wartime Anti-Gas Bomb Shelters

In the July-August 1999 Journal, I read with special interest the article by Samuel Crowell, “Wartime Germany's Anti-Gas Air Raid Shelters.” Having grown up in Berlin during the Third Reich, I remember very well the wartime air raid shelter in our apartment complex.

At the beginning of his article, Crowell writes: “.. . Many people expected gas warfare to be a feature any future conflict … German civil defense literature of the time reflected this anxiety, describing in detail how bomb shelters were to be made secure from both bombs and poison gas … German bomb shelters were also designed and built as anti-gas shelters.” I find this remark to be very accurate.

Our apartment shelter was originally used only for storage by the people living in the building, but soon it was transformed into an air raid shelter for the six families living in each walk-up.

I was still young – eleven when the war began in 1939 and nearly 17 when it ended – but I clearly remember when the transformation took place. An extra heavy metal door was added to the cellar entrance, and at the entrance to the area in front of that, at the bottom of the flight of stairs, a heavy curtain was added. We were definitely told that this was a protection against possible gas attacks. The curtained-off area in front of the cellar was for the shedding of poisoned clothing, we were told,

The small windows that were part of each individual cellar storage area were indeed closed off with the shutter-type devices described by Crowell. I also remember seeing at least one gas mask in the cellar area.

I also recall talk of a washing area in case of gas attack injuries. However, I did not actually see it because we children were not allowed to roam about in the shelters during air raids. One of the men always had to be stationed near the entrance, to keep any possibly contaminated person from dashing into our shelter. Before being allowed to enter, the person would first have had to go through the decontamination process.

The matter-of-fact advertisement for “Panzerlit” steel protective doors (reproduced on page 21 of Crowell's article) was typical of wartime “steel saving” closures for protection against air attacks.

As Crowell writes, it is more than reasonable to assume that large German labor or concentration camps would have had comparable shelters with similar anti-gas features to protect those who lived and worked there. At Birkenau, where else would such shelters have been but in the [Krema morgue] cellars?

Crowell's well-researched and fact-filled article offers a very plausible explanation for anyone willing to see the truth.

G. E. K.
Grants Pass, Oregon

Era of Consolidation

Just a quick note to say how much I've enjoyed learning so much from you about history, especially the history of the 20th century – which might well be called the era of the consolidation of Jewish power. I greatly appreciate your forceful stand against the historical lie of the Holocaust. I enjoy helping to expand the power of the IHR.

J. R.
Bakersfield, Calif.

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