Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

How Relevant is Holocaust Revisionism?

By Mark Weber January 7, 2009

For more than 30 years, writers and publicists who call themselves revisionists have presented evidence and arguments questioning generally accepted accounts of the Holocaust. Some of these researchers have shown impressive fortitude -- defying smears, abuse, physical violence, and worse. /1

In countries where Holocaust denial is a crime, skeptics have been fined, imprisoned or forced into exile for expressing dissident views on this issue. /2 These victims of what amounts to a blatant suppression of free speech include Robert Faurisson and Roger Garaudy in France, Siegfried Verbeke in Belgium, Jrgen Graf and Gaston-Armand Amaudruz in Switzerland, and Ernst Zundel and Germar Rudolf in Germany.

Revisionists have published impressive evidence, including long neglected documents and testimony, that has contributed to a more complete and accurate understanding of an emotion-laden and highly polemicized chapter of history.

I have played a role in this effort. In published writings, in lectures, and in courtroom testimony, I have devoted much time and work to critically reviewing the official Holocaust narrative, to countering Holocaust propaganda, and to debunking specific Holocaust claims.

But in spite of years of effort by revisionists, including some serious work that on occasion has forced mainstream historians to make startling concessions, /3 there has been little success in convincing people that the familiar Holocaust story is defective.

This lack of success is not difficult to understand. Revisionists are up against a well-organized, decades-long campaign that is promoted in the mass media, reinforced in classrooms, and supported by politicians. /4

Tim Cole, a history professor and prominent specialist of Holocaust studies, has written in his book Selling the Holocaust: From a relatively slow start, we have now come to the point where Jewish culture in particular, and Western culture more generally, are saturated with the 'Holocaust'. Indeed, the 'Holocaust' has saturated Western culture to such an extent that it appears not only centre stage, but also lurks in the background. This can be seen in the remarkable number of contemporary movies which include the 'Holocaust' as plot or sub-plot.

Between 1989 and 2003 alone, more than 170 films with Holocaust themes were made. In many American and European schools, a focus on the wartime suffering of Europe's Jews is obligatory. Every major American city has at least one Holocaust museum or memorial. The largest is the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which is run by a taxpayer-funded federal government agency, and draws some two million visitors yearly.

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

In the past two weeks, Veterans Today has published three pieces on Holocaust revisionism by Alan Hart, and one set of reflections by Jim Dean and Paul Eisen. Any discussion of this topic is welcome, given its central importance in American life today.

However, Hart, in particular, perpetuates some false and misleading ideas about the matter, and thus a reply is called for.

Let me begin with a few points that Hart has correct. There are, in fact, three essential elements to the event called the Holocaust:

(1) intention to mass murder the Jews, by Hitler and the Nazi elite;

(2) the use of gas chambers; and

(3) the 6 million deaths.

If any one of these three should undergo substantial revision, then, technically speaking, we no longer have The Holocaustat least, not in any meaningful sense. (Broadly speaking, of course, any mass fatality is a holocaust.) Holocaust revisionism contends that, not one, but all three of these points are grossly in error, and thus that The Holocaust, as such, did not occur. Obviously, this is not to deny that a tragedy happened to the Jews, nor that many thousands died, directly and indirectly, as a result of the war. But the conventional account is an extreme exaggeration.

Harts treatment of these issues is woefully inadequate. On the first point, he claims that the Nazis did indeed have a program of mass murder, and that they deliberately and systematically implemented itbut only after the British abandoned their commitment to Zionism in May 1939. And yet, he offers no evidence that this was a major turning point in German policy. I am unaware that any such evidence exists.

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

Welcome to our Introduction to Historical Revisionism!

In the following text you will find the questions which are most frequently asked about Holocaust Revisionism. You will find our answers by simply clicking your mouse on the question. We also offer a leaflet for free download which summarizes Holocaust Revisionism in a nutshell. This is the perfect flyer for a brief introduction and as a handout to others. Castle Hill wishes you a lot of worthwhile discoveries while browsing through the following page.

Questions and Answers

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask: question@vho.org

The word "Revisionism" is derived from the Latin word "revidere," which means to view again. The revision of long held theories is entirely normal. It occurs in the natural sciences as well as the social sciences, to which the discipline of history belongs. Science is not a static condition. It is a process, specifically the creating of knowledge by searching for evidence. When ongoing research finds new evidence, or when critical researchers discover mistakes in old explanations, it often happens that old theories have to be changed or even abandoned.

By "Revisionism" we mean critically examining established theories and hypotheses in order to test their validity. Scientists need to know when new evidence modifies or contradicts old theories; indeed, one of their main obligations is to test time-honored conceptions and attempt to refute them. Only in an open society in which individuals are free to challenge prevailing theories can we ascertain the validity of these theories, and be confident that we are approaching the truth. For a fuller discussion of this, the reader should acquaint himself with the essay by Dr. C. Nordbruch in the Neuer Zrcher Zeitung of 12 June 1999.

Return to Questions

Like other scientific concepts, our historical concepts are subject to critical consideration. This is especially true when new evidence is discovered. We must constantly re-examine historical theories, particularly in case:

When we are dealing with the distant past, even a small piece of new evidence can profoundly change our views. As for the recent past, the truism "the victor writes the history of the war" still holds; and victor is hardly ever objective. Revision of victor-history is usually not possible until the confrontation between victor and vanquished has ceased to exist; and sometimes these confrontations last for centuries. Since historiography has negligible monetary significance, almost all historical institutes are financed by their respective governments. Free and independent historical institutes are practically nonexistent. In contemporary history, in which individual governments have huge political interests, we must be skeptical toward the official historiography. Another truism reminds us that "he who pays the piper, calls the tune." These reasons explain why Historical Revisionism is important and why the rulers of the world tend to oppose it.

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FAQ about Holocaust Revisionism - VHO

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

Holocaust denial (also Holocaust "revisionism") is assertion that the Holocaust (often called the "Holohoax") perpetrated by Nazi Germany, other Axis powers, and their collaborators in occupied Europe during the Second World War never happened or - in true conspiracy theory fashion - the denial that it happened according to the "official" story. Like most conspiracy theories, it takes many forms, from the fairly light claims of "exaggeration" to the extreme views of outright fraud, fakery and Zionist conspiracy. Generally, the claims include:

Particularly when it focuses on "how the Jews faked it all," Holocaust denial is a form of anti-Semitism often embraced by bigots who are too cowardly to admit that they wished that Hitler had finished the job.

I visited every nook and cranny of the camp because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify at first hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief or assumption that "the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda." Some members of the visiting party were unable to go through with the ordeal. I not only did so but as soon as I returned to Patton's headquarters that evening I sent communications to both Washington and London, urging the two governments to send instantly to Germany a random group of newspaper editors and representative groups from the national legislatures. I felt that the evidence should be immediately placed before the American and the British publics in a fashion that would leave no room for cynical doubt.

The Holocaust was, according to Wikipedia:

Today, scholars of history are divided between two interpretations of the Holocaust: functionalism versus intentionalism.[wp] Both functionalists and intentionalists agree that the Holocaust occurred, but functionalists disagree with the claim that the Holocaust was Hitler's intention from the beginning, either from the time of Mein Kampf, or his ascension to power, or even the beginning of the war. By contrast, intentionalists see the Holocaust as being primarily Hitler's idea, something he had planned even for years before coming to power. Functionalists see the Holocaust evolving bottom-up rather than being ordered from the top-down. That Hitler did not plan or order the Holocaust does not mean he escapes moral responsibility for it. He created the climate of extreme anti-Semitism that made it possible, created many of the policies which immediately contributed to it, provided the leadership that considered these measures both permissible and acceptable and failed to stop or prevent it.

For example, both intentionalists and functionalists agree that Hitler ordered deportation of Jews to Nazi-occupied Poland but intentionalists believe that "deportation" was from the very beginning a codeword for extermination (see explanation of Nazi euphemisms below), while functionalists see "deportation" at the beginning as being quite literally that a plan to deport Jews, with little thought as to what would happen to them when they arrived in Poland. Functionalists see the Holocaust as a bureaucratic solution among low-level Nazi officials in Poland to handle all these incoming Jews, by killing most of them. Functionalists such as Ian Kershaw also point to the highly chaotic nature of the Nazi state, in which individuals vied with one another for power and Hitler's good favour (often the same thing). This process, referred to by historians (after Nazi civil servant Werner Willikins) as "working towards the Fuhrer," aimed at satisfying Hitler's ever-increasing calls for "radicalism" in all matters of policy, naturally led various officials to propose more and more extreme solutions to the "Jewish question" (that there were multiple proposed solutions is evidenced by the term "the Final Solution"). Functionalists still believe that, even if Hitler did not directly start the Holocaust, he became aware of it while it was in progress and in all probability signed off on the proposal - in no way does functionalism absolve Hitler of moral responsibility or downplay the atrocities themselves. Unlike Holocaust denial, functionalism is an academically respectable position in the field of history.

Many Holocaust deniers describe themselves as "revisionists." Does that mean they are not deniers?

How do we define Holocaust denial?

Modern scholarship defines "The Holocaust" as:

The Free Dictionary defines "denial" as:

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

Imagine a World Without Hate

In honor of our Centennial Year in 2013, the Anti-Defamation League launched the Imagine a World Without Hate video and action campaign, and we invite you to participate.

Take just 80 seconds of your time to watch this powerful video, which imagines a world without racism, homophobia or anti-Semitism a world in which the hate violence that took the lives of Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, Daniel Pearl, Matthew Shepard and others did not happen. Imagine what these individuals could have continued to contribute to society if bigotry, hate and extremism had not cut their lives tragically short.

After 100 years of fighting bigotry and fostering respect, we are celebrating our successes, while at the same time recognizing that we still have a long way to go to achieve the reality of a world without hate. Join us by watching, sharing and taking steps every day to create a world without hate. Thank you for stepping up to create a world without hate as an individual, community, school or corporation.

ADL is most grateful to the families of those featured in the video, whose commitment and participation made this campaign possible, and to the Estate of John Lennon for granting us the rights to use his beautiful and iconic song.

Imagine a World Without Hate. We do. Join us.

Learn more about the Imagine a World Without Hate video in our Press Releases:

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

Anti-Bias Education

The increasingly pluralistic population of the United States creates diverse communities, student bodies and employees.To enhance mutual understanding and respect among the various religious, ethnic and cultural groups, the Anti-Defamation League offers a Calendar of Observances as a tool to increase awareness and sensitivity about religious obligations as well as ethnic and cultural festivities that may affect students, colleagues and neighbors.

The calendar is available for free download in PDF format:

This multi-faith calendar includes significant religious observances of the major faiths represented in the United States.Thus, it can be used as a resource when planning:

In addition, the calendar notes U.S. holidays that are either legal holidays or observed in various states and communities throughout the country.

A third component is the inclusion of important national and international observances that may be commemorated in the U.S.

The dates of secular holidays are based on the Gregorian calendar, which is commonly used for civil dating purposes.

Many religions and cultures follow various traditional calendar systems that are often based on the phases of the moon with occasional adjustments for the solar cycle. Therefore, specific Gregorian calendar dates for these observances will differ from year to year.

In addition, calculation of specific dates may vary by geographical location and according to different sects within a given religion.

Bahai, Jewish and Islamic holidays begin at sundown the previous day and end at sundown on the date listed.

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Posted By admin on July 13, 2015

Level: Intermediate

Kashrut is a set of biblical dietary restrictions Certain foods cannot be eaten Certain foods must be separated Certification makes it easier to identify kosher food

Kashrut is the body of Jewish law dealing with what foods we can and cannot eat and how those foods must be prepared and eaten. "Kashrut" comes from the Hebrew root Kaf-Shin-Reish, meaning fit, proper or correct. It is the same root as the more commonly known word "kosher," which describes food that meets these standards. The word "kosher" can also be used, and often is used, to describe ritual objects that are made in accordance with Jewish law and are fit for ritual use.

Contrary to popular misconception, rabbis or other religious officials do not "bless" food to make it kosher. There are blessings that observant Jews recite over food before eating it, but these blessings have nothing to do with making the food kosher. Food can be kosher without a rabbi or priest ever becoming involved with it: the vegetables from your garden are undoubtedly kosher (as long as they don't have any bugs, which are not kosher!). However, in our modern world of processed foods, it is difficult to know what ingredients are in your food and how they were processed, so it is helpful to have a rabbi examine the food and its processing and assure kosher consumers that the food is kosher. This certification process is discussed below.

Kosher dietary laws are observed all year round, not just during Pesach (Passover). There are additional dietary restrictions during Pesach, and many foods that are kosher for year-round use are not "kosher for Passover." A bagel, for example, can be kosher for year-round use but is certainly not kosher for Passover! Foods that are kosher for Passover, however, are always kosher for year-round use.

There is no such thing as "kosher-style" food. Kosher is not a style of cooking. Chinese food can be kosher if it is prepared in accordance with Jewish law, and there are many fine kosher Chinese restaurants in Philadelphia and New York. Traditional Ashkenazic Jewish foods like knishes, bagels, blintzes, and matzah ball soup can all be non-kosher if not prepared in accordance with Jewish law. When a restaurant calls itself "kosher-style," it usually means that the restaurant serves these traditional Jewish foods, and it almost invariably means that the food is not actually kosher.

Food that is not kosher is commonly referred to as treif (lit. torn, from the commandment not to eat animals that have been torn by other animals).

Many modern Jews think that the laws of kashrut are simply primitive health regulations that have become obsolete with modern methods of food preparation. There is no question that some of the dietary laws have some beneficial health effects. For example, the laws regarding kosher slaughter are so sanitary that kosher butchers and slaughterhouses have been exempted from many USDA regulations.

However, health is not the only reason for Jewish dietary laws. Many of the laws of kashrut have no known connection with health. To the best of our modern scientific knowledge, there is no reason why camel or rabbit meat (both treif) is any less healthy than cow or goat meat. In addition, some of the health benefits to be derived from kashrut were not made obsolete by the refrigerator. For example, there is some evidence that eating meat and dairy together interferes with digestion, and no modern food preparation technique reproduces the health benefit of the kosher law of eating them separately.

In recent years, several secular sources that have seriously looked into this matter have acknowledged that health does not explain these prohibitions. Some have suggested that the prohibitions are instead derived from environmental considerations. For example, a camel (which is not kosher) is more useful as a beast of burden than as a source of food. In the Middle Eastern climate, the pig consumes a quantity of food that is disproportional to its value as a food source. But again, these are not reasons that come from Jewish tradition.

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Posted By richards on July 12, 2015

Are most modern Jews primarily of European or Middle and Near Eastern ancestry?That controversial subjectat the heart of the debate over the historical right ofreturn claimed by many religious Jewsis back in the headlines with the releaseof a massive new study published in Nature Communications challenging someestablished views of the origins of European Jewry.

The total Ashkenazi population is estimated at around 8 million people. Theestimated world Jewish population is about 13 million.

Before the advent of advanced DNA research, it had been thought by somehistorians that European Jewry traced to the largely pagan population of ancientKhazaria in the Caucuses, whose leadership was believed to have converted toJudaism beginning around 700 AD. But that theoryknown as the Khazarianhypothesishas been largely discredited by DNA research. One geneticist, Eran Elhaik, has recently attempted to revive the theory, but his research has been sharply challenged.

A groundbreaking paper published in 2000 by Harry Ostrer, a professor of geneticsat the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and University of Arizona geneticistMichael Hammer showed that most modern Jews are descended on their male sidefrom a core population of approximately 20,000 Jews who migrated from Italy overthe first millennium and eventually settled in Eastern Europe.

All European [Ashkenazi] Jews seem connected on the order of fourth or fifthcousins, Ostrer has said.

Known as the so-called Rhineland hypothesis, the consensus research holds thatmost Ashkenazi Jews, as well as many Jews tracing their lineage to Italy, NorthAfrica, Iraq, Iran, Kurdish regions and Yemen, share common paternal haplotypesalso found among many Arabs from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Only a smallpercentage of the Y-DNA of Ashkenazi Jewsless than 25 percentoriginatedoutside of the Near East, presumably as converts.

This historical and genetic mosaic has provided support for the controversialconcept of a Jewish people. The Law of Return, the Israeli law that establishedthe right of Jews around the world to settle in Israel and which remains in forcetoday, was a central tenet of Zionism. It is invoked by some religious Jews to supportterritorial claims (even though, based on this research, many Arabs, includingPalestinians, where therefore also have a genetic right of return).

But what about the female lineage? That history is more obscure and contentiouslydebated. Duke Universitys David Goldstein and Mark Thomas of the Center forGenetic Anthropology in London reported in 2002 that much of the mitochondrialDNA of women in Jewish communities around the world that they examined did notseem to be of Middle or Near Eastern origin, and indeed each community had itsown genetic pattern. This suggested that migrating Jewish men might have taken onlocal wives, who converted to Judaism. The estimates of the percentage of Ashkenaziwomen of European image was probably more than 50 percent, they estimated, butthe data was too murky to come up with a firm estimate.

But a subsequent and more extensive study in 2006 by a team based at Technionand Rambam Medical Center in Haifa suggested that Ashkenazi women40 percentor moremay indeed have had ancient Near and Middle Eastern roots, and mayhave accompanied their husbands as part of families migrating together.

The new study published in Nature Communications aligns itself more closely withthe 2002 hypothesis, although there are differences. Professor Martin Richards,who heads the University of Huddersfields Archaeogenetics Research Group (andwho participated in the 2002 study), and colleagues sequenced 74 mitochondrialgenomes and analyzed more than 3,500 mitochondrial genomes far more datathan the 2006 survey, which reviewed only a short length of the mitochondrial DNA,containing just 1,000 or so of its 16,600 DNA units, in all their subjects.

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Posted By simmons on July 12, 2015

Bnai Brith, (Hebrew: Sons of the Covenant), oldest and largest Jewish service organization in the world, with mens lodges, womens chapters, and youth chapters in countries all over the world.

Bnai Brith, founded in New York City in 1843, defends human rights, promotes intercultural relations, provides for the religious and cultural needs of Jewish college students (especially through the Hillel Foundation), sponsors Jewish education among adults and youth groups, supports hospitals and philanthropic institutions, provides vocational guidance, sponsors welfare projects in Israel, assists victims of natural disasters, and carries on a broad program of community service and welfare. It confers with government leaders on such issues as civil rights, immigration, abuses of freedom by totalitarian states, the position of Israel, and problems affecting Jews throughout the world. In 1913 it established the Anti-Defamation League. Bnai Brith is represented at the United Nations through its membership in the Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations.

The order is headed by a president elected at triennial meetings of the supreme lodge (made up of representatives of district grand lodges), a board of governors, and an administrative committee.

In 1990 Bnai Brith International voted to admit women as full members; a self-governing, affiliated organizationBnai Brith Womendesiring to remain concerned with womens issues continued its independent status.

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Posted By simmons on July 12, 2015

One year ago today, Israelinvaded, bombed and shelled Gaza, and continued to do that for the next seven weeks. According to the U.N., at least 2,104 Gazans were killed 1,462 of whom (69 percent) were civilians, including 495 children. A total of 6 Israeli civilians, and 66 soldiers, were killed. The shockingly high civilian death rate in Gaza included the now-iconic imagery of four young boys from the same family being killed by Israeli warshipswhile they played on a beach in front of a hotel filled with foreign journalists.

Months after the attack concluded, U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon visited Gaza and labeled the destruction beyond description, far worse than prior Israeli attacks. At least 17,000 homes were obliterated or severely damaged during the conflict, and it will take two decades to rebuild them; that means that nearly 60,000 people have lost their homes. On countless occasions, entire large families of Gazans were instantly extinguished by Israeli violence. Because the population of Gaza is so young 43 percent are under the age of 15, while 64 percent areunder the age of 24 the majority of its residents know littlebeyond extreme suffering, carnage, violence and war.

As harrowing as that data is, ittells only a small part of the story. Statistics like thesehave an abstract property to them: cold and clinical. Viewing the devastation of Gaza through their lens can have a distancing effect. Theyerase the most affecting facts: the stories of human suffering and devastation caused by this attack, the sadism and savagery that drove it.

The unbridled Israeli brutality that drove this attack, combined with the unprecedented ability of Palestinians to document what was happening to them throughuse of the Internet, significantlychanged the way Israel is perceived around the world. This attack will prove to be historicallyimportant for how the world regards Israel, and Blumethalsbook is indispensable for understanding what happened here.

Even in the world of the Israel/Palestine debate where smear campaigns and vicious ad hominem attacks are routine Blumenthal is the target of some of the most scurrilous attacks youll ever see. In part thats because hes an unlikely candidate to have become one of the most vocal Jewish critics of Israel: the son of a Washington insiderclosely associated withthe Clintons. In part its because hes an unflinching and fearless critic, avoiding euphemisms and niceties when, by design, they obscure the truth. In part its because he has in the past sometimes opted forpolarizing rhetoric and provocative, illuminating tactics.

But this book will likely surprise even those who have followed Blumenthals work and are sympathetic to his worldview. The 51 Day War is remarkably free of polemic, even as it retains its passion. It seems clear, at least to me, that Blumenthal was so movedby what he heard and saw in Gaza that he knew nothing would be more effective and revealing than just letting those stories speak for themselves. So he largely gets out of the way and simply serves as a vessel for the voices of those who are so rarely heard from in the Western world: those who live under Israeli brutalityin Gaza.

I spoke with him for roughly 40 minutes about his book, as well as his ownodyssey that has led him to devote himself to this topic with such singular devotion. Whatever your views on Israel and Gaza, Blumenthal is articulate, thoughtful anddeeply knowledgeable, and has done extensive, real reporting to write this book. Hes very worth listening to, and the book is highly worth the read. Our discussion can be heard on the player below, and a transcript is provided here.

Photo: Adel Hana/AP

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