The Holocaust Industry (27 page)

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Authors: Norman Finkelstein

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understand why ADL would help Hale get a law license.(Dershowitz loves

publicity of any kind.) Norm's book made the rationale perfectly clear to

me: competition for scarce resources. They boosted Hale to create an enemy

in order to raise funds by scaring people with this enemy. But Hale has now

become a Frankenstein Monster. At least he won't be getting a license to

practice law--no thanks to Dershowitz and ADL. But my hat is off to

Norm--Mazel Tov! Francis.

Francis A. Boyle

Law Building

504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.

Champaign, IL 61820 USA

[email protected]

_______________________________________________________________________

Dear Mr Finkelstein,

I have just read The Holocaust Industry and find myself totally in agreement with your argument.

Congratulations on your courage and on the rigour of your research.

I watched the interview with you on Sky Television this evening. The interview looked like a set-up. Three onto

one. You were magnificent under fire and I think perhaps managed to penetrate the shell of ignorance - which is

of course the basis on which the Holocaust Industry has founded its business. You had to fight to make sure that

Jonathan Freedman's attempt to smear you was not left unanswered - but you succeeded.

I've been thinking and saying the same things as you for a long time, but now, for the first time, I feel that

someone has credibly taken the truth to the public.

Warm regards,

George Rosenberg

______________________________________________________________________

I just read U. Herbert's long piece on your volume, in German. I was

surprised. This academic seems as negative to you and your purpose as Bartov

in The New York Times, except Prof. Herbert is much cleverer, has far greater

knowledge(the guy is also pompous/dogmatic in the typical German manner, he

knows what is right and wrong with each and all issues-there is no use of "

as I see it", or "this seems overdone"-no it IS overdone!).

I got the feeling you might not have read this article in a very influential

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German daily yourself. The fellow cuts your work down slice by slice while

giving some lip to its usefullness in raising the issues(his main issue of

concern is to put the Nazi terror against the Jews in historical context and

not have it nailed down as outsid all other history, etc.).

If this is treatment your work will get from the lofty German academic

ruling class, the thing to do is what that Harvard baby pin up did a few

years ago:travel to German yourself and take your charges, etc. directly to

the ordinary Germans kept in the dark by the ruling forms.

FYG

New York

______________________________________________________________________

Subject: Re: Prof. Finkelstein- mistreatment in German press

Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 00:39:59 EDT

Professor Finkelstein!

This goes from bad to worse. I read P. Longerich's long piece in

Frankfurter Rundschau, a none too surprising or inspiring "rebuttal" of your main

theses.But his very last words are eye-popping. The man warns against transferring

your charges against the Industry in the US to the German scene, on the

grounds that doing so could threaten the survival of German freedom and

liberal society! This is something Germans must not read or hear!

This is surely as outrageous as it gets, with a sinister undertone.

A German warns his fellow Germans against listening to a Prof.

Finkelstein, a man missing most of his relatives due to the German government voted into

office in 1933!! So is Goebbels back running the German press? So Prof.

Longerich does not think people with names like Finkelstein have suffered

enough from censorship in Germany?

German liberties, European commitment and renouncement of dictatorship are now so

solidly engraved in the old vaterland it is preposterous-and certainly not

productive- to suggest that the Germans collectively have to "prove" it

over and over. It would seem productive to look into just why this lobby of

conceited and none too scrupulous Germans are so fanatically committed to

exposing Germany's darkest epoch over and over and shutting out anything

that might interfere with that purpose.

As I read it, Prof. Longerich admits at the end that the veracity or falseness of the

theses put forth by Prof. Finkelstein is irrelevant to him;all that matters is that Germans

hear of their evil from over half a century ago and nothing else. Cynicism can go no

further. Germany has surely seen enough such cynicism and censorship in the last century.

FYG

P.S. This "Letter" was written for use by your site, if you so wish. It is

all yours. I have vented my spleen, for now. There is obviously a much

greater story here, this lobby of Germans now hitting down on you as if by

mechanical drill. I have have only recently come to realize its full force

and influence in Germany.

Also, the New York Times let Bartov and the Industry attack you and

otherwise no doubt would like to ignore you altogether. Their conceit and

hypocrisy is also rather too obtrusive.. Are you familiar with the

viciously anti-Semitic postings in the Times back in 1919-20?In one, not the worst

but found in a front spread article on a US priest back from Russia(Feb. 13,

1919), the Times printed a list of the 25 top Soviet Communists giving

their real Jewish name, thus you could see that Trotsky's real name was

Bronstein, etc.!!!!

This is not just gross anti -Semitism; in context of that day, with the

Times too reporting mass slaughter of Jews in Ukraine by anti -Soviet forces on

grounds that the Soviet government was Jewish led, it amounts to inciting

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violence against unarmed Jews, pure and simple. I have notified The Times

of their criminal reportage 80 some years ago;the current herausgeber, Ochs's

direct offspring, Sulzberger, was so pleasing as to reply, recognizing that

their reporting back then was not all what he would have liked but he

apologizes for nothing, withdraws nothing!!!

Rather than harass Prof. Finkelstein, it would seem a great idea that The

Times busy themselves with accounting for what they printed in 1919-20

injurious to Jews. I see that they have "apologized profusely" for their

cold coverage of Hitler's work as it came to light in 1943-45;that is small fry

next to their "slips" 25 years earlier.

______________________________________________________________________

August 21, 2000 Budapest

Dear Norman Finkelstein,

This letter is inspired by the program 'Answer the Question' presented on

Sky News Channel on August 19, 2000.

I am a law student furthering my LLM studies in a Central European

University. I am a person trying to see the world with my open eyes, analyze

it critically and not to live in a world of illusions nevertheless it is not

very common in the human world also. Herewith I would like to express my

high support to the steps you have taken towards the disclosure of objective

scientific truth. I appreciate your objective attempt much.

Nevertheless I did not read the 'Industry of Holocaust' itself, I believe

that I hypothesize the ideas expressed there quite clearly. I have noticed

and made some findings about your anticipators as well. Nevertheless the

fact that the program I mentioned was almost the only one on the topic, so

is not very correct for me to generalize, but still it is quite obvious for

me that your opponents (which I would better describe as respectless

blind-attackers, as they do not try to present explicit proof for their

stand and are even not listening to the other point of view) are deeply

short in arguments except impulsive and irrational ones. I think they live

in a world of fallacy they created for themselves and supported by their

co-thinkers. Nevertheless they left the last word to say for themselves I

stayed with a strong impression that it is you who deserve esteem and it is

you who after all is standing for the truth.

It is very important that you dare to say what you did in the book. Even

quite a long time ago I felt (well maybe the word to feel it is not the

exact one to be used here as I do not recognize whatever kind of mystical

'intuition' and I think that any intuition has its reasonable explanations),

at least to some extent, things you expressly pronounced to be true. Despite

the objective truth, which is that constituents of your nation suffered much

only on the grounds of their nationality, and I believe that accordingly

they deserve greatest respect and compassion, I was always certain that it

is unjust to obligate the whole world to feel guilty and to counterfeit to a

kind of sanctuary unmistakable universal mandate for their nation. In my

opinion this position indubitably leads to regeneration of diverse forms of

antagonism towards that nation. I observe the facts supporting this view all

over the world. I hold that it is very important that people like you make

(and even the unanalytical public living with stereotypes) to support, o

even to regain the respect to your nation as a whole and individuals who

represent it in particular.

Moreover (and I think it is the main idea of your book) I may not disagree

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with you that the Tragedy already became a huge industry. What not let my

intuitions to become proven scientific truth, it was the lack of reliable

information, and that until your research I was not able to deal with real

facts and figures. It was your publication which provided me required ones.

In conclusion I want to say that I consider your work as a severely

important one and I truly believe that it could became the breakpoint in the

Industry as well as the beginning of the Victory of the Truth to which, I

suppose, we serve both. I express my courageous support to you and I wish

you the very best in your further efforts.

I care.

Respectfully,

Ignas Jonynas

Student, Lawyer and Truth-seeker

______________________________________________________________________

From: "Robert Bard" <
[email protected]
>

To: <
[email protected]
>

Subject: The Holocaust Industry

Date: Sun, 27 Aug 2000 17:53:41 +0100

Just to say I recently read The Holocaust Industry. As a British Jew, who

has studied the Holocaust period at MA level, visited most of the major

Polish Concentration Camps, I agree very much with what you say and feel

that people who make a livelihood out of a historical tragedy should be

exposed. It is about time someone had the courage to speak out against

vested interest. I have always been fascinated (in a morbid sense) in how

Israelis use the memory of the Holocaust to justify their existence, and

then proceed to treat the Palestinians ideologically the same way in which

the Nazis treated the Jews. I feel very strongly that you are right to

raise these matters even if some consider them an embarrasment as silence

often seems to imply acceptance of what is unacceptable.

Robert Bard

London, England

_____________________________________________________________________

THE CASE AGAINST RAVAGE AND PETER EDEL. (by Peter Edel)

In May 1996 the Amsterdam leftish squatters magazine "Ravage"

published an article by Peter Edel. In this article a number of aspects

concerning WWII were mentioned, that Peter Edel considered to be

inadequatly explained by regular historians in the Netherlands. He cited

for instance the questionable role of the Jewish councils in wartime

Amsterdam. To make a link to the present, Peter Edel also made a

short remark in his article about the "Anti Defamation League of B'nai

B'rith", in which this organisation was associated with the American

far right.

As a result of this publication in "Ravage", the Dutch branches of the

B'nai B'rith brotherhood, requested the Dutch Justice Department to

start a criminal procedure against both magazine and journalist. The

Dutch B'nai B'rith brethren considered the remark about ADL/B'nai

B'rith to be insulting and they blaimed Edel for having damaged "the

good name and honor" of this organisation.

So, "Ravage" and Edel had to stand trial. The fact that the Dutch

B'nai B'rith started a criminal procedure in this case might be

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unimaginable to Americans, but in fact this is possible according to

Dutch law, since slander and defamation are considered to be criminal

acts here.

Like real criminals "Ravage" editor Freek Kallenberg and journalist

Peter Edel were summoned for interrogation by the police in februari

1997. Subsequently, in November 1998, both had to appear in court to

defend themselves against the charges made by the Justice Department

and the Dutch B'nai B'rith lodges. During the trial, which took about

four hours, Peter Edel made a statement in which he explained that he

had done nothing else than his journalistic work and that he never had

the intention to insult anyone. He also made clear that there is

excessive evidence showing that ADL/B'nai B'rith has done about

everything over the years to destroy its own "good name and honor."

After two weeks the judge declared a mistrial, because the Dutch

branches of B'nai B'rith were not named anywhere in Edel's article. It

was the judge's belief that the remark in the article was only intended

against the American organisation ADL/B'nai B'rith and not against

the Dutch B'nai B'rith branches (and its affiliates like the "Centre for

Information and Documentation Israel" which is more or less the

Dutch version of ADL, but wasn't mentioned by Edel either).

About ten days after this verdict the Justice Department decided to

start appeal against Peter Edel and "Ravage." This court case took

place on 11 April 2000. The result however was the same. This judge

stated as well that "Ravage" and Edel couldn't be prosecuted, since the

people that filed the complaint were not mentioned. During the trial

again no single document appeared which prooved that the American

organisation ADL/B'nai B'rith was endorsing the initiative against

Edel en "Ravage" by both the Dutch B'nai B'rith brethren and the

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