Leading Far-Right Holocaust Denier Says: It Ain't Us

I just called Mark Weber, the director of the Institute for Historical Review, the leading Holocaust denial organization in America, to ask him if he knew James Von Brunn, and to find out what he thought of the shooting at the Holocaust Museum. Weber said that the shooting is a "terrible and stupid and criminal thing, and any reasonable person would condemn it." He said he knew of Von Brunn because "people have sent me things from him, but that's all I know about it."

I asked him if his far-right organization, which sponsors conferences and magazines that deny key aspects of the Holocaust, has created an atmosphere in which white supremacists feel compelled to attack Jewish targets. He got angry and said "every movement and organization has insane people in it. What was this guy's point? I can't even figure that out."

I suggested that one point might be to drive away tourists who hope to learn about the Holocaust but who don't want to endanger their families while doing so. Weber said he was opposed to the creation and maintenance of the Holocaust Museum, because "obviously this museum doesn't exist as an expression of altruistic concern for humanity but as an expression of the enormous power of the Jewish community." But he said he would never countenance violence against it. He did say, however, that it does not depict history accurately; for instance, he said, gas chambers never existed.

You get the idea.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2009/06/leading-far-right-holocaust-denier-says-it-aint-us/19104/