As a former opinion editor for The Badger Herald, I have spent the past week processing the implications of Bradley Smith’s Holocaust-denial advertisement on The Badger Herald website.
My first thought was to note that The Badger Herald has a long tradition of promoting free speech on campus. Over time, this tradition has evolved into a responsibility. As Professor Donald Downs pointed out at its 40th anniversary gala, the Herald belongs among a handful of publications, which have become vital testing grounds for First Amendment propositions. Sometimes the Herald has happened upon this responsibility accidentally. At other moments, it has sought controversy deliberately. I am too distanced from the internal politics of this paper to know into which category this recent incident falls. I can only note that editors under a free press always retain the responsibility to challenge or reinforce the constitutional parameters to which they owe their existence.
That said, Bradley Smith is not worth the yarn it took to sew Jason Smathers’ socks. He is a reminder that evil, when it speaks, is not always bombastic or cinematic. It can be understated, peaceful, tentative, eloquent. Holocaust denial, as a pseudo-intellectual endeavor, is indeed tremendously evil. And yet, Mr. Smith’s modest advertisement demonstrates the First Amendment is not merely a right. It is a tool afforded by decent human beings to truly evil people who, left to their own devices, will discredit themselves more breathtakingly than any outside critic ever could.
To quote Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, “In the moment, the arguments for free speech will never seem to match the power of the arguments against, but what we must remember is that this is precisely because free speech asks us to exercise extraordinary self-restraint against the very natural but often counter-productive impulses that lead us to retreat from engagement with ideas we dislike and fear.”
And now is the time to engage with Holocaust deniers. The stakes are too high. This is not a terribly optimistic historical moment for advocates against anti-Semitism, and the curators of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum have a responsibility to directly respond to Mr. Smith’s taunting.
Consider the historical context: The Iranian government continues to march forward toward nuclear weaponry, evidenced by the regime’s rhetoric whenever another advancement is made on the pathway to uranium enrichment. (I have been cavalier in the past about advocating for Iran’s right to nuclear power, a position I herewith rescind; evidence of the regime’s intentions has reached an overwhelming mass.) For the first time in the decades since the closing of German concentration camps, a nation whose leadership persistently denies the Holocaust is poised to gain unprecedented international leverage. And here at home, the progressive media has made martyrs of untalented, belligerently pro-Palestinian professors who have used their legitimate concern for Palestinian rights as a shield against the equally legitimate academic concerns of tenure committees. It was refreshing to read Chancellor Biddy Martin’s eloquent letter praising the contributions of Jewish students. Indeed, it was sobering to note how seldom public universities take the side of Jewish students as forcefully or dramatically.
By running Bradley Smith’s advertisement, The Badger Herald has done more for Jewish students and authentic, fact-based Holocaust historians than it will ever know. It has reminded all of us that stupidity and nonsense exist in this world, from which flow the entrails of thinly veiled bigotry and deliberate deception. Those who rightly promote Holocaust awareness frequently admonish citizens of the world to “Never forget.” And yet we do forget. We forget that people with much more clout and resources than Bradley Smith, who tout an identical message, are gaining regional power in the Middle East. We forget how long it has been since public universities treated Jewish students with the vocal respect due to any minority group. Sometimes it takes a Bradley Smith to jolt us back to reality. The First Amendment works in mysterious ways. If our campus had “forgotten,” we have been woken up by an unlikely voice.
Eric Schmidt (eschmidt2@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science.
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I think Eric would be a good candidate to debate Bradley Smith is a public forum.
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” the Herald belongs among a handful of publications, which have become vital testing grounds for First Amendment propositions”
please, stop flattering yourself, your paper is a joke, stop pretending to comprehend the complexities of constitutional law, being a poli sci major does not make a you a lawyer, writing for the bh does not make you a journalist.
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Please note that I’m no longer writing as a Badger Herald staff member, and no longer have any connections with the newspaper. Jonah Braun, a former employee, ran into the same confusion with his eloquent LTE earlier this week arguing for the position opposite from mine. It’s a testimony to the vitality of the Badger Herald that a number of former staff members are taking the opportunity to weigh in on this important issue. But I have no dog in this fight besides my own intellect and opinions.
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He was paraphrasing Prof. Downs there, who definitely does understand constitutional law. Stop pretending to comprehend the point he’s making, having something witty to say does not make you a good commenter.
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Perfectly said. And might I add, nor do you have any idea what it is like to be a Jewish student on this campus. We never forget what happened, and we don’t need this idiot’s reminder. It is a fact. The Holocaust happened, and there is absolutely no need to even disperse this idea.
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“And yet we do forget. We forget that people with much more clout and resources than Bradley Smith, who tout an identical message, are gaining regional power in the Middle East.”
And yes we as Americans also try to ignore those with power in the Middle East who use the holocaust to cover for their treatments of defenseless peoples.
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And those who justify blowing themselves up on public buses and in pizzerias and dance clubs by pretending Israel “hides behind the Holocaust” to justify everything it does.
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And those who justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians by justifying it “as a war against terrorism”
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And those who pretend that it’s not terrorism to intentionally target people who are riding public buses, shopping, dancing, or eating pizza just because they’re Israelis.
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“And here at home, the progressive media has made martyrs of untalented, belligerently pro-Palestinian professors who have used their legitimate concern for Palestinian rights as a shield against the equally legitimate academic concerns of tenure committees.”
Academic tenure committees ? Get your facts right. Finkelstein was denied tenure at the provost level. But then again facts don’t get in the way of pro-Israeli shills who are too quick to deflect any criticism of Israeli apartheid as “anti-semitism” or something similar.
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“And now is the time to engage with Holocaust deniers. The stakes are too high. This is not a terribly optimistic historical moment for advocates against anti-Semitism, and the curators of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum have a responsibility to directly respond to Mr. Smith�s taunting.”
The stakes of being a bigoted buffoon? Stop making mountains out of molehills. The curators of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum have no responsibility other than to carry out their daily responsibilities. Do you really think they owe anything to this Smith idiot?
The only thing left to this now-nauseating story is the resignation of Jason Smathers.
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This is the same BH that published their pro-murder manifesto on Iraqi terrorists� �right� to slaughter American peacekeepers (source hyperlinked in name space).
Incitement isn’t “free” speeech. The BH works in a moral gutter.
Stop trying to defend the indefensible.
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Again, if Eric Schmidt is so confident and sure of his holocaust beliefs, why not publicly debate those who find zero evidence of a homicidal gassing program.
My guess is because these supporters have never studied the evidence. Most Americans young and old have been educated on the holocaust from programs they have seen on TV.
These TV programs show a few photos of Germans marchng, Adolf Hitler yelling and bulldozers pushing bodies into open pits. Of course, the viewer is reminded these bodies are Jews who were gassed.
That is enough for most Americans to conclude , Hitler gassed the Jews.
Auschwitz survivors are held in awe by many these days, as if they have been awarded the status of ‘canonized holocaust survivor’. And that may explain why nearly every holocaust survivor speaking on the lecture circuit today, mentions their time in this concentration camp. A camp known as the biggest death camp in the world.
But none of that is evidence of a program to kill Jews.
Those who have looked at the actual evidence find no evidence whatsoever of a program to kill Jews or any other ethnicity.
Just the opposite, the evidence shows every effort to preserve the lives of those who were sent to concentration camps.
Today, estimates are there are 1,500,000 holocaust survivors in the world. Yet, the holocasut was 65 years ago!
In other words 75& of those living in 1945 have died. If we back the clock up 65 years, we find the world had closer to 6,000,000 holocaust survivors. Hence very few Jews died in this period. Many were dispersed all over the world, but only a fraction of 6,000,000 died. This corresponds to the figures supplied by the RED CROSS that calculated 282,000 deaths in all concentration camps.
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“Those who have looked at the actual evidence find no evidence whatsoever of a program to kill Jews or any other ethnicity.”
Who exactly are these people?
“In other words 75& of those living in 1945 have died. If we back the clock up 65 years, we find the world had closer to 6,000,000 holocaust survivors. Hence very few Jews died in this period. Many were dispersed all over the world, but only a fraction of 6,000,000 died.”
These numbers don’t make sense. You say that 6,000,000 survived and somehow imply that only that many were victims. Also, what defines a survivor? Just Jews, or all the groups the Nazis sought to exterminate.
“This corresponds to the figures supplied by the RED CROSS that calculated 282,000 deaths in all concentration camps.”
You’re a man of evidence, what report did this number come from? Give the world data, something to look at, and not just some link to a Holocaust denier website
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I would be happy to debate Bradley Smith or any Holocaust denier any day of the week. Although, I think my former colleague at the Herald, Jonah Braun — or our chancellor, Biddy Martin — would be better able to directly address the anti-historical claims made by Mr. Smith. People like Mr. Smith prey on people who are not PhD’s in history, as if I am obliged to conclude that the Holocaust never happened simply because I have not devoted a lifetime to Holocaust and Jewish studies. (Somehow, this demand is never made of people who take as given the sinking of the Titanic, for example.)
The difficulty with the premise of a debate is that the Holocaust denial movement by definition has built up a critical mass of talking points used to intimidate and confuse critics. In the same vein, creationists who believe the Earth is 6,000 years old have assembled a zillion anomalies in the fossil record that are routinely trotted out, as if anything were being proven by their demonstration. And the loudness of their message, coupled with the dizzying presentation of not-quite-connected premises, had actually embarrassed some very well-known evolutionary biologists, who have devoted their lives not to honing rhetorical skills against wicked fools, but to researching evolutionary design. Critics of well-established academic findings can indeed be better at rhetoric than their academic counterparts. This does not mean they are correct. It simply means they have a lot of time on their hands and listen to a lot of talk radio.
Indeed, both history and science are not done by finding small errors or anomalies in documentation, nor are they mere exercises in fact-disputing or “gotcha” moments. As Prof. T.F.H. Allen at Madison contends, academia is about creating the most robust, factually-compelling narrative from the assembled evidence. And all the evidence suggests that the current narrative of the Holocaust is correct, robust and appropriate. The Holocaust is, to quote Lee Bollinger again, “the most documented event in human history.” And to paraphrase Noam Chomsky, who is certainly not on the side of Israel and has no vested interest in promoting what Norman Finkelstein has called the “Holocaust industry,” “Even to bring the factual accuracy of the Holocaust into the realm of debate is already to lose one’s humanity.”
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Eric Schmidt-
Bradley Smith is not a PhD. I believe he has a high school degree.
If you truly believe what you posted; ” And all the evidence suggests that the current narrative of the Holocaust is correct ” then what is there to fear in a debate.
While some people try and paint the definition of the holocaust in very vague terms, the teachers of the holocaust are more specific. It is best defined as; the planned extermination of Jews in Europe, and this planned extermination program was carried out at 6 extermination camps in Poland between 1940-1945. The method used to kill 6,000,000 Jews was Zyklon-B, although many note that not all 6,000,000 died from gas, the belief is MOST or a GREAT majority did.
There is your starting point. Now, within that framework there is UNIFORM agreement by Holocaust believers, the largest killing center was Auschwitz.
The debate can be framed this way:
The Holocaust really happened, as alleged, and the proof is the large numbers of Jewish persons who were gassed at Auschwitz.
Pick your side of the debate!
It is a simple point of contention and the entire holocaust story hangs on the truth of Auschwitz.
If hundreds of thousands of Jews were not gassed to death with Zyklon-B at Auschwitz, the holocaust is a hoax.
Just to show you what sort of evidence is out there that revisionists have gathered over the years, look at the YouTube clips of DAVID COLE, a Jewish revisionist who went to Auschwitz. Search under:David Cole Auschwitz.
What you may find in your research is the holocaust promoters often do great harm to the very theory they are trying to promote.
Here is one such example. A book written about the director of the women’s choir at Auschwitz is titled; Alma Rose, Vienna to Auschwitz. ( Alma Rose died at Auschwitz of typhus). The book introduces the reader to Auschwitz in chapter 16. Here is how it describes Auschwitz- ” Auschwitz was built on a damp, swampy plain in the industrial heartland, a region known for it’s BRUTAL winters.”
This will be very problematic to those who try to answer where the 1,400,000 bodies went since we know burying bodies in a swamp with a 30 cm water table is a no can do!
Here is another detail from this book that does far more HARM to the promoters cause than to support it.
Page 215 referring to Auschwitz: ” The newer gas chambers were built below the crematoria, elevators would take the corpses upstairs, the crematoria operated around the clock and could burn 5,000 corpses daily.”
This passage is close to the orthodox story line so let’s look at a few details here.
1.) There was one small freight elevator from the Auschwitz morgue ( or what some call the gas chamber) to the ovens. It measured 4 x 8 and had no doors. It was operated by pulleys. Unlikely more than 2-3 bodies could be put on it at once. Is this how the Germans would carry out a huge killing operation?
2.) Zyklon-B is very explosive. Gassing hundreds of people directly below an open furnance would have blown up the building.
3.) The legend claims this gassing/killing operation was going full bore by 1942, and while Elie Wiesel says 10,000 were gassed each day,this author says 5,000.Using the lower number we soon arive at over 5,000,000 killed. 5000 x 365 x 3 = 5,475,000.
Where did all those bodies go. 100,000,000 pounds of bone & teeth to dispose of! What about the fuel to burn those bodies. 20-40 pounds of coal per body.
These are just a few of the FACTS that melt the holocaust story and there are many,many more.
NOW- you understand why the smartest Ph.d will not sit across from a revisionist and debate this.
The promoters throw up smokescreens like calling revisionists Neo-Nazi’s and Hilter supporters but those are just dodges.
If there was NOT a ton of money to be made from this myth, nobody would give two sheets. Who in the media cares about 12,000,000 American Indians killed from 1650-1890, or 90,000,000 blacks who died enroute from Africa to America. No money= no interest.
Leave your faith in this story at the door. Investigate the facts.
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bystander doesn’t like facts. In fact, he hates them almost as much as he hates Jews.
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It never fails to amaze me how quickly the holocaustians are willing to label those that disagree with them with derogatory terminology.
Perhaps they must resort to this childish and churlish methodology because they have no factual information to support their position?
If Smith et al are wrong why not refute them with arguments supported by forensic, scientific, and documentary, evidence instead of ad hominem attacks and arm-waving worthy of the intellectual abilities of a kindergarten bully?
Can any holocaustian supply the name of one Jew, with evidence, that was killed in a homicidal gas chamber?
If you can there is a large reward offered by NAFCASH (sp?).
HdC
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I would also be happy to debate the Holocaust issue with those who deny, including the organization at CODOH.
‘Bystander’ claims that those who believe in the history of the Holocaust are ignorant of the facts and of the evidence. This is false.
I have studied the issue of the Holocaust for many years, and am well aware of the historic evidence to support the homicidal gassings committed in the various camps, including Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, and Majdanek. What there is NOT historic evidence for is any “resettlement” program for the millions of Jews who were sent to the aforementioned camps. Even the leading denier admits that there is no evidence to show what happened to these people if one accepts that they were not gassed. Despite what Bystander and other deniers wish, one must objectively follow the evidence, and the evidence shows homicidal gassings.
Indeed, from the few deniers that I have talked with, most have only read one or two general Holocaust works, perhaps a memoir or two. In other words, Bystander is pointing the finger at the wrong people.
-Raul
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“Who exactly are these people?” Very intelligent people, judging by their command of logic, grammar, syntax and vocabulary. These are not ‘white is right, let’s kill the Jews’ people. They are people who would really like to re-examine ‘history.’ Not as it was written by the victors; but as it actually occurred. and, “You�re a man of evidence, what report did this number come from? Give the world data, something to look at, and not just some link to a Holocaust denier website” Ah, what you’re saying is ‘let’s kill the messenger, because his views don’t coincide with mine.’ Well, you might like to, but until the Internet is totally controlled by governments and big business, you can’t.
And to Mr. Schmidt: You say, “The difficulty with the premise of a debate is that the Holocaust denial movement by definition has built up a critical mass of talking points used to intimidate and confuse critics.” “By definition..?” You could use that kind of rhetoric to smear any group whose ideas oppose your own. But imagine how silly you would sound if you used it to smear say, quantum mechanics: ‘The difficulty with the premise of a debate is that the quantum mechanics movement by definition has built up a critical mass of talking points used to intimidate and confuse critics.’ Christ man, you are back in the middle ages.
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Eric Schmidt writes [Indeed, both history and science are not done by finding small errors …]
Well, that’s right. But, you can expose a hoax with a gotcha moment. Here’s are a couple for you ..
The book ‘The First Holocaust, Jewish Fund Raising Campaigns with Holocaust Claims During World War One’ …. that’s WW ONE, available on amazon.
The only ‘evidence’ you’ve seen, the pictures of emaciated, dying, and dead prisoners that you have seen were taken at the end of the war, when the camps in the west suffered terrible typhus epidemics.
There are only 2 ‘gas chambers’ in existence, one a Auschwitz, one a Majdanek. Both are obvious hoaxes as they have unbarred plate glass windows (most rooms do, you see.)
The Nazis wrote death certificates and summarized them in death books at Auschwitz. The Russians captured the records and hid them for 50 years. You can see them now, they show that more Roman Catholics died at Auschwitz than Jews.
The US sent forensic pathologists into the camps after the war. Not one body showing signs of gas poisoning has ever been found.
Auschwitz supplied 70,000 workers to vital war industries in the area. It had a swimming pool, library, theatre, hospital, and brothel.
Elie Wiesel, Otto Frank, and Primo Levi were in hospitals in Auschwitz when the Soviet army approached the camp.
The ‘testimony’ of survivors contains obvious phantasmagoria, as Wiesel’s claim that ‘Babies were thrown into to the air and used as targets by machine gunners.’
Zionist phantasmagoria became US policy when the Zionist Henry Morgenthau, who headed the US War Refugee Board, issued, acting alone, an anonymous report of two camp prisoners supplied by the World Jewish Congress.
The man responsible for organizing the Nuremberg trials was Mickey Marcus, who after the war became the first general in the Israeli army.
Only one man, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, was charged at Nuremberg with direct participation in the holocaust, he testified that it was “entirely impossible.”
The US sent Billy Wilder into the camps immediately after the war to create a propaganda film.
Konrad Morgen, the Nazi bloodhound judge, investigated and prosecuted crimes in the camps, conducting over 800 investigations, with many convictions and sentences including hanging.
Choose any of the topics above. Let’s debate. Note - many of the points are documented at www.holohoax101.com
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Mr Schmidt, why don’t you start your debate by addressing the following points:
The examination of 6 simple facts should be sufficient to cause great concern, and raise numerous questions, for any thinking person:
1) At the height of the holocaust survivor�s claims the German government is on record as having paid compensation to 5.6 million or so claimants.
2) In 2002 the Israeli government is on record as stating that over 1 million survivors were still alive.
3) In 2005 or so the German government is on record as stating that they were still paying reparations to 1.6 million survivors.
4) Anyone questioning any facet of the holocaust in Europe gets jailed; this very fact alone should be sufficient for the thinking person to seriously question �the public knowledge� of the holocaust.
5) The final report of the International Red Cross stated in 1972 or thereabouts that the total number of deaths due to all causes, but mainly due to diseases such as typhoid, was about 372000.
6) Forensic examination of the bodies, by British and American pathologists, determined that the people had died from starvation and disease; this due to the complete lack of any transportation since the allies bombed everything that moved.
Author Finkelstein in one of his books states �with all these survivors, who are the Germans supposed to have killed?�
Life insurance actuarialists are very good at calculating the number of people alive based on the figures given above, even though these are inconsistent.
Examination of documentary, forensic, and scientific evidence further points out the absolute lie of all holocaust claims. Ask yourself this: If the evidence in support of the holocaust is so compelling why forbid questioning and debate thereof?
WHAT HAVE THE HOLOCAUSTIANS TO HIDE TO PREVENT ANY DEBATE? WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF? Truth stands on its own, only lies require draconian measures for protection.
�Name calling is the final refuge of the out-argued holocaust profiteer�.
HdC
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Eric Schmidt writes: As Professor Donald Downs pointed out at its 40th anniversary gala, the Herald belongs among a handful of publications, which have become vital testing grounds for First Amendment propositions.
I thought highly of the BH’s ease of posting until I just saw that on the Biddy Martin editorial page, 2 comments from me that had appeared were now removed! A reply to my comment was there, but my comment only slightly critical of Martin and featuring the Eli Wiesel quote about keeping “a place in your heart to hate Germans and everthing the German stands for” is gone! There was nothing inaccurate, nor any name-calling in my comment, but there is in some that are posted there.
So much for First Amendment propositions. Who came and had my comments removed? Maybe Eric Schmidt could look into this.
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SLOW DOWN!
This whole affair is supposed to be about free expression and whether the BH was righteous by hosting the ad. That’s it. What do you think you are doing by talking about a debate?
Look, the BH is correct and if you don’t agree, then keep debating it. But DO NOT entertain the idea of a debate with Bradley Smith! That would be more than this wacko could have hoped for in his wildest dreams. You’d be doing him more favor than the nutcase deserves.
He has a right to fair treatment and trade in advertisement sales, but not the right to consideration as a legitimate academic. If he’d made an equally ridiculous claim, say, that the Earth was flat, would you propose that the Chancellor debate him on the issue? Please, DON’T DIGNIFY THE PREPOSTEROUS.
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there has been so much said,not much to say other than..have you ever wondered why even in college there is no formal education on the red revolution of 1917? How Christians were picked out and brutally murdered. the calls of “leave nothing but the synagogues standing”? Yes over 50MILLION peole were murderd by Bolshevik JEWS. Today you even see how they want to hide this fact. The Armenian holocaust JEWS deny..done by the young turks..JEWS! 7million were starved out in Holomodor, the Ukraine. If youlook at the history of the Red revolution, and who was in control…over 80% jews you would understand how the Christian community ELECTED in Hitler for facism is the only protection from communism. Look here today,m democracy has let communism take the reigns, AIPAC runs congress. Read the Goldstone report? OH bet you didnt know the EU is endorsing it but Obabma was told to give a blind eye, so once again genocide is FINANCED by US. Another 10 BILLION dollars to Israel whne we are BROKE? Its amazing how supposedly educated people wish to be cogs in a whell rather than free thinkers. Evididence? Would you tell the truth when if you did your wife and daughter would be slaughtered? Heuss said jews were sysematically desrtoyed at Wenzel which DID NOT EXIST. He left clues that he was under duress. A great site to see the crimes of Zionism for all races and religions is www.theforbiddentruth.net Find out for yourself. ITs not a crimee to ivestigate something that has been the key for all these wars “good VS evil” just like our kids are getting killed now for Israel. YOu a Christian? see what Christ had to say about them in John 8:44 read the Talmud..see what jews think about you :the best of the gentiles deserved to be killed” First off when Aushwitz changed the plaque from 4 million to 1.1 million you should have got a clue that 6 million is a lie
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(If he�d made an equally ridiculous claim, say, that the Earth was flat, would you propose that the Chancellor debate him on the issue? Please, DON�T DIGNIFY THE PREPOSTEROUS.)
Interesting concept:What would have happened if “flat earth” view did not allow facts for “round earth”?
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Where do I find a link to this ad?
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I have to wonder about Eric Schmidt. I am a Revisionist because the original tales of the Nuremberg Tribunal have been found to be incorrect. The Auschwitz State Museum recently posted Majdanek Victims Enumerated. Changes in the history textbooks?
Commenting on the amazing drop in Majdanek victims from a Nuremberg number of 1,400,000 to a still horrible but “normal” figure of 78,000.
http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=8
I think that this is good news (on a horrible subject) I don’t think I am “evil” for liking it. I think Mr. Schmidt is odd arguing with the experts like the Auschwitz State Museum.