Admissions against interest

Human Rights Tribunal hearings

In May of 1997, the Holocaust Lobby called a Dr. Frederick Schweitzer as one of its expert witnesses.

(Defense Attorney Doug) Christie: I want to make sure I understand. I don’t mean to insult you; I may be very stupid, and I apologize if I am. When you said “no,” I take it the answer is “no” to the question: “Can truth be anti-Semitic?” The answer is “no,” right?

Schweitzer: Right. I don’t think Jews have any fear of the truth.

These Holocaust deniers are very slick people. They justify everything they say with facts and figures.

Steven Some

Chairman, New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education

Quoted in: Newark Star-Ledger, Oct. 23, 1996 (p. 15)

Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 11:55:00 CDT
Reply-To: H-Net History of the Holocaust List [[email protected]]
Sender: H-Net History of the Holocaust List [[email protected]]
From: "Mott, Jim" [[email protected]]
Subject: Re: Holocaust Survivor Story

From: Amcha [[email protected]]

Dear Friends,

The posting about the Holocaust survivor story posed some interesting questions, and at the risk of incitement of the many historians who participate in this list, let me offer you our outlook on survivor testimonies. To us at AMCHA who help survivors record their stories–before,during, and after the Holocaust either in writing, video or audio, as they prefer, we are not looking for historical accuracy. We are interested in helping the survivor relate what he/she remembers. It is possible that there are some minor or major inaccuracies, exaggerations, or distortions. Whereas we do not analyze the testimonies, we feel that the important elements relate to what the survivor wants to convey through his story.

The student described may have read something as described, true or fictional, or may have imagined it,or actually interviewed a survivor who conveyed pieces of the (embellished) story. The question I would ask is what is the student, and perhaps the survivor trying to communicate. All the best for 5756,

John Lemberger,
Executive Director, AMCHA
National Israeli Center for Psyhcosocial Support of Survivors of the Holocaust
and the Second Generation

Source: H-Holocaust H-Net Discussion List
www.h-net.org/~holoweb/logs/Oct95.html

Jewish Agency Gets New Leader

JERUSALEM (AP) — Taking over as Jewish Agency chairman, Israeli lawmaker Avraham Burg vowed to strengthen ties between Israel and world Jewry by turning the organization into a “parliament of the Jewish people.”

[…]

Burg expressed concern about growing assimilation in overseas Jewish communities and maintaining support for Israel once peace is reached with the Arabs.

“Can we, and how do we, survive without an external enemy? That’s the question of our times,” he said.

“I believe that a little anti-Semitism is a good thing for the Jews — reminds us who we are.”

Source:

Jay Lefkowitz

Quoted in “Counterculture,” by James Atlas

New York Times

New York, NY: February 12, 1995. pg. SM32, 8 pgs.

www.nytimes.com/

Too many books are written on the Holocaust. There are too many films and television plays that exploit the subject …

There is a fascination with the Holocaust and with Nazism. There may, in fact, be “no business like Shoah business.” The problem is that many of these productions, if not most, are historically inaccurate, sentimental, romantic, exotic and hyperbolic, and so they ultimately distort and cheapen the Holocaust.

The popularization and commercialization of the Holocaust is not only unhistorical but it is antihistorical. Over time, it will inevitably subvert the historical sense and strip it of any moral implications it may carry.

Source:

Dr. Michael M. Dobkowski, Professor of Religious Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Martyrdom and Resistance

International Society for Yad Vashem, New York City

Sept.-Oct. 1990, p. 4.