Institute

In “A Fertile Land for Growing Hate Groups” (On California, Aug. 28), Robert A. Jones mistakenly tries to link Lillian Baker’s unusual view of the wartime internment of Japanese-Americans with the Institute for Historical Review. He also erroneously claims that the IHR “collapsed” after failing to make good on a 1981 reward offer for proof of extermination gassings at Auschwitz.

Rumors of our demise are, to say the least, premature. In spite of physical attacks, arson, lawsuits and media blackout, the institute is today more vital than ever. Furthermore, we are still waiting for proof that anybody was gassed to death at Auschwitz.

Contrary to what Jones writes, the IHR is most emphatically not a “hate group.” Readers should also know that we have never endorsed Lillian Baker’s views. In fact, articles in our quarterly Journal of Historical Review have focused on the unjust and unconstitutional wartime roundup, deportation and internment of Japanese-Americans.

THOMAS MARCELLUS, Director, Institute for Historical Review, Costa Mesa