Revisionism and the Holocaust

Mark Weber of the Institute for Historical Review would have us think that his organization is intellectually respectable (Letters, March 15). Don’t believe it.

The IHR is the same outfit that in 1979 offered $50,000 to anyone who “could prove that the Nazis operated gas chambers to exterminate Jews during World War II.” When Mel Mermelstein provided the proof, the courts forced the IHR to pay up and to sign a letter of apology to Mermelstein.

About three years ago, I became interested in the organization and requested information. I was sent a leaflet, written by Weber, called “Auschwitz: Myths and Facts.” In it, Weber wrote that “America’s leading gas chamber expert, Boston engineer Fred A. Leuchter, carefully examined [Auschwitz’s] supposed ‘gas chambers’ in Poland and concluded that the Auschwitz gassing story is absurd and technically impossible.”

Sounds impressive. But, as Deborah Lipstadt reveals in her book, “Denying the Holocaust,” Fred Leuchter, Weber’s “expert,” is not an engineer and has no education in engineering. Further, Lipstadt can find no evidence that Leuchter has ever built a gas chamber.

That the director of the IHR is willing in this way to play with the facts rightly causes us to doubt the reliability of the IHR.

ROY BAUER

Trabuco

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As an infantry officer, one of the first to open up Dachau, I can assure you that no matter what Weber tries to say, he still denies that what happened at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps did take place.

Just because the French weekly magazine L’Express acknowledged that the “gas chamber” was rebuilt after the war does not mean that the original did not do the job.

Behind the guise of “promoting greater public understanding of key chapters of history,” Weber’s article and statements smack of anti-Semitic hatred. He should dig deeper to educate himself as to the facts.

R. BURKE

Newport Beach