- A Jewish Defense League member claimed credit in a taped
conversation for firebombing a "Nazi bookstore" that law enforcement
sources contend is the 1984 arson fire that destroyed the Torrance office
of a group that claims the Holocaust was a hoax.
-
- Prosecutors alleged in court Monday that during their
investigation of JDL member Earl Krugel he claimed credit for a firebombing
of a bookstore. They refused to discuss the bookstore allegation beyond
what was in the paperwork. But a law enforcement source familiar with the
probe said investigators strongly believe Krugel is referring to the July
4, 1984, firebombing of the Torrance office of the Institute for Historical
Review, which was a lightning rod for controversy during the early 1980s.
-
- The fire at the group's Noontide Press, 2539 W. 237th
St., was believed to be started by a Molotov cocktail or by someone dousing
the building with gasoline and igniting it, police said at the time. The
fire caused $300,000 to $400,000 damage. Krugel is currently in custody
and was arrested last year along with late JDL chairman Irv Rubin on charges
of plotting to bomb a Culver City mosque and an office of Rep. Darrell
Issa, R-Vista. Krugel has pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin
in January.
-
- The bookstore allegation stems from Krugel's attempt
to be released on bail. He contended he should be released in light of
Rubin's death earlier this month after an alleged suicide attempt. Prosecutors
opposed bail, contending Krugel was a danger to the community and citing
a transcript from a snippet of November 2001 taped conversation between
Krugel and an informant.
-
- According to court papers, the informant asked Krugel
about the biggest bombing he has "ever seen, done" and asks if
the JDL bombed offices of the Anti-Defamation League.
-
- "Nobody hit the ADL although they deserve it richly,"
Krugel reportedly said. "Uh, no it was on the uh, bookstore... that
Nazi bookstore... the Holocaust deniers."
-
- "I remember you telling me something about that,"
the informant replies.
-
- "That was beautiful, man," Krugel said. "I
did it. It was better than I expected."
-
- Krugel also notes that authorities never linked the arson
fire to the JDL. "Not one ounce of heat came down with it," he
said.
-
- During a hearing Monday, Krugel's lawyer, Mark Werksman,
said his client "denies being part of any such scheme." Werksman
said the allegations should not be considered in the bail request because
Krugel "is not charged" with any bombing and the allegation "is
not proven."
-
- U.S. Magistrate Judge Victor Kenton rejected the bail
bid, saying there was evidence to support keeping Krugel jailed even without
the new allegations.
-
- The Institute for Historical Review's office and bookstore
had been the target of vandalism and protests in the past and a multimillion-dollar
lawsuit brought by a concentration camp survivor. Mark Weber, director
of the IHR, said he wasn't surprised that the attack was linked to the
JDL.
-
- "Krugel's statement confirms our suspicions about
that attack," Weber said. "It's good to see some sort of resolution
of this crime." Weber said that after the fire Rubin came to the location
and denied responsibility for the fire but praised whoever did it.
-
- ================
-
- Comment And Response
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- Institute for Historical Review http://www.ihr.org 12-3-2
-
- Founded in 1978, the Institute for Historical Review
is a public interest research, educational and publishing center dedicated
to promoting greater public awareness of key chapters of history, especially
twentieth century history, that have social-political relevance today.
The IHR is non-ideological, non-political, and non-sectarian. It is recognized
by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, tax
exempt educational and publishing enterprise.
-
- The Institute's offices are located in Orange County,
southern California. Mark Weber has been the IHR director since 1995. Its
work is funded through sales of books and cassette tapes, subscriptions
to its Journal of Historical Review, and donations from supporters around
the world. In its day-to-day operations, the IHR employs its modest financial
resources very cost-effectively. For every dollar it spends, the IHR's
adversaries spend a hundred.
-
- The IHR is at the center of a worldwide network of scholars
and activists who are working -- sometimes at great personal sacrifice
-- to separate historical fact from propaganda fiction.
-
- Legally, the Institute operates as an entity of the "Legion
for the Survival of Freedom" (LSF), a non-profit corporation founded
in 1952 and controlled by a board of directors.
-
- Devoted to truth and accuracy in history, the IHR continues
the tradition of historical revisionism pioneered by distinguished historians
such as Harry Elmer Barnes, A.J.P. Taylor, Charles Tansill, Paul Rassinier
and William H. Chamberlin. The Institute's purpose is, in the words of
Barnes, to "bring history into accord with the facts."
-
- With growing support from across the United States and
many foreign countries, the IHR works to bring sanity to America's foreign
policy, to liberate people from pseudo-religious intimidation, and to uphold
the First Amendment right of free speech. The IHR also works to tear down
barriers to international peace and understanding by encouraging greater
awareness of the root causes, nature and consequences of war. Nowhere is
this work more important than here in the United States, where untold billions
of dollars have been squandered in preparation for pointless wars and conflicts.
-
- Growing Impact
-
- Defying powerful adversaries, the Institute's impact
continues to grow. While media coverage of the IHR is often hostile, the
Institute and its work steadily receive ever more widespread and respectful
attention. The Institute is now accepted, however grudgingly, as an established
part of the American social-cultural landscape.
-
- The IHR has been cited in every major American newspaper
and magazine, and in many periodicals in Europe and the Middle East. Institute
spokesmen have made numerous radio and television appearances, both in
the US and abroad. Millions of Americans were introduced to the IHR through
a broadcast of CBS's "60 Minutes," one of the country's most
widely viewed television shows. The front cover of an issue of the IHR
Journal was also shown on screen.
-
- Moreover, steadily growing numbers of scholars and educated
lay persons -- across the United States and around the world -- rely on
and support the IHR and its work.
-
- The Holocaust Issue
-
- Even though IHR books and IHR Journal articles have consistently
dealt with a broad range of historical topics, certainly the best-known
and most controversial aspect of the Institute's work has been its treatment
of the Holocaust issue. For example, the Los Angeles Times (May 15, 1994)
has described the IHR as a "revisionist think tank that critics call
the 'spine of the international Holocaust denial movement'."
-
- Although the Institute does not "deny the Holocaust,"
over the years it has published detailed books and numerous probing essays
that call into question aspects of the orthodox Holocaust extermination
story. IHR publications have devoted considerable attention to this issue
because it plays such an enormously significant role in the cultural and
political life of America and much of the world.
-
- Opponents of the IHR, in their efforts to discredit and
marginalize us, routinely mischaracterize the Institute as a "Holocaust
denial" organization. This smear is completely at variance with the
facts.
-
- Around the world awareness is growing that the "Holocaust"
campaign is a major weapon in the Jewish-Zionist arsenal, that it is used
to justify otherwise unjustifiable Israeli policies, and serves as a powerful
tool for blackmailing enormous sums of money from Americans and Europeans.
Even a few courageous Jewish writers have spoken out against what they
call the "Holocaust cult," the Holocaust "racket,"
"Holocaustomania," and the "Holocaust industry."
-
- If the revisionist view of the Holocaust were really
as simplistic and indefensible as some insist, it would not have gained
the support of university professors such as Arthur Butz and Robert Faurisson,
historians such as David Irving and Harry Elmer Barnes, former concentration
camp inmates such as Paul Rassinier, and American gas chamber specialist
Fred Leuchter. These individuals did not decide publicly to reject the
orthodox Holocaust story -- thereby risking public censure, and worse --
because they are fools, or because their motives are evil, but rather on
the basis of a sincere and thoughtful evaluation of the evidence.
-
- Bigoted Attacks
-
- Occasionally the Institute is denounced as a racist or
fascist "hate group." This too is a baseless smear. Since its
founding the IHR has steadfastly opposed bigotry of all kinds in its efforts
to promote greater public understanding of history. It does not seek to
whitewash any past regime or rehabilitate any ideology. The IHR is proud
of the backing it has earned from people of the most diverse political
views and racial and ethnic backgrounds.
-
- At the 13th IHR Conference (May 2000), a featured speaker
was John Sack, who is Jewish. A report by this veteran American journalist
and author based on his participation in the three-day meeting appeared
in the February 2001 issue of Esquire magazine. Rejecting the often-repeated
lie that the IHR and the revisionists are "haters" or bigots,
Sack described those who spoke at and attended the IHR conference as "affable,
open-minded, intelligent [and] intellectual." He also affirmed that
numerous revisionist arguments and findings are, indeed, true.
-
- Far from being a fomenter of hate, the Institute has
been a target of hate groups. During the 1980s, the Jewish Defense League
-- identified by the FBI in 1985 as the second most active terrorist group
in the United States -- repeatedly assaulted Institute offices and staff
members. Following numerous death threats by telephone and mail, extensive
property damage, five relatively minor fire bombings, one drive-by shooting
and two physical assaults, the Institute's office-warehouse was destroyed
in an arson attack on July 4, 1984. Estimated property loss was more than
$400,000, including tens of thousands of books, rare documents, irreplaceable
files and expensive office equipment.
-
- In addition, well-financed special interest groups seeking
to curtail open discussion of vital historical issues have for years targeted
the Institute, grossly misrepresenting its work and purpose. Prominent
among these are the Simon Wiesenthal Center (Los Angeles) and the Anti-Defamation
League of B'nai B'rith (New York) -- stridently partisan organizations
with well documented records as staunch apologists for narrow Zionist-Jewish
interests.
-
- The Journal of Historical Review
-
- The Institute's Journal of Historical Review -- the leading
periodical of its kind in the world -- appears six times yearly in an attractive
illustrated magazine format. More than 60 issues have appeared since it
first began publication in 1980. The Journal editor is Theodore J. O'Keefe.
-
- The IHR Journal, says best-selling British historian
David Irving, "has an astounding record of fearlessly shattering the
icons of those vested interests who hate and fear the truth. That is why
I strongly endorse it, and suggest that every intelligent man and woman
in America, Britain and the dominions subscribe."
-
- In addition to individual scholars and discerning lay
readers, leading university libraries and academic centers around the world
subscribe.
-
- More than 20 distinguished historians, educators and
other scholars are members of the Journal's Editorial Advisory Committee.
Journal contributors have included respected scholars from around the world.
Journal articles (along with IHR leaflets and other IHR materials) are
frequently disseminated globally through the Internet, and are often reprinted,
translated and circulated worldwide. Hundreds of Journal items can easily
be downloaded from the IHR's well-organized web site.
-
- Conferences
-
- Since 1979, the IHR has held 13 conferences, presenting
speakers from Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as the United States.
IHR speakers have included:
-
- * John Toland, Pulitzer prize-winning American historian,
and author of several best-selling works of history. * John Sack, veteran
journalist, war correspondent, historian and novelist. This Jewish-American
writer is the author of nine non-fiction books. * Dr. James J. Martin,
an American historian with a 25-year career as an educator. Author of several
meticulously researched historical studies. Contributor to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica. * Paul "Pete" McCloskey, former US Congressman
(Rep.-Calf.). This US Marine Corps veteran braved enemy fire in Korea,
opposed Richard Nixon on Capitol Hill, and spoke out against Israel's violations
of US law and the deceit of the Israel-first Anti-Defamation League. *
David Irving, British historian and author of numerous bestselling works.
* Hideo Miki, retired professor at Japan's National Defense Academy and
retired Lieutenant General of Japan's Self-Defense Forces. * John Bennett,
noted Australian civil liberties attorney and activist, and president of
the Australian Civil Liberties Union. * Fred Leuchter, America's foremost
expert on execution hardware. Author of a widely discussed forensic report
on the alleged extermination "gas chambers" at Auschwitz.
-
- IHR Conference addresses are available on audio and video
cassette.
-
- Publishing and Outreach
-
- A major task of the Institute is the publication of solid
works of history. It brings long-neglected revisionist classics back into
print, and breaks fresh ground with professionally edited and attractively
designed first editions of important new works.
-
- Most IHR books can be found in major libraries around
the world. One title alone has sold more than 50,000 copies. Several IHR
titles have been published in foreign-language editions. In addition to
its own titles, the IHR distributes scores of worthwhile books issued by
other publishers. More than a hundred solidly researched books and dozens
of compelling audio and video tapes are listed in our catalog.
-
- Hundreds of thousands of leaflets from our popular introductory
series have been sold and distributed. IHR speakers are available for meetings
and radio and television appearances. Depending on availability of financial
resources, the IHR also helps fund primary scholarly research of critical
historical issues.
-
- For Peace And Understanding
-
- Bitter experience has taught us just how little we can
trust politicians and governments, especially during wartime when official
and semi-official propagandists are most busy deceiving the public. As
American historian Harry Elmer Barnes put it: "Truth is always the
first war casualty. The emotional disturbances and distortions in historical
writing are greatest in wartime."
-
- Powerful interests -- including politicians and the major
media -- distort the historical record for self-serving reasons. Textbooks,
motion pictures and television routinely present history in a slanted and
partisan way. As George Orwell aptly noted in his classic Nineteen Eighty-Four:
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present
controls the past."
-
- Americans have been misled into one costly, devastating,
and needless war after another. During the Vietnam and 1991 Gulf Wars,
for example, government officials and much of the media lied to and deceived
the American people to justify needless slaughter and devastation.
-
- As shrewd observers have long understood, history is
written by the victors. This is particularly true with regard to the history
of the Second World War. Routinely the origins and nature of that catastrophic
conflict are deceitfully portrayed as a simplistic struggle between good
and evil.
-
- In seeking to replace ideologically-driven and emotion-charged
portrayals with truth and fact, the Institute promotes historical awareness,
understanding and mutual respect among nations. Artificially maintaining
the hatreds and passions of the past prevents genuine reconciliation and
lasting peace. As Barnes emphasized, historical revisionism is the key
to just and lasting peace.
-
- An awareness of real history provides understanding about
the great issues of the present and the future. The work of the IHR in
"blasting the historical blackout" (Barnes) is all the more relevant
in this first decade of the 21st century.
-
- In a world often saturated with historical lies and self-serving
propaganda, the Institute for Historical Review stands as a precious bulwark
and beacon.
-
-
- Institute for Historical Review A Few Facts About the
Institute for Historical Review PO Box 2739 -- Newport Beach, CA 92659
http://www.ihr.org
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