Institute for Historical Review

LEADER: Mark Weber

USUAL AREA OF OPERATION: United States

OVERVIEW

The Institute for Historical Review (IHR) claims to be an academic cooperative of independent scholars dedicated to historical revisionism, the critiquing mainstream historiography. IHR asserts that the Holocaust, or Shoah, was an elaborate hoax "concocted by world Jewry to gain support for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel." IHR maintains that the Nazi government never embarked on the "Final Solution"; there were no death camps, no gas chambers, and no mass extermination of European Jews. The group further claims that the memory of the Holocaust, including the stories of survivors, is an elaborate—and conspiratorial—fabrication.

IHR maintains close ties to several neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic organizations, including the National Alliance and the Liberty Lobby. IHR continually employs rhetoric consistent with other anti-Semitic hate groups and is widely regarded by mainstream historians and watchdog groups, such as the Anti-Defamation League, as a leading force in the Holocaust denial movement.

HISTORY

Willis Carto founded the Institute for Historical Review in 1979. At that time, Carto spearheaded the right-wing and anti-Semitic extremist group, Liberty Lobby. From the outset, IHR was dedicated to Holocaust denial. Carto organized IHR's founding convention. IHR's vigorous publishing arm began with the publication of conference materials. Within two years, Noontide Press published several pamphlets, booklets, articles, and IHR's flagship publication, the Journal of Historical Review.

IHR sought recognition from mainstream historians to legitimize its cause. When the first issue of Journal of Historical Review was published, IHR distributed the publication to members of the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association, as well as other prominent scholars. Both organizations, and most independent scholars, vehemently denounced the IHR's writings. The Organization of American Historians stated that the journal was "devoid of historical truth … [and] nothing but a masquerade of scholarship."

Denounced by academia, the IHR and its Journal of Historical Review remained in relative public obscurity for several years. As a display of its devotion to "scholarship" and an affirmation to its members of its pursuit, IHR declared at its first conference that it would pay $50,000 to anyone "who could prove that the Nazis used gas chambers during World War II." IHR based much of its denial rhetoric on a perceived lack of concrete proof for the infamous death camp gas chambers. The group refuted the accepted historiography that substantiated the existence of gas chambers at camps like Auschwitz through coded Nazi communications, photographs, survivor testimony, (non-Jewish) concentration camp worker testimony, and archaeological evidence. IHR especially disavowed statements by Shoah survivors, claming that such stories were fictionalized accounts of life in "prison camps." IHR repeated its offer of reward in subsequent publications of its journal.

In 1981, Auschwitz survivor Mel Mermelstein came forward to challenge the IHR and claim the offered prize. Mermelstein submitted a formal, notarized statement to IHR detailing his arrival at Auschwitz. He survived selection, and was placed in a work detail. His sister and mother were separated from him and driven to the gas chambers. Mermelstein gave a detailed account of the layout of the camp, the selection of prisoners for work or immediate death, and the existence of the Krema, the gas chambers and crematoria. Mermelstein was denied the prize by IHR officials. He filed suit to recover the prize and seek redress for libel and the intentional infliction of emotional distress. In 1985, he prevailed in his claims against IHR, with the court noting that the events of the Holocaust were indisputable fact. After the Mermelstein trials, IHR could not avoid public label as a prominent denier organization. IHR continues to disclaim that it engages in Holocaust denial—preferring instead to abuse the term "historical revisionism."

In 1993, Carto was replaced as leader of the IHR. The organization's board fired Carto for misusing organization finances (a battle that later was taken to court). Mark Weber, a longtime ranking member of IHR and one-time editor of the Journal of Historical Review, replaced Carto at the helm. Carto's Liberty Lobby then launched its own Holocaust denial publication, The Barnes Review.

In the 1990s, IHR become more outspoken. In the wake of the release of the film, Schindler's List, the IHR mailed denial propaganda to film critics, cinemas, and media. IHR provided written material used by other hate groups in their opposition to the film. The film went on to receive widespread public and critical acclaim, as well as spark a renewed interest in Holocaust history.

IHR members also covered the British libel trial of Emory University historian and professor of religious studies, Deborah Lipstadt. Lipstadt authored a book about the Holocaust denial movement. The book, Denying the Holocaust, frequently discussed the operation, tactics, and publications of self-styled "revisionist" groups, including IHR. British writer and IHR contributor, David Irving, sued Lipstadt in Britain for libel because she referred to Irving as a "Holocaust denier" and "racist." Organizations like IHR had shied away from the label "Holocaust denier," largely to help mask the underlying agenda of their writing—in other words, to deceive readers into thinking that they were reading mainstream, legitimate scholarship. Lipstadt eventually prevailed, but only after a long and embittered fight.

LEADERSHIP

MARK WEBER

Mark Weber has a lengthy history of association with numerous right-wing extremist, white supremacy, anti-Semitic groups. After receiving a master's degree in history from Indiana University, Weber accepted a position as news director for the National Alliance, a neoNazi organization. Weber's duties included overseeing publication of the group's magazine, the National Vanguard. During this time, Weber also contributed to The Spotlight, a tabloid produced by the Institute for Historical Review.

Weber rose quickly through the ranks of the IHR. He led the organization's annual conferences before joining the organization's editorial board. In 1992, he assumed editorship of the IHR's major publication, the Journal of Historical Review. Weber gained control of IHR in 1993 after the organization's board fired founder Willis Carto.

As of 2005, Mark Weber continues to lead the IHR. He has aligned the organization with other hate groups such as the National Alliance, Christian Identity Movement, and various neo-Nazi and skinhead organizations. In 2001, Weber attempted to organize an international conference on "Revisionism and Zionism" in Beruit, Lebanon. Weber wanted to broaden international support for Holocaust denial and anti-Israeli sentiment, especially among Arabs and other Muslims in the Middle East. The Lebanese government, bowing to pressure from the governments of Turkey, the United States, and Israel—as well as from international scholars—refused to permit the conference.

PHILOSOPHY AND TACTICS

Holocaust denial is perhaps the ultimate expression of anti-Semitic sentiment. Deniers seek to undermine the memory of the Shoah in order to glorify the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler and the racist tenants of Nazism. Denial rhetoric often includes conspiracy theories on the abundance of Shoah survivor stories, the founding of Israel, and Jews in government.

IHR began disseminating its message through print materials such as pamphlets, tracts, and newsletters. Their initial recruitment tactic targeted members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. However, IHR soon expanded its target audience, attempting to recruit academics and graduate students. With the publication of the first issue of the Journal of Historical Review, IHR launched a new campaign to cast denial rhetoric as a legitimate vein of historical interpretation. IHR did manage to attract several core contributors, most of whom held master's or doctorate degrees in history. This group remained small; those who participated in IHR activities were rejected by the academic community and the Journal of Historical Review was roundly denounced as extremist.

As of 2005, IHR had returned to recruiting and disseminating materials within the sphere of English-speaking, international neo-Nazi, and right-wing extremist groups. Their primary means of publishing is via the Internet.

IHR continues to disavow the label of "Holocaust deniers." They maintain the position that their goal is to correct "false" and "proJewish" mainstream histories that they claim are inaccurate. IHR has spread its tactics to other Holocaust denial groups, especially in Canada and Europe (where Holocaust denial is often prohibited by law). The sophistication of IHR's messages has increased. IHR produces scholarly looking web sites, articles, and documentaries, often featuring well-educated "revisionist authorities."

OTHER PERSPECTIVES

Historical revisionism, in the context of the Holocaust, is synonymous with Holocaust denial. There is no legitimate historiography that refutes the events of the Shoah. Historian Deborah Lipstadt stated during her libel trial that "merely to suggest the fact of the Holocaust … is somehow open to debate is obscene." This view is echoed by every mainstream, legitimate historian, most of whom avow that scholars should never engage deniers in debate or public discussion.

KEY EVENTS

1979:

Willis A. Carto founds what eventually becomes the Institute for Historical Review. IHR publishes first pamphlet and conducts first radio broadcast on December 24.

1980:

IHR begins publication of the Journal of Historical Review.

1985:

Auschwitz survivor Mel Mermelstein attempts to collect a $50,000 reward offered by IHR for "concrete proof" of the use of gas chambers during the Holocaust. Mermelstein eventually prevails in court. The U.S. Superior Court in California declared in its ruling that the events of the Holocaust are "indisputable legal fact."

1993:

Faction splits from Willis A. Carto and assumes leadership of IHR.

1996:

IHR first publishes a collection of its materials on the Internet.

Prominent Holocaust historians accuse Holocaust deniers of attempting to legitimize their agenda by cloaking it in the garb of methodical research: the ability to amass and cite publications and pore through archives. Richard Evans states that the duplicity of denial "scholarship" is what makes it so dangerous to the untrained eye. Denial propaganda can look seductively academic, but it is not legitimized by its mere appearance.

SUMMARY

The Anti-Defamation League asserts that the Institute for Historical Review is in decline. IHR has not published a new issue of its Journal of Historical Review since 2002, instead choosing to focus on publishing speeches, interviews, and articles on its main web site. IHR and members of several active neo-Nazi groups hosted a conference in California in 2004. As of 2005, that was the last public forum sponsored by IHR.

IHR remains active, though many of its members and most frequent contributors, including Ernst Zündel and David Irving, have increasingly chosen to publish works outside of the IHR's newsletters and journal.

SOURCES

Books

Evans, Richard J. Lying about Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial. New York: Basic Books, 2002.

Lipstadt, Deborah E. Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. New York: Plume (reprint edition), 1994.

Web sites

The Anti-Defamation League. "Institute for Historical Review (IHR): Outlet for Denial Propaganda" 〈http://www.adl.org/holocaust/ihr.asp〉 (accessed October 15, 2005).

SEE ALSO

National Alliance

Neo-Nazis