In the Wake of Holocaust Remembrance Week, A Mitzvah – The Times of Israel
Posted By admin on February 16, 2021
Early last month, while conducting research for a paper I am writing on the social history of Auschwitz, I was using the online library services at York University where I am presently a graduate student whose research focuses on the field of Holocaust Studies. To my utter dismay, the first source that appeared when I searched Auschwitz on the schools library system was entitled Auschwitz: A Personal Account and was attributed to Thies Christophersen. While the title of this work appears innocent, its author is anything but. Christophersen was a member of the SS and served in the vicinity of Auschwitz during the Second World War. Following the war, Christophersen became a noted denier of the holocaust and member of various anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi parties in Germany. After spending his later years moving around Europe he was deported from Switzerland for his dangerous views. He was a witness for the defense during the prosecution of famed Canadian holocaust denier Ernst Zundel. His book is a form of vitriolic Holocaust denial and of repugnant anti-Semitism. Needless to say, I was concerned to see the aforementioned publication was available online to all members of the York University community.
The work in question was originally published as The Auschwitz Lie in 1973 in German and 1974 in English. It was republished in 1979, however in an act of subterfuge the title title was changed to Auschwitz: A Personal Account. This title, in my opinion, only enhances the grotesque nature of the blatant denialism and anti-Semitism contained between its covers. Such a mundane title, one designed to bring an air of authenticity to a fictitious narrative, asserts that its author is writing from bona fide experiences and shames the very real and powerful narratives of actual survivors of the horrors of Auschwitz.
Thies has been censored in his native Germany where his publication has been barred since the early 1990s from being disseminated to children and youth due to its heinous content. The forward by Manfred Roeder is considered an affront to the nations laws outlawing the incitement of hatred for its anti-Semitic tone. A quick word on Roeder, he was labelled a domestic terrorist in his native Germany in the 1980s. The result of crimes, including murders, attributed to the neo-Nazi German Action Groups which he led, carried out against foreign immigrants to Germany.
So, back to my night of researching. After confirming that the book in existence was exactly what I had expected it to be, as I have only previously heard of the original title, I decided I had to take some form of action. Thats actually a minimizing obfuscation. Every inch of my skin was crawling and the natural advocate in me was raring for action. This, and it pains me to call it a book, I prefer printed smut, really is that gruesomely anti-Semitic. The cover page of the 1979 rendition, translated from the original German, reads, An unbiased eyewitness report on the real life in a concentration camp there were no gas chambers! The character of both Thies and his publication are not in dispute, both are proudly and unashamedly anti-Semitic and personify dangerous polemic denialism. I proceeded to reach out to the universitys library asking for something to be done.
I was dismayed when the universitys library refused to take immediate action and rather chose to offer me a Zoom meeting instead. I appreciate the need to balance the needs of students of all creeds and beliefs with those of a modern and progressive university library. I have spent a significant amount of time at York University, having attended the institution to obtain my undergraduate degree and now to complete my Masters. While I have been privy to the occurrence of shameful acts of anti-Semitism that have scarred the face of the campus, I myself have never been the subject of any direct attacks for my faith, likely due to my secular appearance and my not traditionally Jewish last name. None the less, I have spent enough time in academia, and have dealt with enough tenuous situations at other universities, to know that anti-Semitism, especially in its more passive forms, is constantly rearing its ugly head on North American campuses.
The library has a responsibility to the greater institution that funds it, but it also has a duty to ensure that the rights of its students are not infringed by its attempts to ensure the proliferation of intellectual and academic freedom. The work of Christophersen being available for use by academics engaging in studies related to anti-Semitism and holocaust denialism is a necessity. We cannot hide from the evils of our past, just as much as we cannot ignore them. However, the existence of the title, as part of the general online collection at York University without any recognition of the harmful content contained within its pages is an untenable occurrence.
I was aware of Yorks strong position regarding libraries and intellectual freedom. The librarys webpage proudly indicates its admirable desire to acquire as expansive a collection as is possible. It further states the librarys adherence to the Canadian Federation of Library AssociationsStatement on Intellectual Freedom and Librariesand the Canadian Association of Research Libraries guiding principles pertaining toFreedom of Expression. As a result, I was not optimistic, when asked to attend a meeting with members of the library administration, that my needs a Jewish student would be properly balanced with the librarys desire to furnish for its community as many resources and perspectives on as many subjects as was possible.
It is worth noting that the same issue presently exists at the University of Toronto amongst other institutions and that there is a greater issue involving the publisher of the collection which contains the text. The text should simply not be offered as a component of such a widely distributed and broad ranging collection of primary sources. As stated, there is merit to making such a resource accessible, but it is far to caustic to be included in a group of resources meant for general circulation. Inclusion in a collection of primary sources that are expressly identified as works of Holocaust denial would be the proper means through which to make such a contentious resource available to researchers who need it,
The universities in question lack the agency to act in a manner that would enable the removal of the publication from circulation. Freedom of expression and intellectual freedom aside, they are parties to incredibly intricate contracts with publishers. They pay for access to materials, but do not always have full control over how these materials are presented, what meta data is attached to the publications, which collections they are included in, and the general proliferation of a specific component from within a larger collection. A university library cannot unilaterally pick and choose what components of a collection they will and will not make available to their students. Doing so would violate their agreement with the content provider and the university requires these corporations to ensure that its collection can be maintained.
As a result, it was highly unlikely that Yorks library would be able to accommodate my request that the work of Christophersen be pulled from general online circulation. The work is part of a larger stand lone collection, offered by the well known educational publisher Gale and containing over half a million pages of content. The collection, titled Political Extremism and Radicalism: Far-Right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia in the Twentieth Centuryis part of the primary source offerings offered by Cale. Gale is owned by the larger educational content provider Cengage, which reported a revenue of 1.3 billion dollars at the end of its 2020 Fiscal Year. Gale and Cengage control the content of their offerings and are ultimately responsible for what gets disseminated in them. While one could argue that the University was overwhelmed by the quantity of materials it received as part of the collection, the same cannot be said for the publisher. It is their job to review and curate the items they offer for sale. It is important to remember that Cengage is profiting directly from the sale of this work of hostile anti-Semitism and blatant Holocaust denial.
Now, to the mitzvah component of my narrative. I met with Patti Ryan, who works with the librarys content development and analysis department, and with Dr. Jack Leong. Dr. Leong is the librarys Associate Dean of Research and Open Scholarship. Admittedly, I did not expect much to come from this meeting and was initially hyper emotional. However, with the assistance of the immense patience and sincere understanding of Mrs. Ryan and Dr. Leong, a meaningful solution was reached. While the school was powerless to remove the individual source without catching the ire of the publisher, they were determined to ensure that the continued presence of the material in question in their online catalogue did not offend the Jewish members of the York University community.
Within a few hours, a local note was added to the system. This notation is visible and essentially must be read by anyone who attempts to open the text to read it. It is concise but pointed and ensures that all who glimpse it are left with no misunderstandings of exactly what this text is. It reads, This book is a work of holocaust denialism, written by noted holocaust denier Thies Christophersen. It is part of a digital collection of racist and fascist materials preserved in the Searchlight Archive. The Archive contains a significant body of material documenting the activities of fascist and racist organizations. Such a simple act, yet such a profound mitzvah.
You may ask why this is such a mitzvah? Well, in the era of BDS movements and the Proud Boys, an institution working admirably to help combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denialism in an objectively clear manner that sets a precedent not only for its own library but for those at other universities across Canada should not be taken for granted. This simple note can now be used in the future to ensure that any other works of denialism are properly identified. So yes, it is the opinion of this author, that in a world where within the living memory of survivors of the holocaust major academic content providers feel it is acceptable to include the works of members of the SS who violate the memory of the over 1 million human beings brutally dehumanized and murdered at Auschwitz in the packages it sells for Universities to distribute to the next generation of young scholars amongst works on political radicalism, that the Jewish community can use all the help it can get.
York Universitys library team stepped up to the plate. But this isnt over yet. The work of Christophersen continues to sit unmitigated in the physical and digital collections of universities around the globe. It is time for these schools to follow Yorks lead and immediately take steps to ensure that those in their community who wish to interact which such a resource are aware of the denialist and anti-Semitic content that lies within its pages.
The real potential for change is in the hands of Gale and their parent company Cengage. The work in question does not fit within a collection devoted to discussing 20th century political radicalism. It does not discuss or serve as an archival resource of value for those who wish to study fascism. It is not evidence of the views of Christophersen or his compatriots before, during, and or after the war. Christophersen did publish politically minded works. What was Originally titled The Auschwitz Lieis simply not one of them. It is nothing more than fictitious anti-Semitic trash and it is time for Gale and Cengage to throw it out of their collection.
Richard Robertson was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a proud Thornhillian. He holds a Juris Doctor (Dalhousie University, 2017) and is presently a graduate student in York University's Department of History where his research focuses on the field of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He is a member of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies and is presently a Research Associate at the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Center for Jewish Studies at York University.
Read the original here:
In the Wake of Holocaust Remembrance Week, A Mitzvah - The Times of Israel
- 10 Roles That Made Us Really Love Rachel Weisz: From 'The Constant Gardener' to 'The Favourite' | Anglophenia - Anglophenia - March 5th, 2021
- Utah rabbi says Holocaust education resolution is 'justified and necessary' as denial increases - KSL.com - March 3rd, 2021
- Utah Rabbi says resolution emphasizing Holocaust education is 'justified and necessary' as denial increases - KSL.com - March 3rd, 2021
- This is a sign of how much trouble the GOP brand is in - KCTV Kansas City - February 26th, 2021
- Government urged to close loophole that allows extremists to radicalise others - Sky News - February 26th, 2021
- Reckoning with a Nazi Father - The New Yorker - February 16th, 2021
- Opinion | On human rights, Amazon is at a crossroads - Crosscut - February 9th, 2021
- Taking Action to Repair Our World - IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters - February 7th, 2021
- Opinion: QAnon, conspiracy theories are no joke - DW (English) - February 7th, 2021
- The Wall Street Journal Misreads Section 230 and the First Amendment - Lawfare - February 3rd, 2021
- 'Misha and the Wolves' is a stranger-than-fiction documentary about a woman's Holocaust story - USA TODAY - February 1st, 2021
- Facebook still has Holocaust denial content three months after Mark Zuckerberg pledged to remove it - USA TODAY - February 1st, 2021
- UN experts urge renewed commitment to combat antisemitism, including Holocaust distortion and denial - YubaNet - February 1st, 2021
- The Holocaust, history and today's politics - The CT Mirror - February 1st, 2021
- On this remembrance day, lessons of the Holocaust take on new urgency - Bangor Daily News - February 1st, 2021
- ADL social media Holocaust denial report card: C's and D's all around - The Jewish News of Northern California - February 1st, 2021
- Antisemitism and Holocaust denial on the rise in Australia, Josh Frydenberg warns - The Guardian - February 1st, 2021
- PaleyIMPACT: The Medias Role in Combating Holocaust Denial, Misinformation, and Antisemitism - Yahoo Entertainment - February 1st, 2021
- Abraham Accords the turning point for Arabic Holocaust education -opinion - The Jerusalem Post - February 1st, 2021
- Coronavirus conspiracy theories could be a fast-track to Holocaust denial - The Independent - February 1st, 2021
- The Conversation - Indonesia (via the Good Men Project) featured Dyson Professor Adam Klein's column "How To Fight Holocaust Denial in Social... - January 22nd, 2021
- AJC, FBI Meet to Discuss Efforts to Combat Antisemitism in the US - PRNewswire - January 22nd, 2021
- WJC and ADL Call on Tech Companies to Enforce Policies Banning Antisemitic and Hate Products - YubaNet - January 22nd, 2021
- 'The White Voice, Experience, and Interest Dominate Education' (Opinion) - Education Week - January 22nd, 2021
- One-man Holocaust play goes online to teach a new generation - The Jewish News of Northern California - January 22nd, 2021
- How should we remember the Holocaust? - New Statesman - January 22nd, 2021
- Why are people fighting the IHRA definition of antisemitism? - The Jerusalem Post - January 22nd, 2021
- Pure hate finds a home: How Parler became the social media platform for millions of Trump supporters - Milwaukee Independent - January 4th, 2021
- Activists call on Facebook and Twitter to ban Armenian genocide denial - Business Insider - Business Insider - January 1st, 2021
- My Turn: What will we bear witness to as truth as we head into 2021? - The Recorder - December 30th, 2020
- Lipstadt and Eisen sign on to roster of those who minimize the Holocaust - JNS.org - December 30th, 2020
- Book: Intent to deceive: Denying the Genocide of the Tutsi | ICN - Independent Catholic News - December 27th, 2020
- Takoma Park Mayor Releases Statement on Recent Incidents - Source of the Spring - December 27th, 2020
- Facebook overhauling hate speech algorithms to prioritize anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ comments over anti-white - WDHN - DothanFirst.com - December 12th, 2020
- Noam Chomsky and the Left: Allies or Strange Bedfellows? - The Wire - December 12th, 2020
- What the Facebook antitrust lawsuits might mean for hate speech - Forward - December 12th, 2020
- All I want for Hanukkah are these 8 human rights wishes - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - December 12th, 2020
- 'The Tehran Children: Iran's Unexpected & Suppressed Connection to the Holocaust' program set - timesobserver.com - December 5th, 2020
- Facebook's Updating its Approach to Hate Speech to Combat 'The Worst of the Worst' Cases - Social Media Today - December 5th, 2020
- Yes, Palestinians have the right to speak about antisemitism - Forward - December 5th, 2020
- How to fight Holocaust denial in social media with the evidence of what really happened - The Conversation US - December 4th, 2020
- Chautauqua Institution joins Holocaust Memorial Museum for 'The Tehran Children' - Olean Times Herald - December 4th, 2020
- Twitter, Facebook to update hate speech moderation | TheHill - The Hill - December 4th, 2020
- Publishers are not obliged to give bigots like Jordan Peterson a platform - The Guardian - December 4th, 2020
- Facebook said It would ban holocaust deniers. Instead, its algorithm provided a network for them - The Next Web - December 1st, 2020
- Facebook banned Holocaust denial but it's still easy to find - The Jewish News of Northern California - December 1st, 2020
- Facebook's ban has done little to rid the platform of Holocaust denial - Haaretz.com - December 1st, 2020
- Fury as Amazon Alexa spreading antisemitic conspiracies that Jews run the world and Holocaust denial - The Sun - December 1st, 2020
- Facebook announced It would prohibit holocaust deniers. Rather, its algorithm donated a network for them - Stanford Arts Review - December 1st, 2020
- Gen Z's Perception of the Holocaust | Eli Yissar Josefson | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - December 1st, 2020
- Palestinian rights and the IHRA definition of antisemitism - The Guardian - December 1st, 2020
- 'Facebook needs to improve': Social media giant to face scrutiny as backlash intensifies - Sydney Morning Herald - December 1st, 2020
- Forum: Europe needs proper distinction between freedom and rights - The Straits Times - December 1st, 2020
- Parler is bringing together mainstream conservatives, anti-Semites, and white supremacists as the social media platform attracts millions of Trump... - December 1st, 2020
- The Meaning of Hitler Review: A Look At Why the Icon of 20th-Century Hate Lives on in the 21st - Variety - December 1st, 2020
- Muslims v the west, in France and beyond - newagebd.net - December 1st, 2020
- Six weeks ago, Facebook announced a ban on Holocaust denial. It's still easy to find. - Cleveland Jewish News - November 25th, 2020
- Opinion: Nazi resistance fighters, Holocaust victims and the nonsense of COVID-19 denial - DW (English) - November 25th, 2020
- MPs demand Amazon explain why Alexa 'offers messages from antisemitic websites and conspiracy theories' - Sky News - November 25th, 2020
- In the first-ever expulsion, Lord Nazir Ahmed forced to quit from House of Lords - India New England - November 25th, 2020
- Yad Vashem is selling its soul to shady right-wing racists and populists - Haaretz.com - November 25th, 2020
- How David Adjaye Became the Worlds Most Beguiling Public Architectand Its Most Subversive - Robb Report - November 25th, 2020
- The Impact of Toxicity on Retention and LTV. - Gamasutra - November 25th, 2020
- Wiesenthal Center warns about Parler opening 'the door wide' to anti-Semitism - JNS.org - November 25th, 2020
- For 75th Anniversary of Nuremberg Trials, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Makes Available Full Sound Recordings of Trials and Film Used as... - November 21st, 2020
- EmTech Stage: Facebooks CTO on misinformation - MIT Technology Review - November 21st, 2020
- Wiesenthal Center warns about Parler opening the door wide to anti-Semitism - Cleveland Jewish News - November 21st, 2020
- A former right-wing media creator on how a different reality became so prominent. - The New York Times - November 21st, 2020
- Checking in with chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov - Jewish Insider - November 21st, 2020
- US elections and Jewish vote: Priorities of American Diaspora, implications for Israel - JNS.org - November 21st, 2020
- What I learned about teshuvah (and the internet) when I sat down with a repentant white supremacist - Heritage Florida Jewish News - November 21st, 2020
- Angered by Facebook and Twitter, conservatives jump to alternatives - AZFamily - November 21st, 2020
- Hungary Now Safest Place in Europe for Jews - Rabbi Kves at the Hungary at First 'Site' Conference - Hungary Today - November 21st, 2020
- The Latest: Romney slams Trump efforts to overturn election as 'undemocratic' - pressherald.com - November 21st, 2020
- Repressed grief is bad for the soul: Covid victims must be commemorated - Evening Standard - November 11th, 2020
- In its troubled hour, polling could use an irreverent figure to reset expectations - Huron Daily Tribune - November 11th, 2020
- Singh says government must move to counter hate groups, which have tripled since 2015 - Kamloops This Week - November 11th, 2020
- As the Trump era comes to an end, what happens to Big Tech? - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle - November 11th, 2020
- Revered Polish Jew, Holocaust survivor joins protests over top appointment at Yad Vashem - Haaretz.com - November 9th, 2020
- After The Defeat Of Donald Trump, Sacha Baron Cohen Turns His Attention To Mark Zuckerberg - Forbes - November 9th, 2020
Comments