Statement of Purpose
Committee for Open Debate of the Holocaust (CODOH)
ODOH
was founded to encourage intellectual freedom with respect to the Holocaust.
CODOH is not a membership organization and is not affiliated with any
political party or political group. It is not the purpose of CODOH to
prove "the Holocaust never happened," or that European Jews did not
suffer a catastrophe during the Hitlerian regime. Those who try to convince
you it is want to muddy the waters. While we no longer believe the gas
chamber stories (we used to very much believe them) or the "genocide"
theory, we remain open to being convinced we are wrong.
I understand perfectly well that the Hitlerian regime was anti-Semitic
and persecuted Jews and others. I understand many peoples, European
Jews among them, experienced unfathomable tragedies in Europe during
World War II.
Nevertheless, I no longer believe the German State pursued a plan
to kill all Jews or used homicidal "gassing chambers" for mass murder.
The reasons I no longer believe either story are that no physical
remains of authentic homicidal gassing chambers exist today, and there
are no war-time generated documents which prove they ever did. I believe
the gas chamber story to be a grotesque hoax.
For half a century the gas chambers have been at the heart of
the holocaust story. In the literature, the two have been absolutely
inseparable. It's tempting to say: "No gas chambers, no Holocaust."
I have said it myself. But too often it can be--has been--misleading,
particularly to those who are just becoming acquainted with revisionist
theory. It's misleading because it suggests that, if there were no gas
chambers--and there were not--the Jews of Europe did not suffer a tragedy
at the hands of the Hitlerian regime. They did.
While it is true that the Germans were criminally responsible
for the death of a large number of their slave labor prisoners, much
eyewitness testimony about German atrocities against Jews and others
is demonstrably false. It's wrong to bear false witness against others--most
of us were taught to understand this when we were children. False testimony
against anyone, including Germans, together with those who promote it,
should be exposed to the light of public scrutiny.
The attempt to identify every call for open discussion about the
gas chamber controversy with anti-Jewish sentiment is juvenile. Those
who protest that it is more important to be sensitive to "survivors"
than truthful about the historical record represent a world view that
has no place in Western culture.
I'm willing to be convinced I'm wrong about any or all of this.
I'm willing to be convinced it is hateful to weigh the evidence for
and against gas chambers. I'm willing to consider the possibility that
the press and our intellectual elites are justified in their efforts
to suppress open discussion about the gas chambers. I'm even willing
to discuss the idea that intellectual freedom corrupts public discourse
when it involves the gas chamber controversy.
I'm not willing to go away, however. I don't know why, but I'm
not willing.
Director: Bradley R. Smith
Webmaster: Rodrigo Mendoza
Webmaster Emeritus: David Thomas
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