A Few Facts About the Institute for Historical Review

(P. O. Box 2739 -- Newport Beach, CA 92659 -- U.S.A.)


Founded in 1978, the Institute for Historical Review is a not-for-profit research, educational and publishing center 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 purpose of the IHR is, in the words of Barnes, to "bring history into accord with the facts." To this end, it sheds light on suppressed information about key chapters of history, especially twentieth century history, that have special relevance today.

With growing support from across the United States and around the world, the IHR works for truthfulness in history, to restore sanity in America's foreign policy, to liberate people from pseudo-religious intimidation, and for the First Amendment right of free speech. The IHR also works to tear down barriers to international peace and understanding by encouraging greater understanding 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 are squandered yearly in preparation for war and conflict.

Certainly the best-known and most controversial aspect of the IHR's work has been its treatment of the Holocaust issue. Over the years, the IHR has published detailed books and numerous probing essays by scholars such as Dr. Arthur Butz of Northwestern University and French professor Robert Faurisson that call into question the orthodox Holocaust extermination story. The Institute does not "deny the Holocaust." It does not dispute the suffering and terrible persecution of European Jews during the Second World War. At the same time, though, a growing body of documentary, forensic and other evidence shows that much of what we're told about the "Holocaust" is exaggerated or simply not true.

Growing Impact

Defying powerful adversaries, the Institute's impact continues to grow. While media coverage of the IHR and its work is still overwhelmingly hostile, the Institute and historical revisionism have been receiving more routine and widespread attention.

For example, millions of Americans were introduced to the IHR through the March 20, 1994, broadcast of CBS's "60 Minutes," one of the country's most widely viewed television shows. Our Journal was also introduced, and the front cover of the Nov.-Dec. 1993 issue was shown on screen.

The IHR is frequently cited in newspapers and magazines, including Time, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. Institute spokesmen have made numerous radio and television appearances. The IHR is now grudgingly accepted as an established part of America's social-cultural landscape.

For Peace And Understanding

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."

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 the eminent 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."

Because of this, Americans have been misled into one costly, devastating, and needless war after another. During the 1991 Gulf War, for example, government officials and much of the media lied and deceived the American people to justify the needless slaughter and devastation of that conflict.

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. The origins and nature of that catastrophic conflict are routinely portrayed as a simplistic struggle between good and evil, in a childish and emotion-charged way.

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.

Purpose

Artificially maintaining the hatreds and passions of the past prevents genuine reconciliation and lasting peace. As Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes emphasized, historical revisionism is the key to just and lasting peace.

In seeking to replace deceitful and emotion-charged portrayals with truth and fact, the IHR promotes historical awareness, understanding and mutual respect among nations. 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" is all the more relevant and timely in this final decade of the twentieth century, as the political-economic order imposed by the victorious powers of the Second World War dramatically collapses -- and along with it a distorted and one-sided historical perspective.

In a world so saturated with historical lies and self-serving propaganda, the Institute for Historical Review stands as a precious beacon.

Bigoted Attacks Against The IHR

The Institute is sometimes denounced as an anti-Jewish or racist "hate group." This 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 racial and ethnic backgrounds (including Jewish).

In fact, the IHR itself has been a target of real hate groups such as the Jewish Defense League, an organization the FBI has characterized as criminal and terrorist.

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 IHR'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.

Along with the Institute's growing impact has come, inevitably, ever more furious attacks from intolerant adversaries. Such desperate and mean-spirited opposition is actually a sign of the IHR's growing effectiveness.

Books

A major task of the Institute is the publication of solid works of historiography. The IHR brings long-neglected revisionist classics back into print, and breaks fresh ground with professionally edited and attractively designed first editions of important new works.

Numerous college and university educators have assigned IHR books as required reading in their courses. Most IHR books can be found in major libraries around the world. Several IHR titles have been translated into foreign languages. One title alone has sold more than 50,000 copies worldwide. IHR titles include:

  • Why I Survived the A-Bomb, by Akira Kohchi.
  • Falsehood in Wartime: Propaganda Lies of the First World War, by Arthur Ponsonby.
  • The Secret Team: The CIA & Its Allies in Control of the United States & the World, by L. Fletcher Prouty.
  • The Forced War: When Peaceful Revision Failed, by Dr. David L. Hoggan.
  • Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War, by George Morgenstern.
  • Gruesome Harvest: The Allies' Postwar War Against the German People, by R. F. Keeling.
  • No Time for Silence: Pleas for a Just Peace Over Four Decades, by Dr. Austin J. App.
  • The Dissolution of Eastern European Jewry, by Walter N. Sanning.
  • Hitler: Born at Versailles, by Leon Degrelle.
  • Campaign in Russia: The Waffen SS on the Eastern Front, by Leon Degrelle.
  • Hoax of the Twentieth Century, by Dr. Arthur R. Butz.
  • Barnes Against the Blackout: Essays Against Interventionism, by Dr. Harry Elmer Barnes.
  • Auschwitz: A Judge Looks at the Evidence, by Wilhelm Stäglich.
  • The Man Who Invented 'Genocide,' by Dr. James J. Martin.
  • The Holocaust Story and the Lies of Ulysses, by Paul Rassinier.
  • Dealing in Hate: The Development of Anti-German Propaganda, by Dr. Michael F. Connors.
  • The 'Confessions' of Kurt Gerstein, by Henri Roques.

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 and described in the IHR annual catalog.

The Journal Of Historical Review

The Institute's Journal of Historical Review, 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."

The Journal of Historical Review appears six times yearly in an attractive, handsomely illustrated 48-page magazine format. More than 55 issues have appeared since it first began publication in 1980.

It is the leading periodical of its kind in the world. University libraries, academic centers, individual scholars and discerning lay readers around the world subscribe. The Journal is a member of the Conference of Historical Journals.

Distinguished historians, educators and other academics are members of the Journal's Editorial Advisory Committee. Journal contributors have included respected scholars from around the world.

A Journal reader typically has a keen interest in understanding how and why the world has become what it is today. He is fed up with recycled wartime propaganda being passed off as "history." He is tired of socially destructive lies and bigotry. He wants a sane and healthy future for himself, his family and his country, indeed for all humanity, and realized that it can only be achieved through an understanding of history and the world based on truth and reality.

Conferences

Since 1979, the IHR has held twelve conferences, presenting speakers from Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as the United States. IHR conference speakers have included:

  • British historian David Irving, perhaps the most widely read historian in the English-speaking world. Author of numerous best-selling works.
  • Pulitzer prize-winning American historian John Toland, author of several best-selling works of history.
  • 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.
  • Fred Leuchter, America's foremost expert on execution hardware. Author of a widely discussed forensic report on the alleged extermination "gas chambers" at Auschwitz.
  • 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.

Other Activities

The educational work of the IHR also includes outreach through its Media Project. Project director Bradley Smith has appeared on more than 400 radio talk shows, reaching an audience estimated in the millions.

Hundreds of thousands of leaflets from our popular introductory series have been sold and distributed. An IHR speakers' bureau makes speakers available for meetings.

2/95

We wish to acknowledge that the above article was made available courtesy of the Institute for Historical Review.

Copyright restrictions:

The copyright holders (Greg Raven and/or the Institute for Historical Review) hereby grant to anyone the right to reproduce electronically or magnetically the BBS versions of these files. We do not grant reprint rights to any words-on-paper versions of these files except for extracts up to 500 words in book reviews or citations in other books. You are allowed to print out one copy of these files for your own personal use. You are not allowed to sell a print-out.

For a current catalog, with a complete listing of books and audio and video tapes, send one dollar to:

Institute For Historical Review
Post Office Box 2739
Newport Beach, California 92659
Send all questions and comments pertaining to this article to ihrgreg@kaiwan.com

 
\