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Two correspondants sent us the following message circulating in the H-Holocaust discussion list.
aaargh

Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 06:40:06 -0400
Reply-To: H-NET List for History of the Holocaust

A list member has apprised me privately that a negationist website maintained by something called the Association des Anciens Amateurs de Recits de Guerre et d'Holocauste has posted complete texts of Norman G. Finkelstein's and Ruth Bettina Birn's critiques of _Hitler's Willing Executioners_.

In an ironic twist, the website quotes American copyright law, although its posting of Finkelstein's and Birn's complete texts would self-evidently appear to violate the law. Elsewhere the negationist website also makes available complete articles by Raul Hilberg, Naomi Seidman, and and even the full text of Lenni Brenner's _Zionism in the Age of Dictators_.

But in addition to its extreme vulgarity of language, the site is distressing in its use of H-HOLOCAUST. Quoted in its critique of Goldhagen are posts by Richard Libowitz, Stephen Feinstein, and Wlodzimierz Rozenbaum. Since none of these posts contribute either to the critique or to the negationist cause--and indeed Rozenbaum's is explicitly anti-negationist--it is difficult to see why they are quoted.

As several listmembers have warned me privately, though, it is important to consider beforehand how one's words may be appropriated and used by negationists.

The website can be found at

http://www.abbc.com/aaargh/engl/crazygoldie/crazygoldie.html

D. G. Myers
Department of English
Texas A&M University
[email protected]

Reply

Dear Mr. Myers,

It is very unfortunate to hear that various sites may be infringing
upon the copyright of my brother's work, especially if they are as
repugnant as the revisionist sites that exist on the net. Neither I
nor Prof. Finkelstein are lawyers and are not familiar with the law
pertaining to the Internet. We would gratefully accept any legal
assistance that can be provided to us to enforce the laws that exist.

Regards,

Richard Finkelstein

You downloaded this document from <http://aaargh-international.org/engl/opponents/hholocaust.html>

This text has been displayed on the Net, and forwarded to you as a tool for educational purpose, further research, on a non commercial and fair use basis, by the International Secretariat of the Association des Anciens Amateurs de Recits de Guerres et d'Holocaustes (AAARGH). The E-mail of the Secretariat is <aaarghinternational-at-hotmail.com. Mail can be sent at PO Box 81475, Chicago, IL 60681-0475, USA..
We see the act of displaying a written document on Internet as the equivalent to displaying it on the shelves of a public library. It costs us a modicum of labor and money. The only benefit accrues to the reader who, we surmise, thinks by himself. A reader looks for a document on the Web at his or her own risks. As for the author, there is no reason to suppose that he or she shares any responsibilty for other writings displayed on this Site. Because laws enforcing a specific censorship on some historical question apply in various countries (Germany, France, Israel, Switzerland, Canada, and others) we do not ask their permission from authors living in thoses places: they wouldn't have the freedom to consent.
We believe we are protected by the Human Rights Charter:

ARTICLE 19. <Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.>The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948, in Paris.