U.S. Holocaust Institute Web Site Posts Hitler Article that Magazine Tried to Suppress 9/25/2003
From: Rafael Medoff of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, 215-635-5622 or rafaelmedoff@aol.com PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 25 -- A leading Holocaust studies institute has posted on its web site a 1938 magazine article about Adolf Hitler that is at the center of growing international controversy -- and that "Homes & Gardens" magazine has been trying to keep from public view. The article, which appeared in the November 1938 issue of "Homes & Gardens," was a laudatory feature about Hitler's vacation home in the Bavarian Alps. It cast Hitler in a positive light the very month that the Nazis' "Kristallnacht" programs devastated the German Jewish community. When a British journalist recently posted the 1938 article on his web site, the editor of "Homes & Gardens" demanded that he remove it, which he did. The suppression of the re-posted 1938 article has been the subject of critical coverage in "The New York Times," "The Washington Times," and elsewhere in recent days. The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies is now posting the full original article on its own web site, http://www.WymanInstitute.org. "It was wrong for 'Homes & Gardens' to be whitewashing Hitler's image in 1938, and it's wrong for Homes & Gardens to be trying to hide the historical record from the public today," said Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, which focuses on how America and its allies responded to the Holocaust. "The public has a right to know that some segments of the Western media published puff pieces that made Hitler look fashionable and made it harder for people to recognize the Nazi danger." Excerpts from the 1938 article: "This bright, airy chalet ... commands the fairest view of all Europe ... There is a softness of greenery, with snow-white cascades and forest-clad pinnacles ... The guest bedrooms are hung (with) the Fuhrer's own water-colour sketches ... The Fuhrer has a passion about cut flowers in his home, as well as for music ... This is the only home in which Hitler can laugh and take his ease -- or even 'conduct tours' by means of the tripod telescope which he himself operates on the terrace for his visitors." For more on this developing story, go to: http://www.iht.com/articles/110714.html ------ ABOUT THE WYMAN INSTITUTE: The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, located on the campus of Gratz College (near Philadelphia), is a research and education institute focusing on America's response to the Holocaust. It is named in honor of the eminent historian and author of the 1984 best-seller, "The Abandonment of the Jews," the most important and influential book concerning the U.S. response to the Nazi genocide. The Institute's Advisory Committee includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, Members of Congress, and other luminaries. The Institute's Academic Council includes 43 leading professors of the Holocaust, American history, and Jewish history. The Institute's Arts & Letters Council, chaired by Cynthia Ozick, includes prominent artists, writers, and filmmakers. A complete list is available upon request from the contact listed above. |