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Censorship and repression against revisionist books and their authors is little publicized, protested or documented for posterity. Here below is another example of an inquisitional crusade against a revisionist history book (The Hoax of the Twentieth Century) perpetrated in the name of tolerance. Note that the author of the following letter to the editor approves the apparent vigilante theft of the book from the library. I am publishing this person’s letter not only to document another instance of book censorship advocacy, but as an example of the psychology of “liberal-humanitarian repression,” wherein censorship of books and ideas is advocated on the self-righteous high moral ground of suppressing “hateful ideologies.” It should also be noted that in the past, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“the Mounties”) raided a university campus in Canada and removed The Hoax of the Twentieth Century from the library.

Last year I asked the Cranbrook Public Library to remove a book from their shelves. Its simple exterior made it easy to overlook, a reader browsing through the non-fiction section would hardly notice the slim green paperback wedged between the heavy history books. I couldn’t miss it however, having already heard and read about it. The Hoax of the Twentieth Century, it screamed; author Arthur. R Butz. Published by the Noontide Press, a branch of the Institute for Historical Review, Butz’s book denies the Holocaust and genocide of millions of Jews. It was the ultimate irony that I should find this book in a government building; the same government that had prosecuted James Keegstra and Ernst Zundel (Both Holocaust deniers) for racial defamation and spreading hate against the Jewish people.

Every high school student in the province of British Columbia is required to pass Social Studies 11 to receive a high school diploma. Within this course the Second World War and the Holocaust are covered extensively, we are taught of Jewish Persecution, of Kristallnacht, of gas chambers, of killing spurred by hate and intolerance. One of the course goals for Social Studies 11 is to “demonstrate respect for human equality and cultural diversity”, how can this be achieved when a book denying the suffering of millions is being promoted by our public library?

I know many people would argue that “both sides have to be represented in any issue,” I know this because it has been said to me before. After filling out an extensive form explaining why the book should be removed from the library, I was confident that my reasons would be understood and the book removed.

Finding a year later that the book had still not been taken out of the library catalogue was a shock, and I expressed this to one of the librarians. She told me that there had been several complaints about the book, but that every view had to be shown of history. This is the danger of Butz’s book, hiding behind a guise of scholarly intentions the book does not appear anti-Semitic on the surface.

Reading Butz’s claims that gas chambers never existed at Auschwitz, that six million Jews did not die but were merely relocated, and that the Holocaust is a mass conspiracy perpetrated by the Jewish people to create the state of Israel, demonstrates otherwise; but may not appear so to the impressionable mind of a teenager.

Particularly if the book is in the history section of a library, being in an academic institution is an act of legitimizing Butz’s hateful ideas. The truth is there is no grey area when it comes to the Holocaust, or any genocide. Hate is a part of humanity, and to deny the suffering of the Jewish people can only promise to continue the bloody cycle of persecution.

This is not a freedom of speech issue; people have to right to believe whatever they wish, even if it is hateful and racist. However, the library is not required to endorse their views by carrying their books.
The Public Library is funded by taxpayers’ money, by allowing Butz’s book to remain we are not only giving it the facade of a valid academic resource, but we are also paying to spread the hateful ideologies of Holocaust deniers. Our library is not the only one housing Butz’s book; it is available at three other libraries in British Columbia through inter-library loan, including a college library. In a time where our country’s leaders preach equality and tolerance, I find it extremely disturbing that money meant for education of such values is being spent on blemishing our reputation as a culturally diverse and accepting society.

In a strange twist of fate, Butz’s book has gone missing from our library, but remains in the catalogue. I can only hope that another Cranbrook citizen felt the same way that I do, and took matters into their own hands.

However, as the book is still in the catalogue it may once again reappear on our library shelves in the future. I ask Cranbrook citizens to not sit idly by, in remaining passive; we become part of the problem. For the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and for those who survived it, I urge every concerned reader to file a complaint to the library regarding Arthur R. Butz’s Hoax Of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry.

According to the Cranbrook Public Library’s Chief Librarian Ursula Brigl, anyone can submit a Request for Reconsideration of a Title at the library. Brigl looks at the request, researches if the same situation has come up at other libraries and gathers information on what was done in those cases. She said she wants to make sure she gives sound reasons that have been thoroughly considered based on all the best information when she makes her decision.

Brigl said sometimes it can take awhile for information she requests from other libraries to get to her and the research can take months, even a year. Brigl said she takes every Request for Reconsideration of a Title very seriously and in order to make the best decision she does extensive research. After she has finished her report on the request Brigl presents it to the Library Board, along with the original Request for Reconsideration of a Title so they can see what the original request was. She then makes her recommendation and the board makes its decision.

Brigl said titles that go missing are assessed according to their circulation and currency. She said generally if the item was published in the last 10 years and its circulation shows people were looking at it on a regular basis it will be replaced. If it is an older title that wasn’t circulating much then they wouldn’t replace it because there isn’t a demand for the title.