Institute for Historical Review
Founded: 1978 Founded in 1978 by career antisemites Willis Carto and William David McCalden, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) has been the leading Holocaust denial organisation in the world since this time. It was created following McCalden's suggestion, and is designed to provide a respectable facade to the antisemitic agenda that it promotes. The IHR's history is potted with controversy, internal disputes and poor planning, yet despite this, it has proved to be a rallying point for Holocaust deniers worldwide. In 1979, the IHR hosted its first 'International Revisionist Conference' - another idea of McCalden - at which leading Holocaust deniers present their latest 'research' or provide updates on their battles. The event is held semi- annually at an unannounced location in California, and the IHR reserves the right to refuse registration of individuals, if it deems them unwelcome at the event. In 1980, the IHR first published its flagship journal, the Journal of Historical Review, which is designed to look like a serious academic publication - an aim that it has achieved, as students have on occasion submitted articles to it, unaware of its inherent nature. The JHR was another suggestion of McCalden, who was also its first editor. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the IHR engaged in a series of publicity stunts and other methods aimed at raising its profile. For instance, it tried booking rooms at universities, in which it could hold its conferences. However, its most publicised activity was its offer of US$50,000 to an inidividual, who could prove that the gas chambers had existed. Whilst most (Jewish) individuals ignored the challenge when contacted, Mel Mermelstein, a Holocaust survivor, accepted, and provided substantial documentation to support his argument. The IHR's 'expert panel', which had been set up to 'review' the information, but was comprised of Holocaust deniers, disingenuously rejected Mermelstein's evidence. Mermelstein then sued the IHR, and following a protracted legal battle, he was awarded US$90,000 - the original amount, plus an additional sum as compensation for the stress the IHR had caused him. In 1982, McCalden split from the IHR, following a dispute with Carto. Following his departure, the IHR continued to gain in importance in the Holocaust denial movement, although a 1984 arson attack on its premises did not help matters, particuarly as the US$50,000 insurance policy that Carto had taken out did little to cover the far more extensive damage caused by the fire. The IHR's leading role in the Holocaust denial movement waned during the 1990s as a direct result of the ongoing dispute between Carto and the IHR leadership. In the early 1990s, Jean Farrell, granddaighter of Thomas Edison, bequeathed the IHR US$10 million in shares certicifates in her will. Carto saw an opportunity to take the money for himself, at which time the IHR 'sacked' Carto from its ranks, and instigated a legal case to regain the money that Carto had stolen from it. Following an increasingly bizarre and lengthy dispute, the IHR was awarded huge damages, and Carto's Liberty Lobby was forced into bankruptcy, although Carto had already diverted most of its funds into other front organisations that he runs. During the dispute, the IHR and Carto engaged in an exchange of slurs, which included the IHR accusing Carto of being in league with Anti-Defamation League, and Carto alleging that the IHR was being run by Scientology. A large consequence of the dispute was that the IHR lost its focus on what its core activities were: publication of the JHR became infrequent, and between 1994 and 2000, there were no conferences staged. |