Ad in Harvard University newspaper questions Holocaust
Jewish campus organization 'shocked' after campus paper runs ad paid for by Holocaust denier Bradley R. Smith that questions existence of Nazi gas chambers
Harvard University is coming under fire for running an advertisement in its campus newspaper questioning the Holocaust, CNN reported this week.
According to CNN, the Harvard Crimson, in what it said was an error, ran the Holocaust-questioning advertisement, which had been rejected by the paper over the summer.
Crimson President Maxwell L. Child said in response to the uproar that the ad "fell through the cracks" due to three weeks of summer vacation between the submission of the advertisement and the publication of the paper.
"We want to stress that we do not endorse the views put forth in any advertisement that runs in The Crimson, and this case was no different," Child said in a letter to Crimson readers. "We will work hard to avoid such lapses in communication in the future, and hope our readers will accept that yesterday's error was a logistical failure and not a philosophical one."
The ad, paid for by Holocaust denier Bradley R. Smith and his Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, primarily raises questions about then-Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's account of World War II and the existence of Nazi gas chambers, the CNN report said.
Smith was quoted by CNN as saying he was not surprised by the reaction because "it's taboo, and has been taboo from the beginning. When you break a culture-wide taboo, supported in theory and practice by the state, the university and the press, you create a fuss."
According to CNN, Smith said that he made the deal with the Crimson in July, but was never made aware of any plan by the newspaper to cancel his ad.
Bernie Steinberg, president and director of Harvard Hillel, a Jewish campus organization, was quoted by CNN as saying that the advertisement was "obviously a shock to see."
He added that the group's students reacted appropriately, and the incident should be seen as an example of "extraordinary mature student leadership in response to an unfortunate situation."
