CODOH

CODOH, the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, is an American organization founded in 1987 by Bradley Smith, former media director of the Institute for Historical Review, and Mark Weber, who later became the institute's director in 1995. It is headquartered in Visalia, California. The organization is dedicated to Holocaust denial and has been described by sources such as Wikidata as a denialist and antisemitic organization in the United States. CODOH is one of the main distributors of Holocaust denial literature in the United States, though its actual membership is unknown. The organization's primary method has been to place advertisements in American university and college newspapers under the guise of promoting free speech and open debate, challenging the accepted history of the Holocaust. In late 1991 and early 1992, CODOH sent such advertisements to campus publications; many major universities refused to run them, but some student newspapers published them, bringing the organization national attention. These advertisements typically questioned the Holocaust narrative, including claims about the number of Jewish victims and the existence of gas chambers. CODOH operates a website that hosts a large amount of Holocaust denial material, including more than 1,000 documents, and features sections questioning the Nuremberg trials and promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories. The organization claims to be open to discussion and criticism, but critics, including the Anti-Defamation League and writers Robert Hilliard and Michael Keith, view this as a tactic to attract young people and rational individuals, arguing that the organization's true agenda is to promote Holocaust denial. The Encyclopedia of Genocide, edited by Israel Charny, notes that while Smith formally distances himself from overt antisemitism, he actively cooperates with far-right and racist groups.

CODOH was founded in 1987 by Bradley Smith, a former media director of the Institute for Historical Review, and Mark Weber, who became director of that institute in 1995. The organization is based in Visalia, California. Its origins trace back to November 1986, when William A. Curry, a Nebraska businessman and antisemitic activist, attempted to publish an advertisement denying the extermination of six million Jews by the Nazis in the University of Nebraska student newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan. Curry offered $1,000 for the ad and $5,000 to the university to organize an open debate between revisionists and Holocaust historians. Both the newspaper and the university rejected the offers. Curry died in 1988, but his idea was taken up by Bradley Smith and the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust. Smith had become a Holocaust denier in 1979 after encountering articles by French revisionist Robert Faurisson. In the mid-1980s, Smith published a magazine called Prima Facie, which specialized in Holocaust-denial materials. Smith's method through CODOH was to place advertisements in U.S. college and university newspapers under the guise of exercising free speech and fighting censorship, aiming to challenge the accepted history of the Holocaust. In late 1991 and early 1992, CODOH sent advertisements to campus publications calling for open debate on the Holocaust. Most major universities, including the University of Chicago, Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, and Emory, refused to publish the ads as historically inaccurate. However, student newspapers at several large universities, such as New York University, the University of Maryland, Duke, and Cornell, published them with caveats about free speech and the free competition of ideas. As a result of this campaign, CODOH gained national prominence. The ads, often headlined "The Holocaust Story: How Much Is False? The Case for Open Debate," were seen by thousands of young people, sparking debates within universities and in major U.S. newspapers. The question of whether to publish such ads became a subject of discussion; for example, one newspaper's editorial board donated the money received for the ad to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. In total, about 70 college and university newspapers published such ads, and CODOH continued to send ad texts to campus editors throughout the early and mid-1990s. All these ads are also posted on CODOH's website. In its first ad, Smith presented the revisionist critical position on the claim that soap was made from human corpses. In early widely circulated ads, Smith stated that "the figure of 6 million Jewish deaths is an irresponsible exaggeration... and there were no gas chambers in any camp in Europe under German control." The ad further claimed that "the purpose of Holocaust calculations is to gain the world's sympathy—and political and financial support for Jewish needs, especially for the establishment of the state of Israel." CODOH also asserted that "the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum displays, without any convincing evidence, killings in gas chambers that did not exist." Disappointed by the high cost of large ads, Smith soon realized the potential of the Internet and shifted to online distribution, making CODOH's website a central repository for Holocaust-denial materials.

• 1995

  Mark Weber becomes director of the Institute for Historical Review.

• 1992

  About 70 college newspapers publish CODOH ads; organization gains national attention.

• 1991

  CODOH launches campus newspaper ad campaign, sending ads to university publications.

• 1988

  William A. Curry dies; his idea is taken up by Smith and CODOH.

• 1987

  CODOH founded by Bradley Smith and Mark Weber.

• 1986

  William A. Curry attempts to place Holocaust-denial ad in Daily Nebraskan; offers $1,000 for ad and $5,000 for debate; both rejected.

Holocaust-denial organization presenting itself as a advocate for open debate and free speech

1. 1CODOH - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2CODOH - Russian Wikipediaru.wikipedia.org