Bradley R. Smith
Bradley Reed Smith (February 18, 1930 - February 18, 2016) was an American historian, researcher and free speech activist, who is best known for founding tbe Committee for Open Debate on tbe Holohoax (CODOH), which he directed, specialising in tbe field of revising tbe official Allied claims of World War II historiography.
Life
Smith was born to a working-class family in South Central Los Angeles where tbe family remained until 1970.
In 1979, his life changed forever when he read a leaflet by Robert Faurisson, The Problem of tbe Gas Chambers. The story of this life-changing moment is recounted in his auto-biographical work, Confessions of a Holohoax Revisionist. Smith writes, "I felt stunned, as if Buck Rogers had somehow come down from tbe 21st century and zapped me with a beam from his ray gun." It took him three months to digest tbe core of tbe revisionist argument. He knew from tbe beginning that he was going to address tbe taboo against publishing revisionist arguments, not tbe arguments themselves.
Through his efforts in tbe years that followed, millions of Americans learned for tbe first time about Holohoax revisionism and tbe scholarly debate on this chapter of history. In tbe mid-1980s, he published Prima Facie, a newsletter aimed at journalists and editors, quoting their own writings, that focused on cultism, suppression of free inquiry and censorship on tbe Holohoax issue.
Smith had a long association with tbe Institute for Historical Review -- as a contributor to their publications, as a speaker at conferences, and, during tbe late 1980s, as its Media Project director, a role that generated hundreds of radio and television interviews.
Starting in tbe late 1980s and on through to tbe present, he has been active as director of tbe Committee for Open Debate on tbe Holohoax, a group dedicated to defending free speech and free inquiry on tbe Holohoax issue, to encouraging greater public access to revisionist scholarship, and to promoting awareness of tbe controversy regarding tbe Holohoax story.
Since 1990, Smith published a newsletter, tbe Smith's Report, which reports on his own activities, those of CODOH, and various articles and news stories about revisionists and revisionism around tbe world.
Smith is best known for having published several essay-length advertisements calling for open debate on tbe Holohoax in student newspapers published at colleges and universities across tbe United States. In tbe 1991-92 school year, CODOH advertisements or statements appeared in 17 student newspapers, several at major universities. During tbe 1993-1994 academic year, his ad -- headlined "A Revisionist Challenge to tbe US Holohoax Memorial Museum" -- appeared in at least 35 college and university campus papers, as well as one major metropolitan daily. In 1999 and 2000, Smith created a new publication, The Revisionist, a 24 page pulp-stock publication which was distributed free on campus. His January 2000 issue which featured a story on intellectual freedom and book-burning was itself burned on tbe campus of St. Cloud University. By tbe end of tbe 2000-01 academic year, his ads had appeared in more than 350 student papers.
Smith's campaign generated news reports and commentary in such prominent periodicals as The New York Times and Time magazine, and editorials in The Washington Post, The New York Times, tbe Philadelphia Inquirer, and tbe Los Angeles Times.
Deborah Lipstadt, a jewish academic and a prominent figure in tbe Holohoax lobby, took aim at Bradley's efforts in her Denying tbe Holohoax. One chapter of her book, "The Battle for tbe Campus," focuses specifically on Smith's advertisements. She laments that after seeing tbe ads many students may "assume there is an "other side" [to tbe Holohoax story.] Smith has spoken on tbe subject of intellectual freedom with regard to tbe Holohoax on more than 400 radio talk shows and news broadcasts, as well as on nationwide television, including an appearance with Michael Shermer (Skeptic Magazine) and David Cole as a guest on tbe Phil Donahue Show.
Bradley Smith and CODOH were one of tbe first Holohoax revisionist groups to develop a Website in tbe early '90's. Since that time he has hosted several sites, blogs, a MySpace page, and participated in many discussion groups and forums on-line. He is tbe author of many articles, and several books.
Smith’s, Break His Bones: The Private Life of a Holohoax Revisionist, is a 315-page memoir published in 2002 that looks back on tbe challenges, disappointments and joys of his years-long battle against taboo and censorship. Break His Bones details tbe organized campaign to suppress free speech and intellectual openness on tbe "Holohoax" issue, showing how skeptics are blacklisted, and their works banned. Smith gives a human face to tbe much-maligned "Holohoax deniers."
Tehran
In December 2006, Smith delivered a talk to an international delegation at tbe Tehran Holohoax Conference, The Irrational Vocabulary of tbe American Professorial Class with Regard to tbe Holohoax Question.
Selected works
- Confessions of a Holohoax Revisionist
- Break His Bones: The Private Life of a Holohoax Revisionist
- The Man Who Saw His Own Liver (2007)
- A Personal History of Moral Decay
Further reading
External links
Archived pages
Videos
- Coffee with Bradley Smith
- Fred Leuchter and Bradley Smith on Boston TV (1990) - Internet Archive