From Philip Belgrave re holocaust.

I did not like the long article about the midwife at Auschwitz. I think it is very wrong to associate the "Holocaust" propaganda with contemporary Catholic devotional interests.... Why should Catholic Insight be joining the dishonest effort to represent World War II as a conflict between incredible monsters and equally incredible humanitarians?

We Catholics should steer clear of practising the promulgation of atrocity stories; particularly those originating within the fog and passions of an extraordinarily savage war, on all sides. It's scandalous indeed to perceive a straining, by Catholics this time (rather than Elie Wiesel, etc.), to capture the unassailable high moral ground by embellishing, distorting, removing contexts, and so forth.

Auschwitz was not a paradise for sadists. Strict discipline was maintained; and issues of clothing were not covered with lice. There was not a single homicidal gas chamber throughout the complex. Dr. Mengele was a humane man in all probability, not a torturer by any stretch of the imagination. How do I know this? Well, I have read The Auschwitz Myth by Dr. Wilhelm Staglich, published in English in 1986. I've also read many of the horror stories. I've compared the two styles of discourse, and reflected, and come to a conclusion: don't trust the horror stories!

Ottawa, ON

Editor replies:

This is the first time we have received a letter in which the writer denies the reality of the Jewish holocaust under the Nazi regime. It's the last time we will print one.

The story of the midwife stands on its own and, yes, it is very much related to the horror found in all concentration camps, and perhaps especially at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

To deny the evil of the Nazi camps in general, and the slaughter of six million Jews in particular, is itself an offence against truth, both historical and spiritual.

Short of twelve million people perished in these camps; its denial rejects the victims' witness, the honour of their families and nations, and, ultimately, the existence and reality of evil itself.

The refusal of modern Russia to examine the nation's conscience and confront the horrors of Lenin, Stalin, and the politbureau continues to inhibit its democratic development and will continue to do so until it comes to grip with the truth.