Posters denying Holocaust at U of C

Investigation yields no leads

Posters questioning the Holocaust are the latest signs condemned as hate-mongering to appear on the University of Calgary campus.

On Feb. 13, about a dozen of the text-filled pages were found on windows and doors at the U of C, expressing doubt that six million Jews were killed in the Nazis’ Second World War genocide.

Last fall, anti-Muslim screeds were posted on buildings on the campus.

In a statement, the U of C said there’s no longer an investigation into the placing of the latest posters.

“These posters were removed by students, staff and campus security,” the university said. “Security did investigate initially but nothing materialized.”

The posters found last week state: “Did the ‘6 million’ really die?” and “truth does not fear investigation.”

It purports to have been authored by a group known as the Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, or CODOH, whose website contains literature denying the Nazi extermination.

It’s possible the group’s name was fraudulently affixed to the posters but its message is consistent with CODOH’s, said Ryan Bellerose, Western Canada advocacy co-ordinator for human rights group B’nai Brith Canada.

He said the posters are attempting to appeal to university students’ intellectual curiosity by issuing a call for open debate and investigation, which he said is merely a front for spewing bigotry.

“They talk about wanting open debate but it’s anti-Semitic hatemongering, it genuinely is denying the Holocaust,” said Bellerose.

He said the latest series of contentious poster-hangings on the campus are a resumption of such activity after a hiatus.

“It’s been fairly quiet on the U of C over the past couple of years,” he said.

But he said at least two student clubs active on campus are either behind the posters or approve of them.

“They don’t have a lot of support among students but are among the student population,” said Bellerose.

U of C Students’ Union president Stephan Guscott denied that such groups are on campus.

“The clubs that exist on campus are here for positive reasons, to build community” he said.

“These posters can throw people off and make them feel unwelcome, but what’s even more important is the response of the students, that amounts to supporting one another.”

In their statement, the U of C said it works to balance respect with conflicting views on issues.

“Along with a commitment to free inquiry, open debate and diversity of opinion, the university is committed to sustaining a safe, healthy, inclusive and respectful academy that supports excellence in teaching and research,” it said.

Some activists contend the rise of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency and his links to the so-called alt-right has emboldened racists to express themselves.

Bellerose said he doesn’t agree the U of C incidents are linked to that.

They talk about wanting open debate but it’s antiSemitic hatemongering, it genuinely is denying the Holocaust.