In defence of Baxter

THE illinformed ‘‘Baxter debate’’ is testament to gullibility, misplaced patriotism and propaganda.

Recall Goering’s words: ‘‘. . . people don’t want war . . . it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether democracy . . . or dictatorship . . . All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for . . . exposing the country to greater danger.’’

The first casualty of war is truth. Churchill wrote that truth ‘‘should be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies’’.

Wartime BBC propagandist George Orwell said: ‘‘Who controls the present, controls the past’’.

Historians have a sacred duty to challenge orthodoxies, but academia is malleable, especially when salary depends upon not understanding.

The suggestion that World War 2 was fought to save the Jews is directly contradicted by the US/UK Bermuda Conference of April 20, 1943 — neither country wished the responsibility for 12 million Jewish refugees.

The Nuremberg Trials proved that ‘‘just following orders’’ cannot supplant one’s own conscience, but it requires the immense courage of an Archibald Baxter to withstand the tyranny of the whole Establishment.

When war can put an end to mankind, Baxter is more important than ever. Hugh O’Neill, MA

Dunedin