Willis Carto archive

Including information about his associates

Willis Carto on the dangers of publicity

Except for a brief notice in the Nov.-Dec. issue of The Journal of Historical Review, IHR had neither planned nor made any public mention of the severing of IHR’s relationship with Willis Carto, much less of the details behind the move. All the publicity and lies have been initiated by Carto.

After his association with IHR was ended, Carto and three hired goons (including a locksmith) raided IHR’s offices on October 15, 1993. He was arrested and jailed, which obliged him to leave behind a number of incriminating documents. Among these were detailed plans for breaking and entering IHR offices, and fraudulent minutes of several Legion (IHR) board meetings (shown on pages 7 and 8). The following are excerpts from these documents, wherein Carto cautions that a publicity fight and dirty-name contest should be avoided at all costs.

Subsequently, however, Carto used his Spotlight newspaper to do precisely what he urged everyone else to scrupulously avoid — launching a malicious campaign of lies and defamation against IHR and those associated with it that has continued unabated since November 1993. Here are Carto’s own words on the subject:

From an October 6, 1993, letter to his attorney (who didn’t take the case)

Just thinking of your comments regarding the necessity of keeping the attempted coup secret and the bad results that would flow with a public airing.

From a rough draft of an October 7, 1993, letter to IHR’s senior staff

What terrifies me is that it will become a public matter, disillusioning and disgusting revisionists not only with the IHR but revisionism itself. So first of all, the blood is on your heads if you make this public.

From the final draft of the October 7 letter to IHR’s senior staff

The blood will be on your heads if this gets out. I am sure you must realize that public knowledge of these accusations would have a tremendously adverse effect not only on the IHR but the cause of revisionism. I do not even intend to make this known to the Board of Directors of the Legion [IHR].

From an October 8, 1993, letter to Legion (IHR) director Fritz Berg

The purpose of this letter is to point out that publicity about this is certain to be vastly hurtful to the IHR and revisionism in general and I pray that you and the others involved bear this in mind.

From an October 14 letter to his attorney

… No good can come from a publicity fight and dirty-name contest.

From an October 15 fax to IHR’s senior staff

I have no wish to get ugly for the best interests of everybody involved not to mention the cause of historical revisionism and its primary advocate, the Institute A lawsuit would not only be extremely expensive but it would do more damage to all of us personally and to the cause than anything Mel Mermelstein could dream up.