Criminalize Holocaust Denial

To: U.S. Congress

WHEREAS, in 1933, Adolf Hitler aimed to create a stronger German state by establishing the racist and anti-Semitic Nazi Regime. This regime was based on the Nazi racial doctrine, and one of the goals of the doctrine was maintaining the German bloodline. This later proved to be very dangerous to Jews, as laws soon enacted the Shoah, the worst crime in history;

WHEREAS, Between 6 million and 12 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust. Jews were subject to anti-semitism in ghettos; established labor, concentration, and extermination camps and transported Jews to these facilities; those deemed unfit for labor were exterminated. This deliberate annihilation of the Jews, was a despicable act.

WHEREAS, the State of Israel is subject to undue harassment by anti-semites around the world;

WHEREAS the human rights of Jewish citizens in every country must be protected and safeguarded by those countries and cherished by their inhabitants;

WHEREAS by remembering the Holocaust, and teaching the truth about it to Jews and non-Jews alike, documenting and commemorating it we ensure that the world will not allow anything like it ever to happen again to the Jewish people;

WHEREAS Holocaust Denial in any form is a technique used by the far right to undermine Israel, a country created expressly for Jews and by Jews, and is a moral abomination and an existential threat to the whole world;

WE the Undersigned, petition to criminalize denial of the Jewish Holocaust in the United States of America. We define Holocaust denial as having two possible faces:

1) Raising any question or expressing any remark on the authenticity of any portion of the established, "legally factual" (As established in 1994 by the US Superior Court in California) accounts of the Holocaust;
1.a.) Denial that 6-12 million Jews died in the Holocaust
1.b.) Denial of the testimonies of Holocaust Survivors
1.c.) Denial of the use of gas-chambers
2) Debasing or "downplaying" the Holocaust by comparing it to other massacres of lesser significance;
3) Using the word "Holocaust" referring to the Shoah out of context. This is disrespectful to the 6 to 12 million that died, and should never be encouraged.

We propose that Holocaust Denial be punishable by fines up to 500,000 American dollars and 15 years in prison, depending on the severity of the offense.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned