Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
I’m one of your many fans. Like over two billion people around the planet, I use Facebook to keep in touch with friends, hear new ideas, and digest news. Your decisions about social media affect my life every day.
Unbelievably, now those decisions include giving Holocaust denial free reign.
On July 18, 2018, you gave an interview to Kara Swisher of the tech site Recode in which you struggled to explain how you, as CEO of Facebook, are dealing with offensive material. Some posts are dangerous, you explained, and would be removed. You said that other material might be false but should stay up, and you offered Holocaust denial as your example.
After people around the world reacted with horror, you doubled down on your position: “If it’s going to result in real harm, real physical harm, or if you’re attacking individuals, then that content shouldn’t be on the platform,” you maintained. But posts denying the Holocaust don’t fit those criteria: “Everyone gets things wrong” is how you put it. While you called Holocaust denial “deeply offensive”, you insisted on Facebook users right to engage in it publicly, with no censure from your company.
Mark, Holocaust denial isn’t just getting “a few things wrong”. The hate-mongers on Facebook and elsewhere who promote the false narrative that the Holocaust never happened didn’t just make an honest mistake or stumble across incorrect information. They are promoting a dangerous lie that seeks to slander Jews and to incite hatred against us.
My grandparents fled Vienna in 1939. All of their family and friends who stayed behind were killed. I just can’t believe that in my lifetime they are being called liars and our murdered relatives are being deliberately erased from history.
“Holocaust denial is not simply a gross distortion of the facts,” the Anti-Defamation League stated this week in response to your defense of deniers. Holocaust denial “is also a pernicious form of anti-Semitic hate speech that serves no other purpose than to attack Jews.”
There are many forms of Holocaust denial and all are dangerous and reprehensible. Some deniers falsely claim that Jews somehow conspired in their own murders, or engaged in a nefarious conspiracy to convince the world the Holocaust took place. Some falsely insist that Jews did this to extract reparations from Germany, or to hoodwink the global community into allowing the creation of the State of Israel. These theories have certain common themes: they paint Jews as uniquely evil and masterful, manipulating world opinion for their own gains. They tap into deep-rooted anti-Semitic tropes of Jews as malevolent and preternaturally powerful. These are not merely innocent mistakes; they train people to mistrust and hate Jews.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) estimates that about ten neo-Nazi hate groups are currently peddling various forms of Holocaust denial conspiracy theories in the United States today and several of them have a presence on Facebook. By not outlawing their hate, Mark, you are elevating them, lending them prestige and a platform to spread their bile. By protecting Holocaust denial, you are giving these anti-Semites the respectability they’ve long craved.
Your terrible decision couldn’t have come at a worse time. Just a few weeks ago, a study found that two thirds of American millennials said they haven’t heard of the Holocaust or aren’t certain what it was.
In other countries, those numbers are far higher. A 2014 global survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found that only 54% of people worldwide have heard of the Holocaust. Shockingly, nearly a third - 32% - of people who have heard of the Holocaust don’t believe what they’ve been told. They believe it has either been greatly exaggerated or is an outright lie. In Asia, fewer than a quarter of people (23%) have both heard of the Holocaust and believe what they learned. That number dips to 12% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the Arab world, just 8% of respondents have both heard of the Holocaust and believe what they heard.
Mark, I have a photo on my bookshelf of my grandfather. He sits at a cafe with his cousin, sister, father and other relatives. I posted it on Facebook on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. They all gaze at the camera with smiles; there was no way they could have known that within a year my grandfather would have caught one of the last peacetime boats out of Europe and that everyone else in that photo was sent to Auschwitz.
My son carries the name Aharon after my great-grandfather, a genial man who was murdered at Auschwitz and whose kind gaze looks at me from his photo. Do you want to allow bigots and anti-Semites to deny his death? To somehow pretend that I’ve made up his very existence?
Mark, denying the Holocaust isn’t simply “getting facts wrong”; it is deliberately twisting history and painting one group of people - the Jews - as evil. It leads people to view Jews as liars, undeserving of trust about the Holocaust or anything else.
Since the Holocaust, many Jews have made “Never Again” a motto, promising never to allow the hatred and violence of the Holocaust to reoccur. To ensure this, we need allies like you to stand up and repudiate Holocaust denial whenever it occurs.
We have an obligation to counter those who would erase and deny our history, which is your history as well, Mark. We must not be silent. We are engaged in a battle for truth and memory, a battle to make sure the Holocaust and its lessons are never forgotten. Mark, now is the time to stand up for your people.
Yours sincerely,
Yvette Alt Miller
(75) Anonymous, October 9, 2018 5:24 PM
So you want to limit people's freedom of speech?
All you use in your argument is pathos. An appeal to your readers emotions. You want to limit any speech or criticism towards the holocaust and blame it as anti-antisemitism. You aren't the only ones that get bashed, it's a human right to be able to discuss these things. It's a freedom of speech. As long as it promotes no violence there is no porblem. Just because you want everyone to appeal to your lost relatives doesn't make you write. You could've wrote and article and dismantled all anti-holocaust theories using facts but no. You mention your poor lost relatives and want to mark talking or disagreeing with your views as violent and evil. If you want to talk about evil talk about how Israel has time and time again defied UN laws. Talk about the millions of innocent palestines that are getting slaughtered by israel. Talk about how they took palestine away from both jews and muslims with no right whatsoever other than "the holocaust" so they felt bad for them. Please do your research before giving this weak biased argument.
(74) Bill Mccaulley, July 31, 2018 7:03 PM
Holocaust denial
Dear Dr. Miller,
A distinction must be made between Holocaust denial and Holocaust Revisionism. Deniers gainsay that the Holocaust occurred. No informed person subscribes to this position. Holocaust revisionism questions the data of the Holocaust (numbers who perished, how they perished). The historicity of the Holocaust is irrefutable, as its significance, metaphysically and otherwise.
The Holocaust actuated my conversion to Judaism as to me it constituted proof of G-d's existence and the veracity of Yiddishkeit. However, the Holocaust should be subjected to the generally accepted standards of historical scholarship and intellectual inquiry. The generally accepted narrative should not be viewed as Divinely revealed. Some years ago I corresponded with Dr. Ingrid Zundel, the wife of Ernst Zundel, a leading proponent of Revisionism because I thought the Revisionists raised excellent points and posed excellent questions. Subsequently I re-embraced the traditional narrative. Examine the facts and analyze the arguments of the Revisionists objectively and dispassionately. If one concludes that their position does not pass intellectual muster, the matter is concluded. It should not be assumed that someone who questions the traditional narrative is a Jew hater. Nor should one submit to paroxysms of hysterics if one encounters a Denier. As Rabbi Meir Kahane, zatzal, stated: Jews should not care if some people deny the Holocaust. As the rav said: decent people know it happened and indecent people deny it happened. Some think that disseminating the traditional narrative is essential to preventing the recurrence of the Churban Europa, chas v'shalom. However, that view is mistaken. The recurrence of the Shoah can be prevented only by embracing Torah Judaism and surrendering to the will of HaShem.
(73) David Seff, July 31, 2018 1:56 AM
Article not strong enough, part 1 of 3
Dr. Miller,
This is sent in three pieces because of length
I like your columns because they are usually well done. However, I believe this one contains a fatal error, and I write to urge you to correct the flaw and submit another article.
Firstly, I hope Zuckerberg will read it—if not clear he will, try to find a way to get it to him.
Secondly, and more important: You do not address his concerns. If you want him to change his policy, I think you need to address the issues from his point of view. His point of view is that Holocaust Denial is factually incorrect, but no one will be harmed because of it. He does not mind articles that are false—he only objects to articles that will harm people.
You did not hit the nail on the head. While you indicated that anti-Semites have a voice through Facebook and recruits members that way, nevertheless, you failed to show that Holocaust Denial results in harm—only by showing physical injury results from a posting can you convince Zuckerberg to take it down.
(72) Alex Polsky, July 29, 2018 10:40 PM
Zuckerberg is a cowardly self-hating Jew
I've summarized all in the summary above.
(71) aurel littmann, July 29, 2018 7:04 PM
holocaust denial
thank you for your letter to Mark Zuckerberg re: holocaust denial.
my mother was also in Auschwitz and her family was killed. I notice that the government of Iran that is trying to kill 6 million Jews in Israel are also Holocaust deniers. Please tell Mr. Zuckerberg that he is supporting their cause as well.
thank you.
(70) Anonymous, July 28, 2018 1:07 AM
Pretty obvious
I'm guessing Mark is a liberal and therefore does not like Israel and does not have a problem with anything anti jewish! What always amazes me is why so many Jews in the United States are democrats. It doesn't make sense! They hate Israel and everything it stands for! The conservatives are quick to stand up for the Jews because most know that they are God's chosen people and as Mark is finding out, it is not good to make God angry!!
(69) Anonymous, July 27, 2018 12:54 PM
Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it!
I spent 3 years in Germany, as a young teem 14 - 16. my father was in the US Army. We lived on a military base and went to American schools on base. The history of the Holocaust was taught in our schools, we took a trip to Dachau with our class, we saw how the Jewish people were treated, killed. I heard first hand accounts from my boyfriends German mother about the bombing of Berlin, the lack of food and horrors the Germans went through and how she saw the SS troops raiding houses and the fear when the Russians came in to Berlin, the women who were raped by them, the food they stole from farmers, their fascination with flushing toilets. These are all facts from someone who went through it, and yet none of these facts, eye witness accounts are taught in our schools, discussed or shown as an example of the hatred that was rampant at the time, nor are the stories of the people who hid Jewish children, helped people to escape the Nazi's, shared what little food they had with neighbors, the good and the bad of that time needs to be shared with the world, you can't erase what happened by denying it and you can't learn from it if you don't let the truth be known! Shine a light on the evil that has and will happen in this world so all will be warned and and educated on how swiftly something like this can happen, and let the truth be known so it won't happen again!
(68) Sandy Ray, July 27, 2018 5:47 AM
I will bless those who bless you and he who curses you I will curse.
Facebook shares tumble 19% in worst-ever single-day loss for a company Social network sheds some $100 billion of its value on Wall Street after posting disappointing quarterly earnings. I was sickened when Mr. Zuckerberg defended the rights of Holocaust deniers. Where’s his Jewish conscience? Ironic that his company valuations tumbled so drastically only a few short days later?
(67) Tracey Anderson, July 27, 2018 1:23 AM
The Total Value Of Our Lives
If we don't protect one as individuals, our lives are without value. Unbeknownst the arrival of these challenges in daily life incidious hatred lies awake like a coiled snake. We have the choice to annilate it as individuals or be that striking snake, black and white no in-between.
(66) Mike, July 27, 2018 1:22 AM
Lets Hope Mark Z reads this.
Thank you for the well written response to Mr. Zuckerberg. What shocks me is that this Jewish billionaire genius does not know that holocaust denial is a type of anti-Semitism. Our sages warn us to guard our speech because it can be destructive. Maybe he doesn't understand how hate speech led to the death of millions in the 20th century.
(65) louis Lantner, July 26, 2018 8:22 PM
excellent article, as usual
In the very unlikely event Zuckerberg replies, please post his response. If you decide not to post it, please forward a copy to me -- I'll share it with Avis and Ralph. Hope all is well. Lou
(64) Sandra R. Cohen, July 26, 2018 7:52 PM
Don't make nice with hatred to make more money
Mr. Zuckerberg, wake up! You can't make nice with hateful people. Be a man & stand up to hate. I lost my beautiful aunt & uncle & my grandma to insane people that were filled with hate. My dad fled & was in a camp in Switzerland for 18 mos. before being allowed to come here. My son found out somehow that my aunt made it to Palestine somehow and was turned back by the British to be sent to her death. Her only crime was that she was born Jewish, as you were.
(63) Anonymous, July 26, 2018 10:10 AM
Mr Mark Zuckenberg,should visit one of living monuments=,Auswitzck,or else ones...those memorandum of real people...with groups of young nazi=those who said that it is all fiction....That is why we are shamefull,last(lost) generation...We should learnt lots from each war that passed...cruelity is such error of souls...
(62) Anonymous, July 26, 2018 3:46 AM
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark, had you been born just 3 generations earlier in Eastern Europe rather than in the United States, your amazing net value would have been of no help to you at all. To the gas chambers, just like the Six Million, may G-D avenge their deaths. Something feels wrong to me when an individual such as you, who has been chosen to live an unusual and spectacular life, expends energy on insuring freedom of speech in a most absurd and painful fashion. Why not expend energy instead to rebuild Jewish life in America, as many Holocaust survivors did. They did it having come to these shores with no more than the shirts on their backs. Would it not make sense that if G-D granted you a wee bit more than they were granted, that you use it constructively and help rebuild? Be a Jew!
(61) Anonymous, July 26, 2018 2:47 AM
Mark, you are better than this
Please do not give the holocaustcdeniers a voice. You can stop this anti-Semitic lie.
(60) David Seff, July 25, 2018 9:20 PM
article not strong enough part 3 and end
A group in Israel then copied these postings word for word, except they interchanged the words “Arab” and “Jew,” and “Palestine” and “Israel.” Facebook deleted these postings because they did not meet the standards of the “Facebook community.” Then those people filed formal suit against Facebook for this double standard, and Facebook was forced to relent.
Without filing suit, you can take the Holocaust denial postings and create Black slavery in US (or other places) denials. You can say that the blacks control the media, control money (want more entitlements without working, etc.) These postings should be virtually word for word what Holocaust denial people say, just changing the main characters. Then Facebook will remove it, and then you contact Flatow for him to file suit. You do not have to be part of the lawsuit, just to create a situation that gives him the ammunition to proceed.
Unless you are able to influence Zuckerberg to go to a Seminar by Aish or other kiruv movements, because his attachment to Judaism and even knowledge of basic history and sociology is so minimal he will not be able to understand what you are talking about if you claim Holocaust Denial is bad. The only two things that might possibly make him budge is bringing lots and lots of statistics correlating hate propaganda with physical attacks and harm, and showing the existence of a double standard in Facebook that presages a lawsuit that will force him to recant. Please DO approach the problem this way—otherwise you will have accomplished nothing and this way, with your writing talents you can really bring about a great change. (I do hope you can please get back to me about this.)
(59) Rafael, July 25, 2018 7:48 PM
Deleted comment
This comment has been deleted.
David Seff, July 25, 2018 9:25 PM
clear factgual evidence
At the Nuremberg trials the formal written records of the Nazi concerning the concentration camps showed over 6.6 million Jews murdered. When cross-examined about the number killed, the Nazis proudly stated they kept exact records and were able to give the exact number (which I forgot), and which was given not as a round number such as 6.6 million, but down to the last person. Many researchers, both Jewish and non-Jewish have verified the accuracy of these claims.
(58) Henry Wiltschek, July 25, 2018 6:18 PM
Holocaust Deniers
Dear Yvette, A truly well written response. It makes me sick to hear about these ignorant, misguided people who apparently never heard of the Holocaust and its History and spread false rumors.
I would like to send them all to Auschwitz, if I could and they would see for themselves what happened to Millions of JEWS, Human Beings like everyone of us, being tortured,.gased, starved, killed and burned Therefore, it is necessary more than ever to, in this day to counter these Holocaust Deniers and educate especially our young people, whoever they are to break this cycle, at least stop it in its tracks. You are doing great job, just keep it up.
Shalom,
Henry Wiltschek
(57) Boca Mom, July 25, 2018 5:17 PM
Great points!
It's akin to stating that slavery never happened, which would also be wrong. People should not deny the horrible things that have been done throughout history, it's the only way to possibly prevent history from repeating itself. Bad things have been done to people in this world, we must admit it happened and vow to not let those things happen again.
(56) gedaliah, July 25, 2018 3:46 PM
you have to dig deeper in Zuckerberg's comments
"But that doesn’t mean that we have a responsibility to make it widely distributed in News Feed."
I think everyone needs to read Zuckerberg's full comments (particularly the quote above). It's one thing for a post or comments to be posted within a Facebook group or somebody's wall on their profile. But if that content is blocked from being picked up on newsfeeds ... then it's just those people basically talking among themselves. Same with Google, anyone can put up a website, but if Google doesn't index it and it doesn't come up in a search or is buried at the bottom, the content isn't widely promoted or disseminated. When you start trying to ban content or users based on content (and the only way to do it is though automated tools because you can't manually police content of tens of millions of Facebook posts), therefore a lot of content that isn't Holocaust denying but may reference the Holocaust (even articles like this one) can get caught up in algorithms and get taken down.
(55) sylvia sheena, July 25, 2018 3:24 PM
very soon facebook is going to be a face without a book. thank you Dr. Miller for writing this. I can't understand a Jewish young man like him making these remarks in todays world that already there is so so so much anti semitisim.
(54) Yaffa, July 25, 2018 2:49 PM
Thank you
Thank you so much for writing such needed letter to zukerburge
(53) Zahava, July 25, 2018 1:45 PM
Such an Important Issue
I agree 99%. I'm just struggling with the concept that we cannot hush these crazy people who choose to tell the worst of lies. Maybe ther is a more acceptable way these fools can do their mischagas. A platform with less than 2 millions or 150 million people perhaps.
As I say often, unfortunately, hate doesn't leave us. We can fight it and we surely must. We live in times when we need to know how to stand up to foolish liars. And fight more often.
Wishing all of us the wisdom to know when to fight and when not to.
(52) Barry Wilson, July 25, 2018 8:22 AM
Zuckerberg worships money
Like Many Christian businessmen who care not about their religion. zuckerberg is the same but Jewish. He allows terrible lies. terrible insults and anything else that increases his profits. He pays lip service to having standards. I am not a fan as there is nothing about him that is worthy of that. their community standards are constantly changing and kept secret from the public. Zuckerberg would change nothing if he read this letter. He isn't a self hating Jew. He is Jewish by birth not by action. All the best
(51) Arlene Oppenheim, July 25, 2018 7:52 AM
Dear Dr. Yvette Alt Miller ~ Thank you for your voice in the matter of Holocaust denial. I support your stance and I am shocked that Mark Zuckerberg, whether he is religious or not, does not understand nor comprehend what he allows to exist on facebook in regards to Holocaust denial. He gives the deniers power by allowing their existence on facebook. I think their existence should also be denied.
Audrey Biloon, July 25, 2018 1:34 PM
I have stopped using Facebook. It’d completely unnecessary. One can keep in touch with family and true friends through email, text, and (dare I say the following?)telephone and in person. If all Jews stopped using Facebook and posted the reason, Mark Zuckerberg (who is not deserving of a Jewish name) would get the message. If those who aren’t Jewish but who support Jews did the same (and posted why as a sign off) he’d really get the message.
(50) Paul Caplan, July 25, 2018 4:04 AM
Owner Facebook page "Judeo Christian Alliance," author "God Versus the Left," and blog jcalliance.com
Jewish defenders such as you and I are highly sensitive to hostility but lack self-criticism to a dangerous degree.
(49) Mervyn, July 25, 2018 4:01 AM
Perhaps Mr Zuckerberg has no control over what Facebook does? He has a Board who makes these decisions.
Any Jew or Non Jew would hopefully recognise that Holocaust denial is a blatant form of anti Semitism-nothing more-nothing less. Its purpose is to promote the hatred of and harm towards Jews. Nothing more and nothing less.Facebook posts give an element of credibility to their content. Recent articles in the Australian Newspaper recount interviews with persons (ordinary everyday persons) whose only sources of information gathering are is media. These people believe what they read on social media and are not prepared to take the time or trouble to enquire as to the truth of such posts. Whilst removing that offensive material will not stop people thinking what they want about Jews ( or anyone or anything else such as whether the landing on the moon is a huge government lie), it will , at least, reduce the ability of those deniers to spread their particular form of hatred.
(48) Elizabeth Levitt, July 25, 2018 3:16 AM
Mark Zuckerberg is so wrong. Those who don’t understand history live to repeat it
Mark Zuckerberg is so wrong. Those who don’t understand history live to repeat it. Doesn’t it suck it in control MS Sandberg ever speak to him? He is certainly an embarrassment to himself his people and should start reading some interesting books about the Holocaust.
(47) Valmai june smith, July 25, 2018 2:40 AM
Holocaust
There are NO words or any sentiment that has adequate speech or penmanship that could paint any kind of picture that is contained in the hearts of those who experienced anything to do with that most TERRIBLE time .The Loss was unspeakable and continues to this day and will do so until the scroll of life on earth is rolled up forever. The heartbreak and tears connected with it was more devastating than the most destructive of any tsunami the world has ever produced. The question that causes the most pain, WHO could ever have been part of such a monstrous, diabolical plan? and more than that, that even today they can pass over such an catastrophe happening,that changed world history, as though it was of such little value we will pretend it never happened ?? Surely it would be better that they had never been born because each and every one will have to face the same judgement for their actions from which there is NO escape
(46) Ephraim, July 25, 2018 1:33 AM
Don't waste your breath
Mark Zuckerberg is a self-hating Jew. One of thousands alive today. I suspect he does believe the Holocaust occurred. However, to turn his back on Jew haters is simply not in his nature.
(45) Samson, July 25, 2018 1:30 AM
Zuckerberg can NOT be trusted
They lie every day,thousands of lies every day.
You report a fake account and the reply 99% of the time is the same " Thanks for your report - you did the right thing by letting us know about this. We looked over the Page you reported, and though it doesn't go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that the Page or something shared on it may still be offensive to you. We want to help you avoid things you don't want to see on Facebook."
Which means they either didn't actually check or they lie or they don't actually have any rules and the goal is make Mark Zuckerberg richer because he cam e up with a website where anyone can say anything and get away with it and is designed like it was made in 1995
And he makes deals with big companies like Disney and ESPN so they can tell the average person who gets to be there or say anything.......there you will see they like to ban and block members who were members since 1998 BUT allow fake accounts from Bangladesh and tell you they are allowed to post anything no matter what it is or even if it is illegal.
I give up on that crooked kid and I hope he loses every dime on a crooked pyramid scam.
(44) Carol S, July 25, 2018 1:30 AM
Hope Zuckerberg receives and reads this relevant letter.
Very well expressed. Does Zuckerberg receive his own copy? Hope so!
(43) Anonymous, July 25, 2018 12:42 AM
You are Jewish so how can you possibly be willing to accept Holocaust deniers and make ridiculous excuses for their attempt to be heard on Facebook, which goes all over the world. You should use your backbone and stand up to these hate lovers.
(42) Anonymous, July 25, 2018 12:09 AM
He knows what he does!
Mark Zukerberg is not a stupid man. I am certain that he knows every move he makes, especially when it comes to something as sensitive as the Holocaust. He knows that additional millions of non-Jews were also murdered by an entire nation who worked together to assist in the world's most inhuman crime ever against humanity. The fact that Mark has a Jewish heritage obviously means little to him and the millions of lives that were taken during the holocaust also have little meaning to him, or else he would have responded in a different and humanistic fashion. HE DID NOT!. He danced around the issue in a totally inexcusable fashion and, in doing so, became holocaust denier along with all of the other hate filled and small minded ilk who dare to claim to be members of the human race. Is that what having financial power does to people? Mr. Zukerberg, you may never be able to buy your way out of this one, because there are a number of things in which money can play no part.
(41) Jerald Gould, July 24, 2018 10:44 PM
To Deny That The Holocaust Happened Is Out & Outright Lie !
Bless this very well informed & intelligent woman for calling out Mark Zuckerberg in defence of all Jews where the loss of one is felt by all, especially when over 6 million Jews horribly lost their lives in Hitler's death camps. It's Mark's duty to make sure that he doesn't enable the wrong people who are openly anti-semetic, or millions of people still are unbelievably unaware that The Holocaust ever happened & probably could even care less. It is a very heavy crux to bear when the word Holocaust is even mentioned, but it is the duty of every Jewish person to never cease to inform the world of the TRUTH for The TRUTH shall set us Free from those who attack us unfairly & indiscriminatingly .
(40) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 10:27 PM
The language of money.....
is the language Zuckerberg speaks fluently. He is benighted as could be when it comes to issues of Judaism and anti Semitism. If profits take a nose dive, then MAYBE he will reconsider his position. Re: The Southern Poverty Law Center. I just googled them on Wikipedia. They are going after the hate mongers with both barrels, and have gone after the KKK, I don't believe we can compare them to Zuckerberg. Re: Sheryl Sandberg. I am a big fan of hers, and I would like very much for her to speak out on this issue. Finally, Yvette Alt Miller has written a brilliant article.
(39) Regina Evans, PhD, July 24, 2018 9:40 PM
Holocaust denial
Is it true? That u would allow material on Facebook that denies the holocaust? I hope it is not. Years from today we will all be gone. All future generations will have will be archives and of course true accounts of the holocaust. But who will be there to defend those survivors. For all we know someone may be calling it “fake news”. The holocaust occurred. The holocaust was real. This is not someone’s opinion. You have tremendous power to effect Facebook followers. I have always admired you and what you have done and are doing. Please continue to use your platform in the most judicious way.
(38) Martin H Rub, July 24, 2018 9:34 PM
I deny Facebook
Zuckerberg: You give Holocaust deniers a platform for spreading their hatred of Jews, then I cancel my Facebook account. Rest assured, I will encourage many others to cancel their accounts.
Shalom Mark!
(37) Sophie Golynsky, July 24, 2018 9:27 PM
If this appeal isn’t going to move Mark..nothing will. I’ll close Fbook account & so are many of others will follow.
If this appeal isn’t going to have impact on Mark’s decision to allow Holocaust denial to promote message of hate...nothing will. And then it’s time to all of us who cares about the concequences of hate speech to say Goodby to Fbook.
(36) Katie, July 24, 2018 9:12 PM
Beautifully Written
I could not have said it better myself. Your letter to Mark Zuckerberg is so beautifully written, sad and unfortunately true. The truth hurts and I hope it is read by him with an open heart. We can only pray that it is.
(35) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 9:04 PM
if Mark does nothing about this 'denial' ... Face Book is doomed.
(34) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 8:59 PM
Freedom of Speech vs Freedom to Hate
This is really tough issue. Of course the holocaust happened. But legally do these morons have the right to preach that it wasn't so. I think they can be stopped by a simple legal principal. If someone screams fire! in a cinema that is forbidden because people can get hurt. Likewise if neo nazis intentionally targert jews with their insanity then people can get hurt or killed. Look at recent events. The problem is freedom of speech and how long it will take for our government to wake up. The other problem is that such a restriction may stoke their fires and go deeper underground. Life is not simple. I wish it was.
(33) Baruch Breuer, July 24, 2018 8:29 PM
Holocaust denial for a non -Jew is just another Big Lie in the world of Lies, for a Jew the ignorance of the Holocaust is a handy spade into self-disappearance.
(32) Jerry Garfinkle, July 24, 2018 8:24 PM
So, after reading Dr. Miller’s letter, the issue is now whether Zuckerburg will allow his progressive views of permitting the dissemination of hate and animosity to trump his religion and traditions. It is fitting to quote Elie Wiesel who wrote: To forget means to deny the relevance of the past. More appropriately, the following quote from Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal is found in Rabbi Telushkin’s book “Jewish Wisdom”; Wiesenthal was having a phone conversation with a Jewish lawyer for the ACLU who was defending the right of Nazis to march through Skokie several years ago; the lawyer argued that “The First Amendment permits it.” Wiesenthal retorted as follows: “I have been told you are a Jewish lawyer; I don’t know whether you are young or old, but I can tell you one thing, and you can write it down and hang it up over your bed: A Jew may be stupid, but it’s not obligatory.” Perfect quote for the current situation!
(31) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 7:25 PM
Facebook and hate
Well said! I plan to save this letter. And now you know why I don't use facebook. The founder makes his money off hate.
(30) Jeanne Lewis, July 24, 2018 6:38 PM
Open letters
I applaud your open letter. I have one question, will he read it? Let's hope you start a movement to recognize the facts.
(29) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 6:26 PM
Mark it is time for you to wake up and do the right thing.
"Zuckerberg" that certainly sounds like a Jewish last name to me. Mark you can pretend to be a non jew, but according to the Nazi regime it didn't matter. As far as they were concerned you were a full blooded JEW. Holocaust denial is completely false and is used to undermine Jews and is Anti Semitic. Is it all about the money Mark, or is it that you don't know how to do the right thing in life? Millions of people were murdered in the Holocaust. The Holocaust has been fully documented and can't be denied. Perhaps you should get together with Steven Spielberg and ask him to explain the Holocaust to you and share his project ( Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.)
I am coming to the conclusion that I think people should start questioning whether they want to waste their time and energy on a site that doesn't know or care about right from wrong. It is starting to become obvious to me that we should be questioning Facebook's ethics. I feel that the only language Facebook will understand, is that of boycotting them. Between the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Holocaust denial it is a non brainier. Facebook is not the loving connector that it claims to be, but a book of devision, hate and deception.
(28) Jeff, July 24, 2018 5:38 PM
“... which is your history as well, Mark”
With all due respect, you’re wasting your breath. Mr. Zuckerberg is far, far removed from his nominal Jewish upbringing. Yes, he had a bar mitzvah (Star Wars themed); but then leaned toward atheism and Buddhism, among others, including his stated awe for Pope Francis (Oy!). He’s quoted as saying “religion is important”, but he doesn’t say he values any 1 in particular (despite a recent vacillation back towards Judaism). It certainly wasn’t a priority for him to marry Jewish or to raise Jewish kids (his daughters Maxima and August) — notwithstanding his buying one of them an antique kiddish cup! Also, tellingly, he doesn’t seem to support Jewish causes. The man is undoubtedly a ba’al tzedakah, and he speaks with his pocketbook to let people know which causes are important to him. He’s given away BILLIONS of dollars worldwide... and pledged another $45 billion (99% of his Facebook stock)... but I don’t think he’s given much, if anything, to Jewish causes or the State of Israel. Bottom line: Zuckerberg likes to preface his opinions with phrases like “As a Jew...”. But that’s just a label he wears when it suits him.
(27) Stephen Wolper, July 24, 2018 5:26 PM
Facebook is a hotbed of anti semitism
Since I first started on Facebook, I have found it to be a hotbed of Anti-Semitism with little to no moderation by Facebook of this vicious behavior. In the past I have reported a web page posted by someone on my friend list (tells you how little friendship on Facebook means) from an openly Nazi, white supremacist and anti semitic group. It was full of exactly the hate speech Facebook allegedly does not allow. I was basically told to bug off and let them say what they wanted. Truth has no place on Facebook, as it is filled with lies and hate speech and worse. Google is no better with You Tube so full of distorted video content as to be nauseating. If you feel you must announce who you hate this week, that is your problem to live with. If you try to back up your hatred with lies and distortion of the truth then it becomes the problem of us all. Whether it will be seen by children or adults who have no other source of knowledge, the use of lies to justify abnormal hate is immoral and not something our society needs to tolerate. Say whatever is on your mind no matter how stupid but keep it honest. Lies are not acceptable and we have an obligation to keep social media honest as it is too widespread to be allowed to become a bed of lies too.
(26) Joan Pressman, July 24, 2018 5:06 PM
Many survivors are now in their late years
Which to me means we need more education about one of the most horrendous murders of ll times. Holocaust mans boring. Young and old were murdered, experimented with and used for for labor in factories with little or now food. To forget or to deny is to repeat. History doesn’t repeat, people do. Isn’t there enough the in the world. do we really need more.
(25) Shlomo Adleer, July 24, 2018 4:47 PM
I sugest Mark Zukerberg to reed my testimony A Jew Again
I am an Holocaust surviver. I am reasy to join a;ll those denayers of the Holocaust, If the will show me the place where my parent where murdered and buried. Wile writing my first book "A Jew Again" I myselve had dificoulties in descraibing the unbelivable horors. Mr. Zukerberg bacame a friend and not an enemy of the Jewish nation. Newer Again. Shlomo Adler writer
(24) Rena, July 24, 2018 4:09 PM
I hope Mark takes the message to heart
Yvette,
I hope you did send this letter to Mark Zuckerberg and he takes it's message to heart. Thank you for taking a stand for truth. You are a blessing.
(23) Anna McGuire, July 24, 2018 4:09 PM
Learn from the past.
Nothing more true was ever said, "Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it." Wake up people or you'll find yourselves in a similar situation history has already proved to exist.
(22) Gary, July 24, 2018 4:01 PM
Not Only Stand Up for Your People...
...stand up because it's the right thing to do.
(21) Nancy, July 24, 2018 3:32 PM
Exactly right
Excellent article hopefully Mark will take in and understand. Thank you
(20) Jennie Breuer, July 24, 2018 3:23 PM
If he would have been alive in 1939 .....
Maybe Mark Zuckerberg needs to understand that had he been a successful business man back in 1939 he would have been exactly the kind of Jew the Nazis targeted first!
(19) Marylin Harrison, July 24, 2018 3:06 PM
reprehensible
We must never give any credence to deniers. I know that you are an ethical journalist so please do not allow such lies an open format.
(18) Mr. Katz, July 24, 2018 3:04 PM
Zuckerberg is just arrogrant
Mark Zuckerberg turned his back on his fellow Jews when he married a non-Jew. He grew up in Scarsdale, the son a dentist who practiced near Brooklyn College so he has no excuse to run away from his people except his arrogance. Obviously, Mark has no knowledge of Jewish history, including The Holocaust. Mark probably never met a Holocaust survivor. I agree with an earlier comment that he needs to take a trip to Auschwitz, which should be publicized on facebook and other media outlets. This needs to be followed up with a trip to Yad Vashem. I am surprised that Sheryl Sandberg, whose parents were activists in the Soviet Jewry movement, has remained silent. She should accompany Mark on this trip and help explain the danger of Holocaust deniers and why they should not be allowed a forum on facebook.
Phyllis, July 24, 2018 4:31 PM
"Presentation is everything"
Mr. Katz, your request of Mark Zuckerberg might be more welcoming if you did not criticize him for falling in love and marrying a non-Jew. That in itself is bigoted and the world would be much improved if we accepted each other regardless of religion.
I do agree with you, though, that he is in a unique position to affect our Never Again pledge by monitoring the Facebook entries regarding the horrific reality of the Holocaust. If history is not remembered, people cannot learn from it. Denying historical truth manipulates history – which discredits the reliability of all recorded history. Mr. Zuckerberg is in a positive to make a difference.
(17) Devorah Deutsch, July 24, 2018 3:04 PM
Wake Up Mark and know who you are!
You cannot allow Holocaust deniers a voice on Facebook.
It happened, it was horrific, people and children and babies were tortured and buried alive. Get rid of the lies and face the truth; you were spared the horrific horrors of the Holocaust. Don't deny it and don't let anyone on Facebook deny it. IT IS TRUTH!!!!
(16) Ruth Russo, July 24, 2018 2:51 PM
THE OUTSTANDING LETTER ADDRESSED TO MARK ZUCKERBERG!!
TOUCHE TO YOU YVETTE MILLER ... FOR YOUR EXTREMELY OUTSTANDING LETTER HAVING BEEN ADDRESSED TO MARK ZUCKERBERG ... SHAME ON HIM FOR NOT STANDING WITH HIS "TRIBE" ... OF WHICH I'M A PART OF ... ONCE AGAIN ... TO REITERATE ... "SHAME ON YOU MARK ZUCKERBERG" !!!
(15) Rashi Rosenzweig, July 24, 2018 2:37 PM
If Mark Didn't See This Letter...
..then what's the point? He won't see it, Yvette. The problem is: HE NEEDS TO..and BADLY.
We Jews are very much aware of what you wrote. Yet, Zuckerberg and Jews like Zuckerberg, the marginally or completely unaffiliated Jews, are completely clueless about what you posted. You merely preached to the choir, if you will. Please do not think that I'm criticising you at all. I'm not. You bring about extremely important points and ideas. My critique sums up this: how is this going to make any difference at all? People who subscribe to Aish.com are mostly Orthodox Jews from many different areas of Orthodoxy, or at least Jews with very strong attachments to Judaism or their communities. The likelihood of Zuckerberg seeing this is between slim and none. I apologize if I may sound insulting, as I don't mean to be insulting. I'm just stating that writing an Open Letter is only a therapeutic exercise.
If there is any way that you can forward this amazing letter to him personally, you may actually open his eyes, even just a little bit. He is the one that needs to be schooled. Not us.
Elisheva, July 24, 2018 5:24 PM
Excellent suggestion
I agree. I don’t believe he will ever read it. Send it to him personally. It’s too important to get lost (check for typos first).
Good job though!!
(14) K.H. Ryesky, July 24, 2018 2:36 PM
Is SPLC any better than the Holocaust deniers?
Dr. Miller, you are blowing your credibility by citing the Southern Poverty Law Center as a back-up.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/02/seven_reasons_to_beware_the_southern_poverty_law_center.html
(13) Tommy Stanley, July 24, 2018 2:35 PM
Agreed
I do not belong to FB as I do not believe it was fairly made into a company. I also do not think the platform is safe, and I do not need fake friends or have people following me and making me a fake friend. I do believe in the Jewish people and as a Humanistic Jew, I do not need any god or sky daddy or other form of super natural being to keep me within my people, but Mark should as a fellow Jew, one of the book and with all the different Jewish factions, see us as a group of people and should be ashamed for allowing anti-semitic garbage on his billion dollar game show.
(12) Adam Gajlewicz, July 24, 2018 2:33 PM
The Holocaust deniers did have their say: they were heard in a court of law and lawfully convicted.
Deborah Lipstadt, who sent Davind Irving to jail, has repeatedly asserted that there will always be deniers of the Holocaust. Absurd though it appears to be, denying the Holocaust and antisemitism are a profitable and lucrative business; but it must be stopped now, right now. Otherwise, in fifty years time, whe we are dead and gone, the hydra will raise its ugly head again and there will be no one to stop it. Mark Zuckerberg should be ashamed.
(11) Ruven Golan, July 24, 2018 2:33 PM
Excellent article
Mark probably dose not realize he is an enemy of the Jews. Many other libturd Jews, probably the majority outside of Israel bend over backwards to prove how humane and understanding they are. This is a learned defensive mechanism shared by Diaspora Jews. They lack the common sense and/or backbone or both to stand up and do what is best for themselves and their own people.
(10) Marilyn Rosen, July 24, 2018 2:31 PM
I agree with the article being a veiled attempt at anti-semitism
I think my summary says it all. How can, especially a Jew, justify this. Has he ever been to Auschwitz and cried his eyes out? I know all about freedom of speech but this does not qualify.
(9) Henie Fialkoff, July 24, 2018 2:27 PM
no forum for hate mongerers
Holocaust denial goes hand in hand with portraying Jews as absurdly rich and controlling the media. Mark, don't worry. You're safe.
Mark Brecker, July 24, 2018 6:18 PM
WHILE I DON'T DISAGREE, I ALWAYS
FELT THAT TO AN EXTENT HOLOCAUST DENIERS ARE AFFIRMING THAT ITS HORRORS ARE UNIMAGINABLE. I FIND MORE DISTURBING THOSE WHO SAY [and seldom heard of late] "YES, 6 MILLION WERE KILLED; I WISH IT HAD BEEN MORE, MUCH MORE".
MARK LEWIS BRECKER, Esq.
(8) melanie muller, July 24, 2018 2:18 PM
Thank you for this article
I reposted this article on FB because it needs to be heard and heard again. Thank you for giving voice to this issue, so that the witnesses of the Holocaust are silenced.
(7) SteveT, July 24, 2018 2:17 PM
One person Facebook boycott
Last week, I cancelled my Facebook account because of this, after putting up a post that explained my reasoning. I simply can no longer continue putting money in Mark Zuckerberg's pocket every time I click on link on Facebook. I'm getting most of the information I got from Facebook, on Twitter. The thing that surprises me is that so many Jews are continuing to use Facebook. We have a powerful voice collectively. How would Zuckerberg feel if it became known that Jews, his own people, are deserting Facebook in droves? Why are so many people still on it?
(6) Rachel schwartz, July 24, 2018 2:14 PM
We need Zuckerberg to stand up for us
Mark Zuckerberg is in a unique position to stand up to Holocaust deniers & make sure they don’t use Facebook as their platform to spread their antisemitism and hate of Jews
(5) Anonymous, July 24, 2018 1:57 AM
I have rarely read an article that so convincingly and respectfully incorporates heart and mind.. I do hope that Mark Zuckerberg is moved and acts positively and honestly to deny a platform to Holocaust deniers.
Anonymous, July 24, 2018 2:13 PM
Great comment
Exceptionally well written article and a great comment. This should be sent to Sheryl Sandberg and any other person on the Facebook board and senior executive staff who has Jewish parents or grandparents.
(4) Anonymous, July 23, 2018 10:34 PM
Zuckerberg allows anti-Semitism from muslims
very well-written and Zuckerberg is complicit in making Jews out to be liars and worse.. Funny--NOT--how Zuckerberg puts people in facebook JAIL for telling truth about muslims and their agenda and their history.
ALL JEWS need to stand up for Jews.
Betty, July 28, 2018 12:48 AM
Not only Jews
You may be interested to know that most Christians also stand up for the Jews! I'm one and all the Christians I know also!! My Facebook is now cancelled!!!
(3) Anonymous, July 23, 2018 10:07 PM
well said and well delivered!
Well written and well delivered. No guilt, just the facts and let's call a lie what it is: a lie. The cloak of this lie is an excuse for hate mongering, clearly the disguise designed to grant permission and justify the hate behind the effort. Just stop it. The EVIDENCE and documentation is so abundtly overwhelming. And the perpetrators themselves don't even deny it, or attempt to hide it. So just stop. Mark- Why don't you take a trip to Auschwitz yourself; and then see if you still grant permission for the deniers to have a platform on your "social" media web service. Or realize instead that they are in fact: anti- social!
(2) Moshe Schorr, July 23, 2018 8:35 PM
Nu?
Nu? Did you get a response?
(1) MESA, July 23, 2018 1:44 PM
Of course Mark Zuckerberg needs to take a stand somewhere, but I read Yair Rosenberg's article about this and I like his idea even better. Instead of simply erasing and outlawing the Holocaust denial postings on Facebook, they can stay up there, but prefaced with a warning that this post is about Holocaust denial and before anyone reads this, they should read about the Holocaust at ______ posting/site.
Colette, July 24, 2018 4:56 PM
SPLC is itself a hate group
As someone else posted, the author compromises her argument by citing the Southern Poverty Law Center- an extreme leftist group with no love for Zionists or evangelical Christians.
gedaliah, July 25, 2018 4:04 PM
SPLC is NOT a hate group
And if there was the equivalent of a Southern Poverty Law Center functioning in Europe free to operate during the Holocaust, more Jews could have been saved. Let me get this straight, you are attacking a human rights group that fights for (including but not limited to) African-Americans who today face discrimination, persecution, and even instant death at the hands of local police officers just for being black while walking down a street or a traffic stop. Why aren't you outraged at that too? Think!
Anonymous, July 28, 2018 1:16 AM
100% correct
You are absolutely right! Cop haters as well!