Why did Uncle Harry keep his actions a secret? Why did he, toward the end of his life, even deny that there had been a Holocaust at all? (¶ 2-28) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

 

We have seen how in the span of only a few years Bingham IV's life has been turned upside down: he had to face the reality of the two major events that have been creeping into his life:

• his resignation from diplomatic corps; and
  
  
• his unthinkable monetary loss of $100,000 to the "charming lady."
  

The whole thing was to him, as Lucretia recalls it, as some sort of a "world-wide conspiracy." (Exhibit 1, p. 7, ¶ 7-112)

.

Bingham IV had to blame somebody or something for his misfortunes as he was not about to take the rap. Someone or something else had to be responsible for all this. If Jews did not exist, the Holocaust would never had happened and then, Bingham IV may have reasoned, his misfortunes related directly to the existence of the Holocaust, could never have taken place.

It was far easier to blame his troubles on a Zionist conspiracy. (¶ 8-134) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

Reflecting on all this, Bingham IV undoubtedly must have pondered over his father's strong views on Jews that were, according to Lucretia Bingham, "openly anti-Semitic" (Exhibit 1, p. 8, ¶ 8-132). Yes, Bingham III, the father of Bingham IV,

I recently read a letter from my grandfather to Harry; its virulent anti-Semitism shocked me to the core. (¶ 8-132) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

that the world knew as a renown historian-explorer who had discovered the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu in Peru and who went on to become a U.S. senator, was also a racist of the first order. Bingham III's deep racist views can perhaps best be encapsulated from his 1914 letter exposed by Woodbridge Bingham in his book "Hiram Bingham: a Personal History" (Bin Lan Zhen Publishers, Boulder Colorado, 1989, p. 435):

"In these days when the country is filed with alien races from the south of Europe and from Russia and Poland, those of us who are interested in keeping the old stock pure should have all the help we can in interesting our children in the doings of their ancestors."

(Those racist views of Bingham IV's father were indeed no different than the views embraced later by Adolf Hitler.)

Clearly, Bingham IV felt that he had let down his father by not recognizing and embracing his father's adamant racial warnings --that Jews were not to be trusted, that they were simply no good. Bingham IV's own experience appeared,

In some strange way, perhaps Harry sought forgiveness from his father, who was openly anti-Semitic ... (¶ 8-132) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

in his eyes, to have vindicated his father, on his racist views. And this is how Bingham IV's horrendous transformation began.

Gradually, but surely, the transformation was complete: he began hating Jews, and denying even the existence of the Holocaust as these two ingredients, Jews and the Holocaust, were viewed as the root causes to all his misfortunes and troubles that he had experienced. His hate towards the State of Israel was also part of his horrendous transformation. A glimpse of Bingham IV's hate towards the Jewish State can perhaps be able to be seen from this eyewitness account (Exhibit 1, p. 8, ¶ 8-136, 137) from Lucretia Bingham:

"In that tape I made of him, Harry told me, 'I had learned too much about how the world was being run, being manipulated by the international bankers in London.

He even began to believe that the accounts of the Holocaust were exaggerated in order to raise money for the state of Israel. (¶ 8-131) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

And Wall Street. The state department listened to everything the bankers had to say. They had the power over the money. There are only about nine men so secret that it is not known who they are. They set the policy to rule the world. One of our Christian churches is infiltrated.' "

Harry held the opinion that a number of these nine men were Jewish. He was convinced that a deal had been struck; The State of Israel could be allowed to exist if the corporations were not gone after."

Because Lucretia Bingham was married to a Jew, an absolute No-No in the Bingham family

He would not stop telling me that my soul was in immortal danger because I was married to a Jew. (¶ 8-131) Lucretia Bingham "Uncle Harry's Secret"

(as her grandfather would have rolled over into his grave learning about this), and because she was the first and only Bingham to do so, she was the first direct recipient and eyewitness to her Uncle's virulent anti-Semitism. As Lucretia recalls it, that "has always been the most painful and troubling part of Harry's story." (Exhibit 1, p. 8, ¶ 8-131).

Yes, there is no question that Hiram Bingham IV's story is a painful, troubling, sad, and complex one. It is a story that we did not seek to publish or reveal. It is a story out of which we gain nothing and which was imposed upon us by the circumstances connected to our work.