Dear Dr. Cowen,

Recent contacts coming from Dr. Lance Hill, Executive Director of Southern Institute for Education and Research that resides on Tulane University campus, make us wonder both
i) of the exact association that Tulane University currently has with the Southern Institute and,
ii) of the source of hate coming from that place.

On April 17, 2006, Dr. Hill, placed, out-of-the-blue, a "courtesy" call to this editor, at his home, after he was able to secure the editor's unlisted home telephone number. In that call, full of rage, Dr. Hill advised this editor --in no uncertain terms-- that he no longer tolerate [sic!] that our year-old postings on Plater Robinson and others that were scrutinized by us over the years to stay posted in our website. Dr. Hill threatened this editor and "all those involved" with a lawsuit if his demands are not being met forthwith.

To all this, in a calm voice, this editor advised Dr. Hill, that we do not take in here any telephone calls with regard to the issues regarding our work in general, and those of the Holocaust, in particular because for those kind of issues we need to have a record that can easily be established by communicating via emails, as we do not record any conversation in our telephone calls.

Subsequently, in the next day, on April 18, 2006, Dr. Hill sent to this editor an email entitled "Last Demand Letter" that is posted in full herein:

Dear Mr. Brattman:

This is a final demand letter. >From this point on, I will take all necessary public and legal actions to end your malicious libels against the Jewish Holocaust Survivors and educators named below. I know all about your past and that you are a fake and that there is no "Holocaust Survivor Network." You have shamelessly used the memory of the victims of the Holocaust as a vehicle to knowingly and maliciously spread lies about the real victims of the Holocaust.

I demand that:

1. You remove from any and all of your web sites any and all references to the people and their affiliated organizations you have libeled: Plater Robinson, Lance Hill, Eric Saul, Solly Ganor, and Hiram Bingham. You must publish on your isurvived web site a public retraction of these "reports" and references to these people and/or organizations and apologize for publishing false and erroneous information.

2. You must refrain in the future publishing their names or organizations or communicating about them with any other person or organization.

When you have retracted these stories and apologized I will discontinue all legal and public efforts to oppose your libelous actions.

If I do not hear from you in 48 hours I will assume that you do not plan to accede to any of these demands and that will be the end of our communication.

Lance Hill

In reading his demand letter, we were considerably put at ease that Dr. Hill does not negate the existence of the Holocaust but only "Holocaust Survivor Network." Of course, around the world, there are numerous Holocaust networks and associations so it is not clear what Dr. Hill is denying. For sure, Dr. Hill could not possibly deny the existence of our website since it is this website of ours that he is irritated with!!!

Also it is no clear, what is "fake" about this managing editor or what Dr. Hill's "discovery" on this editor's past could be that is material and in conflict with the representation of the Holocaust --the sole subject of our website.

In the same day of April 18, 2006, this editor responded to Dr. Hill's stated email as follows:

Dear Dr. Lance Hill,

Your concerns about the content of our website are serious indeed and as such may I extend my personal invitation to express them publicly and be posted, in full, in our website.

......................................

It is my hope and expectation, that you will honor us with your critical assessment of our work on any issue related to the Holocaust --as the Holocaust, for us and many around the world, Jews and non-Jews alike, represents sacred grounds. A vigorous scrutiny is essential in any study and your interest in us and our Holocaust work is greatly appreciated.

We do our best to present herein all legitimate diverse point of views and your input is most welcomed here.

With friendship and cordiality,

K. K. Brattman
Managing Editor

Apparently being annoyed with our Invitation to spell out all his grievances with our work and of the prospect of being published herein, Dr. Hill, sent to us his last email in the same stated day:

K a l m a n   B r a t t m a n:

I made it clear that I do not want to hear from you again until you retract and apologize for your libelous attacks, the deadline of which is 12:00 noon, CST, April 20, 2006.

Please do not communicate with me or any of my staff again. I will regard any communication from you as purposeful harassment in violation of the Massachusetts electronic harassment law, chapter 265. section 243.

Any communication that you have in the future with any unrelated third party regarding myself, staff or organization will be treated as further slander or libel, by you, your organization and its employees and volunteers, and those liable parties who enable dissemination of your libels by providing contracted or donated support in the form of office space, equipment, and services.

Lance Hill

As requested, we, of course, have not contacted again Dr. Hill. And just as a reminder, it was Dr. Hill --and not us-- that after more than one year resurfaced and initiated the unsolicited contact with this editor.

We, of course, could not possibly be deterred from expressing our viewpoints to any issues that we deem important relating to the representation of the Holocaust, as no force on Earth can silence us. In fact, we just posted a critical assessment on Dr. Hill's preposterous trivialization of the Holocaust under the title "Rebuking Dr. Lance Hill's Trivialization of the Holocaust and its Tragic Legacy."

With this prima facie summary evidence being presented, we could not help but ask ourselves: What is on the Tulane University campus that is able to foster with such intensity hate? What kind of academic environment is currently "breeding" at Tulane if anytime questions about the propriety of certain representations are being made, the threat of a lawsuit is always present? Why open and honest debates are not encouraged to take place when legitimate challenges are being presented?

Clearly no one is forcing Dr. Hill or anyone else to visit our website, so we fail to see why is all this hate coming from the campus of Tulane? We most certainly never demanded, or ever will demand, from Dr. Hill or anyone else to change the content of their websites, so again we fail to see the origin of Dr. Hill's deep hate towards us.

We ask and ask again, Why our critical inquiries on the various topics related to our work are being encountered with such hostility from the campus of Tulane University? How in God's name any progress can be made, in anything, if anytime a critical inquiry is being posted, a threat of a lawsuit immediately seems to loom at the horizon?

Yes, we find all this very disturbing and, this is why we took the liberty to bring this matter to your personal attention.

Respectfully submitted,

K. K. Brattman
Managing Editor

Dated: May 9, 2006