Holocaust Survivors' Network
. A  CAMPAIGN

'may all your teeth fall out, except one: to give you a toothache.' you jerks

Plater Robinson, Education Specialist Southern Institute, Tulane University Campus, New Orleans, LA, USA.

TO:  Dr. Scott S. Cowen, President, Tulane University.
FROM:  K. K. Brattman, Managing Editor, <iSurvived.org>
DATED:  April 10, 2005

 

Dear Dr. Cowen,

Stunned by the reaction received from Mr. Plater Robinson, the Institute's Holocaust Education Specialist, to our posting of photos from the celebrated Auschwitz Album with text commentary by Oliver Lustig, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Dachau Holocaust survivor, we respectfully request that your Office take a closer look and make a determination that will deal, inter alia, with these issues:

I. Whether the Southern Institute for Education and Research, as currently operates, is in tune and compatible with Tulane University's Mission as formulated by you back in February 1999 (see, http://www2.tulane.edu/article_news_details.cfm?ArticleID=2164).

II. Whether Mr. Robinson's virulent and foul attack on us, for no apparent reason, is compatible with the school's norms of conduct and, whether he can continue serve the school in any capacity.

III. Why the Institute entrusts the studies of the Holocaust to a person such as Mr. Robinson who has next-to-zero academic credentials and, Why the Institute is unable or unwilling to attract Ph.D scholars for Holocaust studies at Tulane?

 

Statement of Facts
(as supported by prima facie evidence)

1. On March 5, 2005, Mr. Robinson, as the Institute's Holocaust Education Specialist, received from us this simple email:

"This is to let you know that we have posted in our website at http://isurvived.org/Lustig_AuschwitzAlbum.html an extraordinary set of photographs from the Auschwitz Album with text commentary by Oliver Lustig, a Birkenau-Auschwitz and Dachau Holocaust Survivor."

2. On March 14, 2005, Mr. Robinson, upon acknowledging receiving the above email, stated:

"in the book there is one particular foto of 'ramp' with entrance in background and 'selection' is taking place and off to the far left bottom corner is a young man in stripped uniform. he stands at attention. the book says this man is from holland, i believe. i dispute no one but simply mention that sigmund boraks, former slave on ramp, looks just like that young man in 1944 foto of 'ramp.' that is, sigmund's 1945 foto of himself looks like that young man on 'ramp.' young man in foto looks just like sigmund's son, too. sigmund arrived from blizen labor camp to birkenau in early 1944."
[Note the poor English, the punctuation, and the repeated misspelling of the word "photo" as "foto."]

3. The book to which Mr. Robinson was referring to is the celebrated Auschwitz Album that was printed in so many editions both in Poland and Israel since 1981. Why Mr. Robinson had felt compelled to make that irrelevant point in his reply was immediately noted by us as he received, within minutes, this March 14, 2005, reply-email :

"We are not the authors of the Auschwitz Album book nor have anything to do with its content, so we fail to see your point, if any, that you have attempted to make."

4. Upon additional reflection on the way Mr. Robinson has chosen to attack the Auschwitz Album for no apparent reason and with information that was completely irrelevant to that monumental Album, we decided to take a closer look at Tulane University in general and, at Mr. Robinson in particular. Noting his poor command of the English language, we went to investigate his academic background and, after a rather intensive search, we came empty handed as we could not establish a doctoral degree for Mr. Robinson from any accredited school. Confronted with a request for a CV (curriculum vitae), Mr. Robinson acknowledged to us in a subsequent email that he in fact does not hold a Ph.D degree.

5. Mr. Robinson's accumulated hate and venom, stored apparently for quite sometime in his inner being, could no longer be contained as Mr. Robinson saw in us apparently an ideal place for dumping all of his accumulated anger, hostility, hate and resentment. For no apparent reason, Mr. Robinson felt compelled to send to us another email on March 15, 2005, where he stated:

"what an unbelievably snid response.
please take me off your list serve as i don't care to talk to a jerk like this again.
how wretched arrogant you are. "
[Note again his poor command of the English language with the misspelled words for "snide" and "server."]

and then, apparently not yet through with us, in a subsequent email, Mr. Robinson stated:

"my point was absolutely clear. i was alerting you to the identify of someone in the book you mentioned.
i was sharing knowledge which i thought you might appreciate.
'may all your teeth fall out, except one: to give you a toothache.'
you jerks"

6. Notwithstanding that we have stopped communicating with Mr. Robinson, he apparently was not yet finished with his belligerence towards us as next day, on March 16, he sent to us another email, entitled "how stupid can you get," where he noted:

"i was pointing, in a previous missive, that in one of the photographs in the auschwitz album there was a man, a jewish man, named siggy boraks. he lives today in new orleans. i pointed out that in the auschwitz album this man was identified as a dutchman, when, in fact, we believe that it may be siggy. that's what i was saying. that's hardly denying the holocaust.   enough of you. you're pure vicious. "

Of course, nobody here has accused Mr. Robinson to be a Holocaust denier or accused him of anything else. But we could not help wondering what was behind his belligerence towards us and what was his point that he so desperately attempted to make: that a 60 years old photograph could resemble or could be in fact that of a Polish (as oppose to a Danish) Holocaust survivor! What possible relevance all this could have for the integrity of the Auschwitz Album?

 

Concluding Statement

Why in God's name Mr. Robinson felt compelled to attack the Auschwitz Album in such a malevolent, twisted and ridiculous way? From where Mr. Robinson's deep hate and resentment towards us is coming from? What was the purported "academic" point, if any, that Mr. Robinson has attempted to make and for what purpose? These are only a few of the questions that perhaps deserve to have an answer.

The Holocaust and the Anti-Semitism are complex subjects studied in many first class academic centers worldwide. Why, respectfully, Tulane University sees those studies so unimportant that are being placed into the hands of people with no academic credentials as in the case of Mr. Robinson?

Thank you for your personal attention to this perplexing case that Mr. Robinson brought to the fore.

Respectfully submitted,

K. K. Brattman
Managing Editor

 NOTE: When and if a Tulane response will be received, it shall be posted herein.

 

---