Revisionism and Professional Ethics

Should a library specialised in Jewish history and Jewish Studies tolerate the presence of a notorious so called “revisionist” in its reading room? At the end of last Spring an active Holocaust denier came to our library to make research on “The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion” and other Anti-Semitic texts that we possess. His ideological identity was rapidly revealed (he was not trying to hide his name publicly known). The fact of knowing who he was introduced immediately great confusion within our team. Should we authorize him consultation in our library or not? Should we permit him the access to our rare documents or not? We are a private library depending on the institution of the Alliance israélite universelle in Paris, a library which is usually a very welcoming place. Different opinions diverged among the staff members until the moment when the presence of this individual turned to be unbearable for the librarians. They have expressed their feelings to the managers who finally took the decision to forbid him the access to the library. Letters exchanges between the Holocaust denier and the institution have followed this decision.