History and the Internet

In 2003, I was an undergrad at University of Texas San Antonio, in the heart of my history degree. I needed an internship, and fell into the opportunity to intern at the Mazal Holocaust Library and Archive. Harry Mazal created the library to maintain, scan, and digitally document primary sources pertinent to the Holocaust and its aftermath. His strongest concern with the decades following the Holocaust was the increasing number of people in the world denying the Holocaust ever happened. 2003 was still early days for the internet in terms of information and research, most readily available, academic information was still found in the stacks or JSTOR. Mr. Mazal, even earlier, had one foot in the door of protecting information in this new world of information in minutes (not seconds because dial-up). My small job as an intern was spent sorting musty transcripts of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal. There was no rhyme or reason to each page that was lifted from a box as they had been haphazardly shoved into the boxes. They were original copies that Mr. Mazal had acquired but little care was given to how they arrived at his library. Trials were mixed up, some were in English, some were in German, and while I labored away, I always ended the day talking to Mr. Mazal about what I had found. He always told me to take the time to read the transcripts, as that should be more important to me than just sorting contents.

Sipping my coffee out of my Mazal library mug in recent days, I pondered those conversations I had with Mr. Mazal. Those who study history at the collegiate level are taught from the first semester the importance of wide, vetted, empirical research. At UTSA the class was called Historical Methods. It is a class designed to be "an introduction of history in which students will consider examples and approaches to the problems of research and writing in the field." This class is required well before any other upper level classes are available. When I transferred to Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania as a "technical" senior, I had to provide proof that this class at UTSA was comparable to their similar class. Research and writing are at the heart of a history degree. We are taught how to gain and use information. 

Mr. Mazal was wary early on at the ability of the internet to use and misuse information. Several years ago, he was interviewed by Dan Leshem of the Holocaust Denial on Trial website. The interview that I have linked here talks about Mr. Mazal's role in his Holocaust History Project. What I found most interesting was his thoughts on how the internet is used for information. In speaking with Leshem, he says (talking about the days before search engines and the exchange of information via bulletin boards and chat rooms and how that transitioned) "But this Internet came on, and of course everything changed because instead of just sending messages back and and forth so that someone could read them suddenly the Internet allowed messages, pictures, eventually music, God knows what, to be available instantly anywhere to anybody in the world. I believe it's the most important step that humanity has taken in communications ever, even more important that the alphabet, or learning how to write, or the printing press. The Internet gives everybody the same power, and from a democratic point of view it's very good. From history's point of view it's terrible because there's no real way of determining what is true and what is not true on the internet, unless you have either some previous experience, or you're willing to research it."

The interview continues later with Leshem asking "You mentioned a moment ago that the Internet was terrible for history. I take that to mean that the Internet presents too much information without providing readers with sufficient means of determining truth from falsehood. So how do you recommend that we distinguish between various types of information?" Mr. Mazal anwered "Well, the fact that it was terrible for history and for accuracy (and for many of these other things because it certainly makes it complicated), it’s still an important medium that we have to live with. It’s here; Pandora’s Box has been opened. We’ve got to find way to control all the little critters that came out of it.When a student goes onto the Internet, most people, especially now that these search engines are so extraordinarily powerful, will type in a word or two and they’ll come up with a huge number of responses. I like to use the example of typing the word ‘Jew’. Type that in and the first site that comes up on Google is a site that is incredibly antisemitic. And, it’s so antisemitic that every time I open that page up I get annoyed. But it’s done in a very clever way besides, because it counts everything in very comfortable and reasonable terms. There isn’t any of this death to “kikes,” or, you know, the usual sort of antisemitism that you expect to find in the National Alliance, or the places like that. This definitely talks reasonably about the Jews, but of course leads you down the primrose path and takes you to the same point that other people do, and that is that Jews are bad, that we’re dangerous, that we’re evil little critters, whatever. So, when a student is looking up, because the teacher said, “Do some work on the… I want to know about the Jews,” if he lands there first he’s likely to extrapolate from there, and his paper’s going to be dedicated to presenting lies. Most people who have any criteria at all would probably visit three or four or five other sites, and try to figure out which one of these is the truth.In the end the Internet is a good source to point you in directions, but it’s not a good source for history. If you want to be pointed in a certain direction the Internet will give you many options. From there go to books, go to the library, and use this information that you’ve gotten through the websites, and read about it by people who don’t go around trying to poison the earth with their statements.

The last few months have kept me on high alert in regards to how information was being used, digested, and reused to fit a narrative. Information that demands foremost an emotional reaction, typically in fear and rage, has not been fully understood. Words are important, speeches are important. Taking a slice of life in the here and now and making it known, is important. I'm increasingly concerned however in the rhetoric that demands an immediate emotional response, that tells you to "decolonize your bookshelves." History sucks. It's awful, terrible, often horrific, based on action, inaction, and apathy. I'm not saying emotion should not be a motivating factor. It absolutely has its place. There is a time to make change, there are ways to make change, and not forget the emotion that goes along with it. My concern is with immediate "information" and how it affects decision making. Just how good is this information? I can read two dozen articles about one event that happened less than two hours ago and get two dozen takes on what went down. And in that two hours, people have already responded emotionally to an already complex situation, which in the long run will not be affective.

If I didn't lose you on the "decolonize your bookshelves", thanks for sticking around. Books are brilliant and needed. Book burnings have long been symbolic of tyranny, a way of controlling an "approved" narrative. History is quite solid on this. This was also Mr. Mazal's fear as the numbers of those who experienced the Holocaust first hand are dwindling. Knowledge is power. This "decolonizing the bookshelf" should not be a dumping of every book that doesn't fit in with modern ideas. You should be adding to your bookshelves. We can't forget what words people used to marginalize and tyrannize portions of society. We just can't. I have two copies of Mein Kampf on a bookshelf. I have a few biographies on Hitler. I have Spandau by Albert Speer. But I also have a hundred plus other books on that bookshelf that are personal, first hand accounts of all the various slices of life that lived those times-- the active, the inactive, the apathetic. As a historian, I need all the bits and bobs to understand the history as a whole. Information is a precious commodity that seems rarely appreciated in any way but in division these days. Information in two seconds (because it's not dial-up any more). Two seconds to twist something, to take a random event and grab one out of the boldface of the history textbook, and voila! we've been giving seconds to jump on a bandwagon and vow to die on that hill because we couldn't be bothered to realize how complex an issue actually is. We're going to need a full arsenal of the good and the bad in order to adequately make long reaching change, and stop relying on every two seconds of internet fodder to determine our world view.

"So that’s the danger of the Internet. It’s like a card index, but you should follow up and read about it elsewhere."- Harry Mazal

The Mazal Library was gifted to Colorado University- Boulder in 2014 to be part of their Post-Holocaust American Judaism Archive.