Lawsuit Over Proof Of Holocaust Ends With Payment To A Survivor

The New York Times, July 25, 1985

A $50,000 reward offered for ‘‘proof’’ that the Nazi’s gassed Jewish victims in concentration camps must be paid to an Auschwitz survivor under the terms of a court settlement, the survivor’s lawyer said today.

The institute, which says the Holocaust never happened, must also pay Mr. Mermelstein $100,000 for the pain and suffering caused by the reward offer, the lawyer said. She added, however, that the payment may be reduced to $40,000 if the group paid the reward promptly.

Mr. Marcellus continued to insist that Mr. Mermelstein did not have ‘‘any kind of evidence’’ that Jews were gassed at Auschwitz.

Mrs. Allred said that Mr. Mermelstein accepted the Torrance-based organization’s challenge in December 1980, a month after he received the letter. He submitted as proof declarations by other survivors who witnessed friends and relatives being taken away to their deaths by the Nazis, she said.

His own declaration described how he watched his mother and sister led away to gas chambers.

Evidence Not Accepted

The institute, however, refused to accept his proof and continued to say the Holocaust never happened.