11/23/2005 12:54:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Rafael Medoff of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, 215-635-5622 or rafaelmedoff@aol.com
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Teen People magazine, which is owned by Time Inc., is still running a sanitized story about a neo-Nazi teenage singing duo on its web site, despite reports that it has canceled a planned feature story about them that downplayed their racist views.
The duo, known as "Prussian Blue," are 13 year-old twin sisters Lynx and Lamb Gaede, who wear Hitler t-shirts, deny the Holocaust, and frequently perform at neo-Nazi events. According to media reports, Teen People was planning to run a feature profile them in its February issue, but had promised to refrain from using the words "hate," "supremacist," and "Nazi" in the article. A web site preview of the article referred to the twins' beliefs only as "white pride." The upcoming article and the preview have been withdrawn, according to the magazine's publisher, Time Inc. (New York Post, Nov. 23, 2005)
But the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies has determined that Teen People is continuing to run another sanitized story about the Gaede twins on its web site:
See: http://www.teenpeople.com/teenpeople/article/0,22196,1130390,00.shtml
The Wyman Institute is urging Time Inc to withdraw this story.
Wyman Institute director Dr. Rafael Medoff said: "Time Inc. did the right thing by canceling the upcoming story whitewashing these neo-Nazi singers. But that wise decision is undermined by the continued presence on the Teen People web site of another article that fails to identify the Gaede sisters as racists and Holocaust-deniers. During the 1930s, too many in the news media failed to report accurately on the violent and racist nature of Adolf Hitler and his followers. We dare not repeat that tragic mistake."
Visitors to the "Teen People Plus" section of Teen People's web site still find a November 15, 2005 article about the twins which calls them only "white separatists" and fails to use the words "hate," "supremacist," or "Nazi." The article does not explain what it means by "white separatists," does not identify the girls as racists, and makes no mention of their admiration for Hitler or their denial of the Holocaust. It says they have "performed at separatist rallies all over the country," without explaining the racist and neo-Nazi nature of those rallies. A poll attached to the article asks readers only, "Do you think the girls are embracing this message because of their parents?" -- without explaining what "this message" is.
The Wyman Institute is the only organization that publishes an annual report on Holocaust-denial around the world. Its 2005 report will be issued in late December. To reserve a copy of the report, please call 215-635-5622.
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The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, located on the campus of Gratz College (near Philadelphia), is a research and education institute focusing on America's response to the Holocaust. It is named in honor of the eminent historian and author of the 1984 best-seller The Abandonment of the Jews, the most important and influential book concerning the U.S. response to the Nazi genocide.
The Institute's Advisory Committee includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, Members of Congress, and other luminaries. Its Academic Council includes more than 50 leading professors of the Holocaust, American history, and Jewish history. The Institute's Arts & Letters Council, chaired by Cynthia Ozick, includes prominent artists, writers, musicians, and filmmakers. (For a complete list, please visit http://www.WymanInstitute.org)
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