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When Sending Holocaust Denial Emails, Doublecheck "To" Field
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2011
Modified Jan 26, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 26, 2011
Modified Jan 26, 2011
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Michael Santomauro, whose son is a third grader at P.S. 290 on the Upper East Side, was up late on the night of January 15th, toiling on a vital e-mail intended to spread the word about the book Debating the Holocaust, by Thomas Dalton, PhD. Around 2:30 a.m. he clicked send, firing off the e-mail with the enthusiastic recommendation, "You should read this book! It is rocking my world!" He tells the Times the e-mail was intended for "another group he belongs to, where members debate whether accounts of the Holocaust are exaggerated." But he sent it to the wrong address list, and it went to every parent and teacher on the P.S. 290 PTA list instead. Parents say they're shocked and outraged, and some have called the ADL.
Santomauro must be used to it; for many years he's been spreading the word about the fake Holocaust. He started Roommatefinders.com, and back in 2003 customers who registered with that website found themselves on the receiving end of a barrage of Holocaust-denying e-mails. Messages included opinions like, "The Hitler 'gas chambers' never existed" and contained links to the website for Theses & Dissertations Press, which publishes a range of Holocaust revisionist books. Santomauro is the American editorial director of that company.
Ron Meier, the ADL’s regional director, tells the Times that Santomauro is "a hard-core Holocaust denier." Melinda Battelli-Scopaz, the parent of a kindergartner, puts it more simply: "This guy is a moron." Parents whose students attend the Upper East Side school are reportedly "stunned... that there was such a parent in their midst." But this will all blow over in time—it's not like his e-mail went out to a PTA on the Upper West Side.
Tagged
Holocaust
holocaust denier
Michael Santomauro
ps 290
the holocaust
upper east side
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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