Ken McVay
Encyclopedia
Kenneth "Ken" McVay, OBC
(b. ca. 1940), a Canadian
-American
dual citizen, is an Internet
activist against Holocaust denial
. He is the founder of the Nizkor Project
, one of the first (and largest) website
s against Holocaust denial.
An active participant on the newsgroup
alt.revisionism, McVay describes himself as a person who found himself moved to action by the efforts of Holocaust deniers on the newsgroup to promote "evidence" that he found to be poorly presented and claims that were vague at best. He also opposed the idea of censoring and suppressing the deniers, as authorities and experts on hate group
s often did.
A former United States Marine and retired service station
manager, McVay found that he had an ample amount of spare time to dedicate to researching and transcribing historical documents, so that they could be made available online to counter the arguments of the deniers. In various interviews, he has stated his belief that of the many reasons for the deniers to oppose him and despise him, one of the most frustrating to them is the fact that their arguments have been so thoroughly debunked by a man who is not Jewish and has never professed to be a world-class scholar.
McVay's efforts in combatting Holocaust denial with truth instead of censorship
won him praise among many activists, and in 1995 he was awarded the Order of British Columbia
by the Province of British Columbia .
McVay spends much of his time on extended speaking tours, where he discusses Holocaust denial and hate groups.
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour...
(b. ca. 1940), a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
dual citizen, is an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
activist against Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
. He is the founder of the Nizkor Project
Nizkor Project
The Nizkor Project is an ongoing Internet-based project run by B'nai Brith Canada which is dedicated to countering Holocaust denial. It was founded by Ken McVay as a central Web-based archive for the large numbers of documents made publicly available by the users of the newsgroup alt.revisionism...
, one of the first (and largest) website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
s against Holocaust denial.
An active participant on the newsgroup
Newsgroup
A usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users in different locations. The term may be confusing to some, because it is usually a discussion group. Newsgroups are technically distinct from, but functionally similar to, discussion forums on...
alt.revisionism, McVay describes himself as a person who found himself moved to action by the efforts of Holocaust deniers on the newsgroup to promote "evidence" that he found to be poorly presented and claims that were vague at best. He also opposed the idea of censoring and suppressing the deniers, as authorities and experts on hate group
Hate group
A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society...
s often did.
A former United States Marine and retired service station
Filling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
manager, McVay found that he had an ample amount of spare time to dedicate to researching and transcribing historical documents, so that they could be made available online to counter the arguments of the deniers. In various interviews, he has stated his belief that of the many reasons for the deniers to oppose him and despise him, one of the most frustrating to them is the fact that their arguments have been so thoroughly debunked by a man who is not Jewish and has never professed to be a world-class scholar.
McVay's efforts in combatting Holocaust denial with truth instead of censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
won him praise among many activists, and in 1995 he was awarded the Order of British Columbia
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour...
by the Province of British Columbia .
McVay spends much of his time on extended speaking tours, where he discusses Holocaust denial and hate groups.
External links
- Kenneth McVay's home page
- The Nizkor Project (managed by B'nai Brith Canada)
- Order of British Columbia 1995 Recipients