Glenn Beck Uses Auschwitz To Promote His New Media Venture

Despite repeated condemnations by Jewish groups for his history of using anti-Semitic stereotypes and trivializing the Holocaust, Glenn Beck is using a tour of Auschwitz to promote his new subscription-based online media platform.

Beck To Use Tour Of Auschwitz To Sell GBTV Subscriptions ...

Beck Promises To Broadcast Tour Of Auschwitz To Paid GBTV Subscribers. Peddling subscriptions to his new GBTV media service, Glenn Beck promoted content that would be exclusive to paid subscribers, including his upcoming tour of Auschwitz:

BECK: I am going to take a tour, and I will announce who I am going on this tour with. But I think it is pretty stunning who's hopefully taking me on this tour. I have never wanted to go because I know the story. I - this is going to be a train wreck, an absolute train wreck. But I think it is important, it's an important part of the story of 8-24. I'm going to Poland in a few weeks and I'm going to take you to Auschwitz, live, as I am taken on a tour of Auschwitz, as I prepare mentally and prepare the story for 8-24. I don't even know what that's going to be like. I have no idea what that's going to be like.

But there are going to be things, live events, including 8-24, with behind the scenes access, documentaries that you won't see anywhere else, interviews and things with world leaders, right there as they happen. It's going to be quite a wild summer. And you can sign up now at GBTV.com. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 6/7/11]

... Even After Jewish Groups Have Criticized Beck For Anti-Semitic Smears Of Soros

Beck Repeatedly Used Anti-Semitic Stereotypes To Vilify Soros. Beck used anti-Semitic stereotypes to denigrate Jewish philanthropist George Soros, calling Soros “the puppet master” and “the head of the snake.” [Media Matters, 11/9/10]

Beck Falsely Smeared Holocaust Survivor Soros As A Nazi Collaborator. Beck claimed that Soros took “the lands from the people, his Jewish friends and neighbors who were being sent to the gas chambers.” He repeated this claim several days later, saying that Soros “confiscat[ed] the goods and the lands of Jews as a 14-year-old boy as they went to their death.” Beck previously said Soros “saw people into gas chambers.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 11/9/10; Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 11/12/10; 11/2/10]

Jewish Groups Condemned Beck's Smears Against Soros. Several prominent Jewish organizations expressed outrage at Beck's false smears against Soros:

  • Anti-Defamation League Called Beck's Smears Of Soros “Horrific” And “Repugnant.” [Anti-Defamation League, 11/11/10]
  • Jewish Funds For Justice: Beck “Grotesquely” Mischaracterized Soros. [The Jewish Week, 11/11/10]
  • Holocaust Survivors Organization VP: Beck's Accusations Are “Monstrous.” [The Jewish Week, 11/11/10]
  • Conservative Jewish Magazine Commentary: Beck's Soros Smears Are “Off-Limits” And “Offensive.” [Media Matters, 11/13/10]

... And After Beck's Controversial History Of Trivializing The Holocaust

Beck Compared Fox News To Jews During Holocaust, Other News Organizations To Silent Bystanders. Beck compared Fox News to the Jews during the Holocaust, telling other media outlets, “When they're done with Fox, and you decide to speak out on something. The old, 'first they came for the Jews, and I wasn't Jewish.' ” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 10/13/09]

Beck Invoked “First They Came For The Jews” Poem To Respond To Ad Boycotts. Beck portrayed ad boycotts of his Fox News show as being orchestrated by the Obama administration and said to the media: “Is there absolutely no chance whatsoever that you might be a target at some point in the future? What is that poem? First they came for the Jews, and I stayed silent?” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 4/7/10]

Beck Compared Limited Junk Food To The Holocaust. Criticizing a Boston proposal to ban soda vending machines from city buildings, Beck said, "[f]irst they came for the sugary beverages, and I said nothing." Another time, while speaking about rising food prices, Beck said: “May I just say? First, they came after my cigarettes, but I didn't smoke, so I said nothing. Then they came after my trans fats, but I didn't know what the hell that was, so I said nothing. But then they came after my ice cream -- damn the torpedoes, I rise up for this.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 9/21/10; Fox News, Glenn Beck, 1/6/11]

Beck: Putting “The Common Good First” “Leads To Death Camps.” Beck attacked a Washington Post op-ed by Simon Greer, president of Jewish Funds for Justice, who wrote that "[g]overnment is one way which we care for our neighbors, and tradition tells me to care for my neighbor as I care for myself. Here's what we do for each other as Americans: We grow food, we create jobs, we build homes, pave roads, teach our children, care for our grandparents, secure our neighborhoods. Government makes our country function. To put God first is to put humankind first. To put humankind first is to put the common good first." Beck responded:

BECK: This leads to death camps. A Jew, of all people, should know that. This is exactly the kind of talk that led to the death camps in Germany. Put humankind and the common good first. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 5/28/10; The Washington Post, 4/14/10]

Jewish Organization Criticized Beck For “Recklessly Invoking” The Holocaust. Simon Greer, president of Jewish Funds for Justice responded to Beck's attack, saying: “Glenn Beck has a history recklessly invoking Nazi Germany and the Holocaust in order to advance his political agenda. But never before has Beck accused Jews - including survivors of the Holocaust and their children and grandchildren - of paving the way for fascism. Through his comments, Beck has demonstrated that he has no idea what leads to fascism.” [Media Matters, 5/28/10]

... And On The Heels Of Beck's Record Of Promoting Anti-Semitic Authors And Books

Beck Cited Anti-Semitic Book From Nazi Supporter Elizabeth Dilling. Beck promoted The Red Network by Elizabeth Dilling, a book that contains numerous passages espousing anti-Semitism and racism. Dilling was a Nazi sympathizer who visited Germany in the late 1930s, attended Nazi party meetings, and praised Adolf Hitler's leadership. Dilling also spoke at rallies hosted by the leading U.S. Nazi organization, the German-American Bund. [Media Matters, 10/14/10]

Beck Pushed Book From “Nationally Known White Supremacist And Anti-Semite” Eustace Mullins. On his Fox News show, Beck cited Eustace Mullins' book Secrets of the Federal Reserve. Mullins was a 9-11 truther who has been described as an “anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist” and a “nationally known white supremacist”; the ADL called the book “a re-hash of Mullins' anti-Semitic theories about the origins of the Federal Reserve.” In addition, in an obituary for Mullins, the Daily News Leader of Staunton, Virginia, described Mullins as a "[n]ationally known white supremacist and anti-Semite." [Media Matters, 9/22/10]

... And After Beck Has Suggested That Another Holocaust Is Imminent

Beck Warns Against Inaction On Supposed Upcoming Holocaust. Suggesting that another Holocaust was approaching, Beck said: “Well damn it, are we going to be the people who stand here and do nothing until it starts again, and our lives, and our country, and our world is so out of control we are afraid to act? The longer we wait, the worse it will become.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 5/19/11]

Beck Asks: “Are You Willing” To “Hide [A Jew] Behind A Wall In Your House?” Promoting his 8-24 event taking place in Israel, Beck asked: “And will you stand not only with Israel, but with a Jew? How do you feel about Jews? It's one thing, and I'm not asking you. I'm asking a rhetorical question. How do you feel about Jews? Are you willing to put one and hide one behind a wall in your house? Because people should have had that conversation in 1933. I think we're headed down that same path in the Middle East.” [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 5/20/11]

Beck: “Would You Hide Anne Frank?” Promoting his event in Israel, Beck said: “Would you hide Anne Frank? I want you to seriously consider this. Would you hide Anne Frank?” He continued, “Would you risk it? Would you be Oskar Schindler?” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 5/25/11]