Our intention in compiling this web site, and this archive in particular, is to let ''the other side'' get a word in edgeways for a change. This is not to say that we agree wholly and completely with everything in these books; some of it is a bit radical even for our tastes. However, dissidents and free-thinkers have had to suffer from censorship everywhere and at all times, and so we deliberately choose not to apply this disgraceful measure ourselves.
It is our opinion that one can only truly judge someone if one actually knows what the person in question really said or did. The texts you will find on our site are mostly unknown; however, the authors, and the times whose representatives they are, are frequently condemned in a sort of Pavlovian response by the general public who knows little to nothing about them. We consider this a disgrace, and will not add to it. Therefore what you will find on our pages are uncensored works even if their authors and/or contents are controversial.
In April 2005 one of the Federal German organs of the modern Inquisition decreed that at least some of these works are "dangerous to young people" and may not be made available freely and openly to young Germans. (It seems to us that the inquisitors in question are concerned that the glimpse our site gives these young people of unknown-to-them aspects of their history might keep them from developing freely and without influence into informed, responsible, thinking members of the sheep herd – excuse us, of members of society.) However, a web operator cannot prevent only young German readers from accessing his pages. The required censorship would have to extend to all readers, everywhere in the world. And this is something we will not do.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." The Federal Republic of Germany has acceded to this Declaration of Human Rights, and the German Constitution claims to guarantee all rights provided by this Declaration (save one); therefore we invoke Article 19 as an internationally acknowledged protection against the censorship efforts aimed at our website by the Federal Republic of Germany, in particular by the "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien".
It is not and never has been our intention to offend anyone or to ''glorify'' anything. What you find on our website is an archive of historical texts, not present-day propaganda, and is to be regarded as such; if something on these pages should nonetheless offend of some site visitors or groups, then we are sorry for that, but in the event of injured sensibilities you are free at any time to do exactly the same thing we too must do when we come across websites whose contents we do not like: use your mouse and go click elsewhere
Scriptorium
July 2001 / revised in October 2018.