Americans put the number of deaths atrn305,000. There is no estimate of howrnmany of these were women and children.rnOn the contrary, the Germans carriedrnout large schemes of evacuation, especiallyrnchildren, from the main industrialrncities.”rnDamages are claimed to amount torn$500 million. However, should the courtrnrule that every showing of the film bernpreceded by a disclaimer (statementsrnuntrue, dramatizations fictional, not thernofficial view of the Canadian government),rnplaintiffs will cap the claim atrn$25 milHon compensatory damages tornthe class and $25 million punitive damagesrnto the plaintiffs as individuals and asrna class.rnThe Trust proposes that each memberrnof the class receive a nominal one dollarrnand that to serve future generations ofrnCanadians the remainder be divided betweenrnthe Canadian Red Cross that didrnso much to keep our POWs alive, the AirrnCadet League of Canada, aviationlinkedrninstitutions such as the RCAFrnMemorial Museum and Canadian WarplanesrnHeritage, and the founding at arnCanadian university of a chair to studyrnand promote the highest standards ofrnethics in print and electronic journalism.rnAfter the claim was filed, and announcedrnin a Canada-wide news release,rnand after details of the statement beganrnto seep into editorial offices, media attitudesrnchanged. References to censorshiprnand libel gave way to a recognitionrnthat veterans who had fought, and whosernmany friends and contemporaries hadrngiven their lives, to preserve individualrnfreedom against the arbitrary power ofrnthe state that the Nazi enemy personified,rnwere fighting again to preserve therntruth of what they did.rnDefenders of the film reject criticismrnon the grounds that military history isrnopen to differing interpretations. Butrnthe veterans plead that the filmmakersrn”set about to effect a revision of historyrnso as to conform the facts thereof to theirrnpolitical, or pacifist, or antimilitary opinions.rnIn particular, the plaintiffs say thatrnthe defendants intended their ‘commercial’rnversion to be distributed to educationalrninstitutions and primary and secondaryrnschool educators to be used asrnteaching aids for successive generationsrnof Canadian children.”rnThis has been the veterans’ chief concern,rnand it was gratifying to reap thernfirst fruits of their efforts last September,rnwhen the East York Board of Educationrnbanned The Valour and the Horror fromrnuse in most classrooms. “Only studentsrnin the final year of high school will be allowedrnto watch the series, and when it isrnviewed it will be accompanied by materialrnthat ‘refutes and rebuts’ the film’srnclaims,” said Evelyn Wilson, superintendentrnof programs at the board. Studentsrnwill be asked to analyze the bias and perspectivernof the documentary, reportedrnthe Toronto Star on September 11,1993.rnEast York is the first of Metro Toronto’srnseven school boards to take a publicrnstand on the film’s suitability for classroomrnuse. Other school boards are nowrnreviewing it.rnMeanwhile the Bomber Harris Trustrnhas published its first newsletter—rnFlarepath—to spread the word amongrnthe thousands of donors from all walks ofrnlife who have sent money toward therncost of the suit. The statement of claim,rnwhich dissects the film’s false statementsrnline by line and sets out the true facts, isrnbeing prepared by the trustees for publicationrnand sale in paperback as A Battlernfor Truth.rnVeterans are confident of victory inrnthe suit, but whatever the judicial outcome,rntwo things are certain: the storyrnwill be standard fare in journalismrnschools for years to come, and Canada’srnveterans will have had their say againstrnthis attempt, by Canada’s cultural agencies,rnto defame them.rn—Kenneth McDonaldrnANDREI NAVROZOV, longtimerncontributor to Chronicles, has been forrnmany years a thorn in the side of thernconventional liberals who insist on callingrnthemselves “conservative.” His newrnbook. The Gingerbread Race, publishedrnby Picador in London, has already provokedrnan ill-tempered outburst from thernforeign-born editor of National Review,rnwho tries to brand Mr. Navrozov as arnconspiracy-monger. As a Russian, thernauthor probably takes that as a compliment,rnbut his experience as editor ofrnthe Yale Lit—for several years one ofrnthe few magazines in America worthrnpicking up—convinced him that betweenrnMoscow and New Haven, therernwas little choice. Anyone who suspectsrnthat American culture is dominated by arnconspiracy of dunces will find amplernconfirmation in Mr. Navrozov’s firsthandrnaccount of his trials (including arncourt trial) in America. Critics will sayrnthat his view of American life is warpedrnby paranoia, but nothing less than Russianrnparanoia can grapple with contemporaryrnreality. The Gingerbread Race isrnwell worth both the price and the effortrnof ordering it from England.rn—Thomas FlemingrnOBITER DICTA: This month, wernhave to report that Chronicles can bernfound at the following bookstores in NewrnYork City: Hudson News, 753 Broadway;rnEastern Lobby Shops, 55 Water Streetrnand 30 Rockefeller Plaza; Barnes & NoblernSuperstore, 128 Fifth Avenue; andrnKroch’s and Brentano’s, 597 Eifth Avenue.rnChronicles Editor Thomas Fleming’srnessay “A League of Our Own” (Februaryrn1993) was included in Scott Walker’srnanthology The Graywolf Annual Ten:rnChanging Community, just out fromrnGraywolf Press. The collection, whichrncenters on the search for new forms ofrncommunity, also contains selectionsrnfrom Vaclav Havel, Jane Kramer, andrnLewis Lapham.rnChilton Williamson, Jr.’s new column,rn”The Hundredth Meridian,” willrnnot appear this month because Mr.rnWilliamson has contributed a guest “Perspective”rninstead. Such a lapse may occasionallyrnoccur when Mr. Williamson isrnworking on other pieces for the magazine.rnWe wish also to announce thatrnTheodore Pappas’s book on The MartinrnLuther King, ]r., Plagiarism Story will bernavailable in late February. It sells for $10,rnshipping and handling charges included.rnFor ordering as well as more informationrnabout the book, please see the advertisementrnon page 22.rnFEBRUARY 1994/7rnrnrn