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Cult And A Right-winger
Front page lead story: Evening Argus, Brighton UK. Tuesday 4 April 1995
By Paul Bracchi, Chief Reporter
[Pic of man, caption: Marcellus: ukp26,000 gift to cult.]
THIS man has been accused of spreading race hatred. For the past 14 years Tom Marcellus has been director of the notorious American Institute for Historical Review, set up by an ex member of the National Front. [A fascist political group] But he also belongs to another organization closer to home. He is, in fact, a member and 'patron' of the Sussex-based International Association of Scientologists.
The group, run from the cult's East Grinstead headquarters, was founded to unite and 'protect' its members in different countries.
It says: "Regrettably, history has seen many attempts to suppress religious freedom and human rights.
"From the persecution of early Christians in Rome to.. ..the slaughter of Jews in Nazi concentration camps."
Yet Marcellus, who has given at least ukp26,000 to the cult, has described his chapter of history as the "so-called" holocaust.
And the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) has provided a platform for some of the world's most controversial right-wing figures.
The organization, branded the "spine of the international Holocaust denial movement", once offered a reward for proof of Nazi genocide.
One of its supporters is revisionist historian David Irving. Irving, a regular visitor to Brighton, has been banned from a number of countries because of his extreme views.
Marcellus left the IHR two weeks ago after a far-right American newspaper accused him of being part of a Scientology plot to infiltrate the group.
Marcellus did not respond to our request for an interview. But Mark Weber, editor of the IHR's official journal, denied the allegation.
Speaking from Los Angeles, he said: "There is only one other person in the organization who is a Scientologist.
"It's true Tom Marcellus was upset about insinuations he was taking orders from Scientology, but he left the IHR for his own personal reasons."
Today, the cult moved to distance itself from Marcellus. Margaret Reese. who works in the organization's Office of Special Affairs in East Grinstead, said: "These views, even if true, are obviously at complete variance with the views of the Church and the overwhelming majority of Scientologists."
The cult, branded "corrupt, sinister and dangerous" by a High Court Judge in 1984, is still actively recruiting in Sussex. Earlier this month, it suffered another blow to its tarnished reputation when a man was dramatically cleared of trying to kidnap Scientologist Kathleen Wilson from Saint Hill.
The decision effectively meant the jury believed Miss Wilson did not have control of her own mind.
[Also, on page 11 of the same edition: a feature titled:]
Secret behind cult's anti-nazi campaign.
By Paul Bracchi, Chief Reporter.
The Scientologists have accused the German Government of acting like the Nazis. They claim their members in that country are being persecuted like the Jews under Hitler. That controversial message has been rammed home in full-page adverts in the American press funded by the Sussex-based International Association of Scientologists. Today we expose the hypocrisy behind the campaign.
[Approx 1,000 word feature follows. The feature concentrates on IHR and does not expand the lead story much. One interesting paragraph though, explains that Marcellus' scientology connection was known about by his boss.]
In documents obtained by the Argus, McCalden (IHR director) once wrote: "For some time I have been extremely worried about the influence of scientology over the IHR operation. "Tom spends long hours talking scientology on the company phone, wriing scientology letters on the company typewriter, storing scientology books in the company warehouse, and recruiting among employees and revisionist supporters."
Up: Martin Poulter > Scientology Criticism > UK Media Archive