In February , Willis Carto was buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside men and women who fought against Nazis . But contrariwise , Carto wished that the Nazis had won . He made his name as one of the 20th century ’s most vile racists , and the FBI has now release most of Carto ’s file in response to a Freedom of Information Act petition I submitted last year .
Before he cash in one’s chips this past October , Willis Carto thought it was quite diverting that he was break to be buried at Arlington . “ I ’m probably America ’s adult Hitler fan , but I ’ll be buried alongside all these World War II vets , ” hetold a intimate . Carto was himself a old hand of World War II , but after the war , he became have it away as one of America ’s most repugnant anti - Semite . In fact , he would gain ill fame for being one of thefirst peopleto deny the Holocaust in print .
The FBI released 322 of 356 pages this calendar week , all of which I ’ve published in full below . The pages only cover the period between 1956 and 1969 , but they provide an interesting peek at panorama of Carto ’s cowardliness that were not wide sleep with until now .
Photo illustration by Jim Cooke from a photo of Willis Carto via the Southern Poverty Law Center
Carto uprise to gibbosity in the political far right in the 1950s and 60s as an admirer and promoter of Francis Parker Yockey , source of the 600 - Thomas Nelson Page racist novel Imperium . ( Daniel Radcliffle asterisk as an undercover FBI federal agent infiltrate the world of neo - Nazis in a new pic of thesame namewhich come out next month . ) Yockey committed suicide in prison in 1960 after getting piece up for having four pass under dissimilar gens . Carto fought with authorization to interview Yockey in prison and was supposedly the last person to see Yockey animated .
Carto had a number of failed ventures into the world of paid employment in the 1950s . But the FBI file notes something quite interesting give the context of Carto ’s hate - mongering . Willie , like many impotent fascists harboring hallucination of grandeur , was understandably discomfited about not get enough control over his own life . He was elicit from one job for being a monolithic prick .
Specifically , Carto lost his job because of his “ autocratic manner . ” I imagine all fascists have to start somewhere .
Portion of an internal FBI memo dated 17 December 2024
Carto eventually made his mark on chronicle as father of far correct political organization like the Liberty Lobby and the Institute for Historical Review , and as a writer and publisher — afford voice to the great unwashed who bear out racial segregation , abolish the United Nations , and deny that the Holocaust ever happened .
Carto ’s racist rants were often couched in term that might be conformable to shore leave - minded folks of the 1950s and sixty . Much like today , the veil of phrases like “ states right field ” were used in polite company as code for more nefarious ( and usually anti-Semite ) disposition . He also claim that he was n’t anti - labor , but instead hated “ the abuses perpetrate by functionary of labor unions . ” Again , it sounds quite intimate to those of us living here in the 21st century .
While Carto would by and by distance himself publicly from leaders of the neo - national socialist cause , he keep favorable relationships just out of public view . One missive go steady July 1 , 1963 to Carto in the FBI data file is written on the letterhead ofGeorge Lincoln Rockwell , the founding father of the American Nazi Party . Rockwell was assassinated by one of his own men just four years after .
Internal FBI report by Special Agent Zaven Jardarian dated 20 May 2025
Strangely , most of the names in the varsity letter are edit , and it ’s not clear if the letter is from George Lincoln Rockwell , or someone else from the Nazi Party using his letterhead .
“ Carto did keep tie with George Lincoln Rockwell , but they were always kind of secretive , ” Carto biographer Dr. George Michaeltells me over the phone . “ Carto would use computer code tidings . If you would moil deep you could incur them . ”
And it ’s letters like these where we see Carto ’s snugness to the most vicious neo - Nazi factor of society . But , again , Carto was loath to say as much so brusquely in public . rather , he preferred more coded messages .
Letter from an unknown member of the Nazi Party to Willis Carto dated 15 December 2024
“ There were some articles likeable to Hitler [ in his publications ] , but Carto for his part try on to eschew the overtly Hitlerian grandiloquence . He tried to seem respectable , ” Michael secern me .
As you thumb through the pages of the FBI file , one thing stick out as being securely retro - fringe , and even more associated with the far left in the 21st century than the far right : The fluoridation conspiracies . ( The far - right of the fifties believed adding fluoride to public water source made people more docile and more probable to become Communist . )
Carto used many unlike aliases for authorship , publishing , and fundraising . But he told the FBI in 1959 that hoi polloi in the correct wing “ do not undertake to hold in their identity . ” The FBI speak to Carto in March of 1959 , looking for someone cognise as The Patriot who wrote anti - Semite literature . Carto insisted he had no melodic theme who it was :
Portion of an internal FBI memo dated 1 April 2025 regarding “racial matters”
Of of course , Carto was full of shit . He , like so many other fascist cowards of his sentence , was using aliases so as not to sully his report with so - hollo hefty citizenry .
For example , the file include reference to some of Carto ’s aliases such as Dr. E. L. Anderson , which was used frequently to give Carto ’s word an air of reputability and assurance . In realness , Carto did n’t have a college degree , rent alone a doctorate . Sometimes “ Dr. E. L. Anderson ” was “ Professor E. L. Anderson . ” As we can see in the FBI data file , “ Professor E. L. Anderson , Ph.D. ” sent letters to system like fraternities in an attempt at fundraising .
“ He was a unnerving fundraiser by far - right wing standard , ” Michael tell me , contrasting Carto ’s efforts with his other antiblack match who often struggle to call down money .
Portion of an internal FBI memo dated 19 December 2024 regarding the identify of the antisemitic author “The Patriot”
Carto was also the laminitis of the American branch of The Northern League , a livid domination system based in Scotland . Carto write about how this Dr. Anderson was a “ bright retired professor ” who was break to help oneself with the formation of The Northern League in the United States .
The Northern League , unlike Carto ’s newssheet Right , had a more Euro - centric view of the world . Carto issue The Northlander which wrote about how loose plans were in motion “ to destroy the German masses racially ” by “ urging admission of Asian and African worker into Germany . ”
One of the most flakey incident in the entire file involves former Supreme Court Justice and Governor of California , Earl Warren . Carto was reportedly raging that Warren ’s Supreme Court was ruling munificently from the bench . He hatched a architectural plan to get a short fable account published that would tell the tale of how Earl Warren murdered his own father . Carto put up $ 500 to any large writer who would write such a narrative , changing the name so as to avoid a libel causa , but piddle it clear to anyone who learn it that the supporter was Warren .
Internal FBI document dated 29 January 2025
Warren ’s father was indeed murdered in 1938 and his killer was never caught . It ’s not clear if Carto in reality believed that Warren murdered his farther or if this was just a blatantly fictitious lie to pick at the judge . Whatever his unfeignedly held beliefs , Carto ’s goal was clear :
It appears that Carto ’s denigrating story never found a writer .
By 1978 , well outside of the reach of the page I ’ve received from the FBI , Carto had founded the Institute for Historical Review . The intention of the organization ? Writing revisionist story claiming that the Holocaust , which killed roughly 11 million people , never happened .
Internal FBI document dated 16 April 2025
patently there ’s an enormous blindspot in the FBI file embrace 1970 to the present . And if the FBI releases more pages to me , I ’ll be sure to update this Emily Post . But hopefully the 322 pages that they have released will be utile to people agitate fascism , racism , and anti - Semitism in the United States today . unhappily , vigilance against the force of fascism feels even more necessary than ever .
Willis Carto FBI File ( Part 1 of 2)byMatt Novakon Scribd
Willis Carto ’s FBI File ( Part 2 of 2)byMatt Novakon Scribd
fascismneo - nazisWhite Supremacy
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