New York, NY, January 13, 1997...The Anti-Defamation League said it was astounded and offended by the decision to add an extended "definition to the word Nazi in the next edition of Random House Webster's College Dictionary, and urged the publisher to "rethink your decision." The added definition will be, "a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to control a specified activity, practice, etc."

In a letter to Jessie T. Shiedlower, an editor in the Random House Dictionary Department, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director wrote, "In an age when almost nothing shocks or surprises, the decision of the editors of Random House Webster's College Dictionary to 'add a new sense of the word' Nazi to American vocabularies in its new edition is both astonishing and offensive."

Mr. Foxman said the new definition of Nazi "as some kind of control freak" is offensive on several levels. "The definition trivializes and denies the murderous intent and actions of the Nazi regime...it also cheapens the language by allowing people to reach for a quick word fix..." The ADL leader said the new definition "lend[s] a helping hand to those whose aim is to prove that the Nazis were really not such terrible people. If someone can be a 'soup Nazi' or a 'traffic Nazi,' how bad could the real Nazis have been?"

Mr. Foxman suggested it was the role of the editors, as language experts to inform the public that there should not be a "jocular" usage of the word Nazi.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.