NationStates Jolt Archive


German sensitivity...

Nationalist Sozy
15-02-2007, 19:32
(from BBC Europe)

A German Holocaust denier who regularly lavished praise on Adolf Hitler has been sentenced to five years in jail by a German court.

Ernst Zuendel wrote a book extolling the virtues of Hitler
A German Holocaust denier who regularly lavished praise on Adolf Hitler has been sentenced to five years in jail by a German court.
Ernst Zuendel was convicted of 14 counts of inciting racial hatred and for denying that the Nazis killed six million Jews during World War II.

He received the maximum sentence under German law which bans Holocaust denial.

Zuendel moved to Canada in 1958 but was judged a national security threat and deported back to Germany in 2005.

The 67-year-old once published a book called The Hitler We Loved and Why, and described the former Nazi leader as "a decent and very peaceful man".

EU ban plan

During his trial in the western German city of Mannheim, he was accused of using "pseudo-scientific" methods to try to rewrite the accepted history of the Nazi Holocaust in 14 pieces of written work and internet publications.

Zuendel had denied the charges, asserting his right to free speech, and questioned the constitutionality of the laws being used against him.

Germany hopes to make Holocaust denial a crime across the EU as part of a package of laws it wants to introduce during its presidency of the bloc.

Berlin is also set to outline plans to ban Nazi symbols like the swastika, which, like denying the massacre of the Jews, is already outlawed in Germany.

However, correspondents says such moves may be seen as curtailing freedom of speech and could prove controversial in several member states.

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How much does a prisoner cost in Germany? I thought in the Netherlands it was €140 euros a day.
Germany is willing to spend a total amount of €255.500 on keeping a total asshole and idiot in a safe place?

I don't think this is at all a good answer the German authorities have given. It easy to bash these racists and revisionists. It is even easier to lock them up, so it seems.

But this way you allow them to say that they stand for the freedom of speech, and this way you victimize them.

Pretty much all the Germans hate Nazis, I wonder then why it is so hard for their judicial system to just laugh at them and ignore them.

Certainly, they aren't worth an hotel on government's pay.
East Nhovistrana
15-02-2007, 19:35
Certainly, they aren't worth a hotel on government's pay.

If you think a prison is a hotel, why don't you go stay in one?
Nationalist Sozy
15-02-2007, 19:38
If you think a prison is a hotel, why don't you go stay in one?

And this has what to do with the topic? This just came out of nowhere.

I could imagine people getting angry enough at just seeing him in their village he'd love to be in prison.
Europa Maxima
15-02-2007, 19:46
If you think a prison is a hotel, why don't you go stay in one?
You miss the point - now the German taxpayer must pay for the upkeep of individuals whom they dislike, as well as for their trials. Ignoring Nazis, on the other hand, is cost-free.
[NS::::]Olmedreca
15-02-2007, 19:55
Germany hopes to make Holocaust denial a crime across the EU as part of a package of laws it wants to introduce during its presidency of the bloc.

Berlin is also set to outline plans to ban Nazi symbols like the swastika, which, like denying the massacre of the Jews, is already outlawed in Germany.

However, correspondents says such moves may be seen as curtailing freedom of speech and could prove controversial in several member states.

This is ridiculous, the fact that Germany commited huge genocide and now feels bad because of it doesn't give them any right to restrict freedom of speech in other countries.
Europa Maxima
15-02-2007, 19:56
Olmedreca;12333796']This is ridiculous, the fact that Germany commited huge genocide and now feels bad because of it doesn't give them any right to restrict freedom of speech in other countries.
Yes, I think they ought to shut up on this one. They have no right to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. Of course, it seems many of them have still yet to truly give up the tenets of Nazism...

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