Holocaust denier Irving is jailed

[kelber at mindspring.com]

>A proud moment for the forces of ... uh, who is it a proud moment for?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Dave Monroe <monropolitan at yahoo.com>
>>Sent: Feb 20, 2006 6:53 PM
>>To: pynchon-l at waste.org
>>Subject: Holocaust denier Irving is jailed 
>>
>>British historian David Irving has been found guilty
>>in Vienna of denying the Holocaust of European Jewry
>>and sentenced to three years in prison. 
>>He had pleaded guilty to the charge, based on a speech
>>and interview he gave in Austria in 1989. 
>>
>>"I made a mistake when I said there were no gas
>>chambers at Auschwitz," he told the court in the
>>Austrian capital. 
>>
>>Irving appeared stunned by the sentence, and told
>>reporters: "I'm very shocked and I'm going to appeal."
>>
>>
>>An unidentified onlooker told him: "Stay strong!" 
>>
>>Irving's lawyer said he considered the verdict "a
>>little too stringent". 
>>
>>"I would say it's a bit of a message trial," said
>>Elmar Kresbach. 
>>
>>Karen Pollock, chief executive of the UK's Holocaust
>>Educational Trust welcomed the verdict. "Holocaust
>>denial is anti-Semitism dressed up as intellectual
>>debate. It should be regarded as such and treated as
>>such," Ms Pollock told the BBC News website. 
>>
>>But the author and academic Deborah Lipstadt, who
>>Irving unsuccessfully sued for libel in the UK in 2000
>>over claims that he was a Holocaust denier, said she
>>was dismayed. 
>>
>>"I am not happy when censorship wins, and I don't
>>believe in winning battles via censorship... The way
>>of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with
>>truth," she told the BBC News website. 
>>
>>Fears that the court case would provoke right-wing
>>demonstrations and counter-protests did not
>>materialise, the BBC's Ben Brown at the court in
>>Vienna said. 
>>
>>Irving arrived in the court room handcuffed, wearing a
>>blue suit, and carrying a copy of Hitler's War, one of
>>many books he has written on the Nazis, and which
>>challenges the extent of the Holocaust. 
>>
>>Irving was arrested in Austria in November, on a
>>warrant dating back to 1989, when he gave a speech and
>>interview denying the existence of gas chambers at
>>Auschwitz. 
>>
>>He was stopped by police on a motorway in southern
>>Austria, where he was visiting to give a lecture to a
>>far-right student fraternity. He has been held in
>>custody since then. 
>>
>>'I've changed' 
>>
>>During the one-day trial, he was questioned by the
>>prosecutor and chief judge, and answered questions in
>>fluent German. 
>>
>>He admitted that in 1989 he had denied that Nazi
>>Germany had killed millions of Jews. He said this is
>>what he believed, until he later saw the personal
>>files of Adolf Eichmann, the chief organiser of the
>>Holocaust. 
>>
>>"I said that then based on my knowledge at the time,
>>but by 1991 when I came across the Eichmann papers, I
>>wasn't saying that anymore and I wouldn't say that
>>now," Irving told the court. 
>>
>>"The Nazis did murder millions of Jews." 
>>
>>In the past, he had claimed that Adolf Hitler knew
>>little, if anything, about the Holocaust, and that the
>>gas chambers were a hoax. 
>>
>>The judge in his 2000 libel trial declared him "an
>>active Holocaust denier... anti-Semitic and racist". 
>>
>>On Monday, before the trial began, he told reporters:
>>"I'm not a Holocaust denier. Obviously, I've changed
>>my views. 
>>
>>"History is a constantly growing tree - the more you
>>know, the more documents become available, the more
>>you learn, and I have learned a lot since 1989." 
>>
>>Asked how many Jews were killed by Nazis, he replied:
>>"I don't know the figures. I'm not an expert on the
>>Holocaust." 
>>
>>Of his guilty plea, he told reporters: "I have no
>>choice." 
>>
>>He said it was "ridiculous" that he was being tried
>>for expressing an opinion. 
>>
>>"Of course it's a question of freedom of speech... I
>>think within 12 months this law will have vanished
>>from the Austrian statute book," he said.
>>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4733820.stm
>>
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