A most interesting document and a first-hand
witness: our friend, the Chairman of Deir Yassin Remembered,
Prof Dan McGowan visited and comforted the German political
prisoner of Zion, Ernst Zündel. Visiting prisoners is a great
mitzvah, a good deed which is counted twice, on earth and on
heaven, and the Lord is blessed as “matir asurim”, He Who
Releases Prisoners. Whoever visits and comforts a prisoner is
like one who comforts Christ, and he will be comforted. By
spreading the news of his visit, we participate in McGowan’s
good deed and benefit of his virtue.
A Visit in Prison with Ernst Zuendel
By Prof Daniel McGowan
During the recent conference in Iran (Review
of the Holocaust: Global Vision) I was in prison in Mannheim,
Germany interviewing Ernst Zuendel. Labeled a "Holocaust
denier," Ernst has been in jail for almost four years without
being charged with a violent crime or without even being
convicted of a non-violent one. He is 67 year old.
As a six-year old Ernst witnessed the Allied
firebombing of Pforzheim in which ten to twenty thousand German
civilians were killed. As a teenager he became a pacifist; at
age 19 he moved to Canada to avoid serving in the post-war
German army. In Canada he worked as a graphic artist and
publisher specializing in 20th century German history. Many of
the books he republished questioned the Holocaust, such as the
underground booklet Did Six Million Really Die? by Richard
Harwood. Others he merely distributed, like The Rudolf Report by
Germar Rudolf, An Eye for an Eye: The Untold Story of Jewish
Revenge Against Germans in 1945 by John Sack, and Jewish
Supremacism: My Awakening to the Jewish Question by David Duke.
He also sold books on UFOs and alternative medicines.
Ernst's interest in history and revisionism
led him to dispute and challenge specific "facts" about the
Holocaust. He claimed
1. that Hitler's "Final Solution" was
intended to be ethnic cleansing, not extermination
2. that there were no homicidal gas chambers
used by the Third Reich. (He did not deny that there were gas
chambers used for disinfection.)
3. there were fewer than 6 million Jews
killed of the alleged 55 million who died in WWII
Over the years such firmly held beliefs
expressed in writing and later on his wife's Internet site (<http://www.zundelsite.org/>)
caused him to be charged with incitement. He was tried twice in
Canada. In the middle of the second trial in 1988, Ernst sent
the first forensic team to Auschwitz. It was this "Leuchter
Expedition" and the subsequent Leuchter Report that he believed
revolutionized Holocaust revisionism, taking it beyond the "he
said, she said..." testimonies and into the realm of solid
forensic science.
Such endeavors made him the target of those
who protect the standard Holocaust narrative. He survived three
assassination attempts, including by arson and pipe bomb, and
although he lived in Canada for 42 years, he was never able to
gain Canadian citizenship even though immigration officials had
described his application as "flawless."
While some consider his views to border on
heresy, freedom of speech in both the United States and Canada
protected his right to publish and distribute the truth as he
sees it. But neither our Bill of Rights nor the pleadings of his
lawyers could prevent his being rendered by the United States,
forced back to Canada, and then on to Germany where denying or
revising certain aspects of the Holocaust is a crime.
The Latest Incarceration
On February 5, 2003, Ernst was arrested at
his home in the mountain region of eastern Tennessee. He was
seized on the pretext that he had violated immigration
regulations, or had missed an interview date with US immigration
authorities, even though he had entered the US legally, was
married to an American citizen, had been checked out by the FBI,
had been given a health check, a work permit, and a social
security number, had no criminal record, and was trying to
secure status as a permanent legal resident.
After being held for two weeks, he was
deported to Canada. For the next two years -- from mid-February
2003 to March 1, 2005 -- he was held in solitary confinement in
the Toronto West Detention Centre, on the charge that he was a
threat to national security. Like others who suffer rendition,
there was no bail, no public trial, and no appeal. His mail was
censored and the lights in his cell were kept on day and night.
On March 1, 2005 Ernst was put in handcuffs
and leg irons on a private jet and deported from Canada to
Germany where he has been held as an Untersuchungsgefangener or
a prisoner under investigation. As in Canada, bail was again
denied. On June 29, 2005, the state's prosecutor, Mr. Grossman,
formally charged him with inciting "hatred" by having written or
distributed texts that "approve, deny or play down" genocidal
actions carried out by Germany's wartime regime, and which
"denigrate the memory of the [Jewish] dead." The trial began on
November 8, 2005, eight months after he arrived in Germany.
Ernst is confined to his cell 22 ¾ hours per
day. He has no access to phone or Internet and he may not
communicate anything about the trial. He is able to receive two
30-minute visits per month, but all conversations must be in
German or must be conducted through a prison-approved
translator.
Still Ernst remains upbeat and convinced that
he has made a contribution to the truth surrounding WWII and the
Holocaust. He does not deny that millions of people suffered at
the hands of the Nazis, including millions of Jews, who were
worked to death and suffered from disease (especially typhus)
and who were often deliberately murdered both inside and outside
of concentration camps. But he does not regard Jewish suffering
as unique. He considers his efforts to tell the truth about the
Holocaust as ground breaking and is satisfied to let others
continue the research.
Ernst believes that Zionists treat the
Holocaust as a sword and a shield to deflect criticism of their
racist quest to build a Jewish state in Palestine, a state in
which over half the people today are not Jewish, "the state"
being defined as all the land currently controlled by Israel,
including West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights. He regards
himself as a political prisoner of Zionists who try to erase his
contributions and punish him with defamation and imprisonment.
A Day in Court
An admirer once described Ernst Zuendel as
"an outgoing, good-humored man who is blessed with a rare
combination of unflagging optimism and practical ability. He
maintains this infectious spirit even under very trying
conditions. He is an unusually alert and sensitive individual
with a keen understanding of human nature. He inspires
confidence, loyalty and affection." On December 7, 2006 I
witnessed his trial in Mannheim and found this description to be
uncannily accurate.
On that particular day those in the courtroom
included Ernst, three judges, three jurors, a court reporter,
three defense attorneys, four armed guards, twenty-four
spectators, and one prosecutor, Mr. Grossman. Ernst wore an old
blue suit with a red tie; he was attentive; he often smiled
approvingly when something was said with which he agreed. The
guards were friendly but disinterested. Facing the court, all
the participants sat on the left hand side, except the state
prosecutor who sat all by himself at a table on the right side.
The jurors and the court reporter sat in line with the judges on
an elevated platform along the front and the spectators sat in
rows along the back wall. No media were present.
The spectators were clearly there for Ernst.
Most were German men in their late 60s or 70s; there were also a
couple of younger women. Several men commented that they were
proud of having been to every court session with Ernst over the
past 21 months. Although they had not met him personally, they
were following his trial closely and were supportive of him.
They were helpful to my American Jewish colleague and me and
guided us through the security outside the courtroom and made
sure we got front row seats so that we could fully appreciate
the courtroom experience. Many spoke English and had sons and
daughters in America. Most were retired but one younger man had
taken time off from work to witness this day of the trial.
Ernst and his attorneys have not been allowed
to discuss or challenge the veracity of the facts about the
Holocaust, including facts that Ernst disputes and about which
he would like to submit scientific evidence and expert-witness
testimony. Offenkundigkeit, the German version of judicial
notice, precludes it. The court is only allowed to consider if
Ernst denied these particular facts and if so, when and where
and how. During our visit, one of Ernst's attorneys, 84-year old
Dr. Herbert Schaller[1], read a lengthy and impassioned
statement saying that he believed in the same facts of the
Holocaust as does Ernst and by so stating this he too is guilty.
He ended by saying that in over 53 years of practicing law he
had until now never been guilty of the same crime as the man he
was charged to defend. The head judge, Ulrich Meinerzhagen,
appeared tired, agitated, and ready to explode.
Visiting Ernst in prison
It is not easy to visit Ernst Zuendel. He is
allowed only two 30-minute visits per month, one hour if the
visitor travels more than 100 km. Though I wrote and faxed the
prison a dozen times beginning in February 2006, the answer was
always the same, no answer. But through his wife, Ingrid, Ernst
knew that a colleague and I wished to visit him and he asked the
judge to grant us permission to do so. Finally on September 23rd
Judge Meinerzhagen told Ernst to tell his wife to tell me to fax
him and formally request a visit. We were to each include a copy
of our résumés and a copy of our passports.
Another month passed before we received the
visitation permission. Once we had that document, stamped and
signed by the judge, we were able to make an appointment at the
prison in Mannheim.
On arrival the guards filled out a long form
on each of us. They took our passports and had us put everything
else in a locker. Then we were searched, warned against speaking
English, and told to cross the courtyard to the visitation
rooms. There we sat on one side of a table with a plastic shield
in the middle; they brought Ernst from the other side and
allowed him to sit across from us while a guard sat at the end
to monitor both parties. We asked if it was permissible to shake
hands and the guard smiled and said that would be all right.
Ernst began by asking us to contact his wife
and tell her that he looked well and that he missed her. He had
not been in contact with her for several weeks and he was
worried that she would be worried about him. Then he asked if my
colleague's family had discouraged him from making this trip. My
friend understood what Ernst was asking, but he was unable to
answer in German, so I had to tell Ernst that indeed pressure
had been put on us both not to have anything to do with a
Holocaust "denier."
We asked Ernst about life in prison and his
relationship with guards and other prisoners. He described a
typical day and told us that he had only limited contact with
other prisoners, but that they were friendly towards him. So too
were the guards, especially because he followed the rules and
was a threat to no one. He often asked the man monitoring our
visit to corroborate what he was saying, almost as if to include
him in the conversation.
He talked about history and philosophy and
about recent books he had read. He praised the prison library,
which he said was markedly better than the one in the US jail in
Tennessee, which had "only Tom Clancy novels and one old book on
the US Presidents." I had been forced to leave my notes outside
and though I had many questions, I was not allowed to ask him
anything about the trial, not even the names of his attorneys.
The hour passed quickly and the guard soon
told us we would have to go. When we stood we looked
questioningly at the guard and he nodded to us. We shook hands
with Ernst, slowly, he taking each of our hands in both of his.
They were big, soft, and warm; although Ernst is only six years
older than I, he reminded me of my father saying goodbye when we
last parted.
Holocaust Denial
Contrary to the warning given to people who
currently tour Auschwitz, "Holocaust denial" is not infectious.
In many ways the term is used as an epithet to discredit and
demean those who question facts surrounding the Holocaust. Nor
is Holocaust denial anti-Semitic; there are many Jews who
question facts about the Holocaust and many more who object to
its being used to elevate Jewish suffering above that of
others.[2] Treating those who question the Holocaust as heretics
reveals the degree to which the Holocaust itself has become a
religion, a faith to be accepted and worshiped with spectacular
memorials, best-selling books, and mandatory curricula for
school children.
Ernst believes that Jewish groups have wanted
him jailed for promoting views that the Jewish-Zionist lobby
considers harmful to its interests. He claims that the only
sustained and institutionalized efforts to imprison him have
come from this lobby, which includes the Simon Wiesenthal Center,
the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance
Association, and the League for Human Rights of B'nai B'rith
(with the Anti-Defamation League, its counterpart in the US). It
is noteworthy that even the ACLU refused to defend his right of
free speech.[3]
Ernst Zuendel is neither a monster nor a
heretic. He is a man with strong convictions and the courage to
express them. He views himself not as a Holocaust "denier," but
rather as a Holocaust revisionist. For that he has been rendered
by the United States, which otherwise professes to protect the
right of free speech and the writ of habeas corpus, and by
Canada, both countries in which he broke no law. To force him
back to his birth country to be tried for a "crime" which he
never committed in Germany is unjust. Those who would
incarcerate revisionists like Ernst Zuendel and hold them,
without bail, for years on end to drain them of their resources
and to silence them as "Prisoners of Zion" could well be labeled
as "justice deniers."
Daniel McGowan
Professor Emeritus
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
mcgowan@hws.edu
December 28, 2006
________________________________
[1] Upon his release from prison in Austria
on December 21, 2006, the English historian David Irving said,
"I have the fine oratory of my 84-year-old defense lawyer Dr.
Herbert Schaller to thank for the unexpected victory in the
appeal court. I spent over 400 days in solitary confinement in
Austria's oldest prison, sentenced in February to three years'
jail for an opinion I expressed in two talks seventeen years
ago."
[2] Of the 63 participants at the recent
conference in Tehran, six were Orthodox rabbis.
[3] Perhaps Benjamin Ginsburg is correct when
he infers that the ACLU is an organization, which promotes
Jewish interests. "In the realm of lobbying and litigation, Jews
... play leadership roles in such important public interest
groups as the American Civil Liberties Union and Common
Cause.... Their role in American economic, social, and political
institutions has enabled Jews to wield considerable influence in
the nation's public life." ("The Fatal Embrace: Jews and the
State," p. 1)
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