Historian Charged With Denying Holocaust (Austria)

Yahooooooooo! News ^ | 11/17/05 | AP

[oldleft]

VIENNA, Austria - British historian David Irving was arrested last week in southern Austria on a warrant accusing him of denying the Holocaust, the Interior Ministry said Thursday. Irving was arrested Nov. 11 in Styria province, said police Maj. Rudolf Golia, an Interior Ministry spokesman. He was transferred to a prison in Graz.

Irving was detained on a warrant issued in 1989 under Austrian laws that make Holocaust denial a crime, Golia said. The accusation stemmed from speeches Irving delivered that year in Vienna and in the southern town of Leoben.

[oldleft]

Ah, the freedom loving Europeans...

[Puppage]

I denied the Easter Bunny....are there any legal ramifications?

[Skooz]

Dang.

That is dangerously close to "thought crime" territory.

[Tennessee_Bob]

Ah, the freedom loving Europeans...

If you were to suddenly start getting mail about a free trip to Austria - I'd turn it down...it may be a sting.

[expatpat]

Ain't Free Speech a wonderful thing? It's such a pity that the PC crowd have killed it.

[Bella_Bru]

Are you saying that denial of the Holocaust and denial of the Easter Bunny are equal? That's disgusting.

[edcoil]

I am just wondering, when did it start getting called the Holocaust? It was not during the event. I just had a personal question on when did it gets its name.

[MarineBrat]

Are you saying that denial of the Holocaust and denial of the Easter Bunny are equal? That's disgusting.

Oh please, it's so obvious that that's not what was said that you're looking foolish.

[Mi-kha-el]

If you don't like the law, try and change it. Otherwise, observe it.

[oldleft]

Holocaust; a Hebrew word (olah) meaning "burnt offering.
In the Septuagint version (translated Hebrew Bible into Greek during
the reign of Ptolemy II, 3rd century B.C.), the word, olah, is
consistently translated by the Greek word, holokauston, "an offering
consumed by fire."

I'm not sure when it was first used in specific reference to the genocide of WWII.

[APRPEH]

you send YOUR kids to his history classes. societies are supposed to govern themselves. when they lose the moral clarity to distinguish between free speech and vicious hateful attempts to stir the coals of anti jewism or other such known viruses "do gooders" will intervene. in europe unlike the US the virus of anti jewism has reached epidemic proportions too many times resulting in multiple periods where people forget what humanity is. they are far more sensitive to this phenomenon.

[BikerNYC]

If you don't like the law, try and change it. Otherwise, observe it.

Why? Might not morality compel one to break an unjust law, and with a clear conscience?

[Mi-kha-el]

How about some people directly or indirectly affected by the Nazi genocide of Jews may be a little sensitive about the subject.

[APRPEH]

that was rhetorical. i detect a similar background source.

[popdonnelly]

I'm not sure I'd want to live in a country where you can be arrested for making stupid statements. After all, I'd be risking prosecution.

[Mi-kha-el]

OK, but then pay the consequences provided by the law. Exactly what happened in this case.

[oldleft]

By banning all speech which denies the Holocaust you kill open debate. When you kill open debate you fuel the flames of antisemitism. This guy and his ilk can now claim that the government is "covering up" the truth."

Political free speech should be an absolute.

[Bella_Bru]

It was a question. It seems some people are a little sensitive to the disdain heaped on Holocaust deniers.

[Paul Ross]

Agreed.

That being said, it is still amazing that anyone has the gall to take these positions and give ammunition to the Jihadists and other anti-semitics.

[BikerNYC]

OK, but then pay the consequences provided by the law. Exactly what happened in this case.

So, since the legal system worked in Austria in this case, jailing a person for violating an unjust law, we should all just keep our mouths shut about it?