Should it be a crime to deny the holocaust?

Let me, if I need to, put my cards firmly on the table. I despise the Nazis, hate and detest the policies which killed 6 million Jews and enslaved half of Europe. I think the people who deny such things are complete assholes. But does that make them criminals?

I am concerned that our obsession to rid the world of Nazi ideology and its apologists is leading to a form of tyranny on the other side of the spectrum.

Britain has been placed in the embarrassing position of being asked to hand over to Germany Dr Gerald Toben, who was detained at Heathrow Airport yesterday en route from the United States to Dubai. Britain, which does not recognise 'holocaust denial' as a crime, has been asked to commit Toben, born in Germany but a naturalised Australian, to German custody for publishing tracts which suggest the holocaust did not happen, a serious offence punishable by 5 years imprisonment in Germany. The problem Britain has is, that under European Union law, a member state is expected to automatically respect the wish of another in handing over wanted criminals.



There is considerable unease among all political parties here about the 'holocaust denial' offence and, although no one will say so publicly, there is a feeling that German sensitivity with regard to the Hitler years has led to legislation which breaches human rights, even if some of those right are considered obnoxious. The same can be said of Austria who recently locked up Dr David Irving, the Nazi sympathising historian, but who later released him back to Britain after considerable diplomatic pressure.



There is a point at which freedom of speech becomes incitement - and this has been argued here with regard to some of the actions by Muslim clerics, and, in the past, by some right wing fascist party sympathisers. But it is important to distinguish between someone inciting violence against a group or culture and someone who simply pours scorn and disbelief on accepted history. The genocide of the Jews is probably the single blackest stain on the 20th century and people who deny that it happened are deserving of the most severe condemnation and criticism.

But it seems to me that you defeat them by contempt, by proof, by argument - not by locking them up. By prosecuting and jailing them you create martyrs and give the impression you have something to fear and you lose, to some extent, the moral high ground. I say we let the likes of Toben and Irving free to preach their zany opinions and destroy what they say with irrefutable fact. That's the way a free society should prove its worth.