German citizen accused of Holocaust denial during Auschwitz visit
A 55-year-old man born in Iran, currently a German citizen, appeared in court in Oświęcim for publicly questioning Nazi crimes during a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
German citizen accused of Holocaust denial during Auschwitz visit
The District Court in Oświęcim is hearing charges against a 55-year-old man who publicly denied crimes committed at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp during a visit. The accused was born in Tehran and currently holds German citizenship.
The incident occurred in November 2022. The man, who under Polish law can only be identified as Reza B., stood at the famous entrance gate to Auschwitz II-Birkenau — the part of the complex where approximately 90 per cent of victims were murdered in gas chambers. There he recorded a statement in which he questioned facts concerning the mass murders.
According to representatives of the Institute of National Remembrance, Reza B. publicly and falsely denied crimes committed by camp personnel against the Jewish population. He also questioned the use of gas chambers and crematoria at the site. He subsequently posted the recording with these statements on YouTube and on his Facebook profile, making it available to every internet user.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, Nazi Germany murdered approximately 1.1 million people, of which one million were Jews deported to their deaths from various regions of occupied Europe. The majority of victims died in gas chambers immediately upon arrival at the camp, and their bodies were burned in crematoria.
During interrogation as a suspect, Reza B. did not respond to the charges brought against him and refused to provide an explanation, the Institute of National Remembrance stated in a statement published on Friday.
In Poland, denying Nazi crimes is a crime punishable by imprisonment of up to three years. The prosecution of such crimes falls within the remit of the Branch Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation of the Institute of National Remembrance.
In recent years, the Polish judicial system has consistently enforced regulations concerning the questioning of Nazi crimes. Last year, an Israeli teenager who made a fascist gesture during a stay at Auschwitz was fined for promoting Nazism. This year, the European Parliament decided to lift the immunity of Member of Parliament Grzegorz Braun so that he could appear before a Polish court in a similar case.
Source: Notes from Poland
Source: Notes From Poland