Germany: A WWII Denier

Germany has come a very long way since the end of WWII. Even in the relatively short period following reunification and present day. The country still has one problem though that it has failed to deal with, and usually tries to ignore outright. That being it's role in the Second World War.

Ernst Zundel was sentenced to five years in a German prison for holocaust denial. Canadians will remember this man for being caught hiding from German authorities in Canada, and the the mess with his extradition. Ernst Zundel is truly a despicable man for saying that the death of 6 million Jews during WWII was all a conspiracy and never happened. I am strongly opposed to his views, but, I don't think he should be jailed for them. I brought this up in my past article about Mel Gibson, where I talked about the way hate crime is handled. I like to draw a line between saying and doing. There is a huge difference between saying the holocaust never happened and actively telling people to do harm to the Jewish community. Though I have not had the "pleasure" to read Zundel's works, form what I've heard, there was nothing that incited violence or property damage against Jews. If Zundel did commit a crime, community service would have been far more appropriate, especially if this anti-semitic man is forced to work in the Jewish community. He'd learn far more about why his actions were wrong in that case, rather than sitting in a jail cell. Imprisoning people for saying something the government dislikes comes full circle back to the Nazis. The sentence was highly inappropriate for a liberal-democratic country that supposedly adopts basic human rights of free speech and freedom of association.

It's not really my business to tell Germany how to run their country, but I think this represents a problem in their society. Germans cannot deal with WWII. They've actively tried to wipe out any evidence of their involvement. In that country, it is illegal to display swastikas and other Nazi symbols in the media unless for specific historical purposes. It's something this country doesn't seem to have a problem with as long as Nazis are made out to be the bad guy. Germany needs to learn that it can't just cover up its history by criminalizing these things. Proper education is the key. Fascism will likely never return if people are properly instructed as to why it was wrong.