Germar Rudolf and Holocaust Denial

from BBC News

Germany has put a German man, deported from the U.S. in 2004, on trial in the city of Mannheim for Holocaust denial.

Back in 1990 Germar Rudolf wrote a paper essentially denying that cyanide was used to gas Jews in Auschwitz. The paper, which has come to be called "The Rudolf Report," has been used in trials of former Nazis.

The BBC News report says "the prosecution says he 'represented the Holocaust as invention' and used the internet to spread his documents."

In Germany it is a crime to deny the Holocaust verbally or in writing:

Germany's parliament passed legislation in 1985, making it a crime to deny the extermination of the Jews. In 1994, the law was tightened. Now, anyone who publicly endorses, denies or plays down the genocide against the Jews faces a maximum penalty of five years in jail and no less than the imposition of a fine. (DW-World.DE)

In the U.S. you can't yell "Fire" in a crowded theater. Nor can you involve yourself in what is called hate speech. In Germany you can't deny the Holocaust.

Rudolf makes the argument that in a democracy (which Germany is) there should be free speech. So far no one is listening. And rightly so. the teach