Imperial alumnus jailed for denying the holocaust
Imperial alumnus, David Irving, has been sentenced to three years in jail for denying the holocaust and describing Auschwitz as a "fairytale". Irving failed his Imperial degree.
David Irving, a former Imperial College student, has received a three year jail sentence for denying the Holocaust and refuting the existence of gas chambers in Auschwitz. David Irving, the notorious far-right British historian, was sentenced to imprisonment yesterday after a seven hour court hearing in the Austrian capital of Vienna.
Under Austrian law, it is a criminal offence to deny the Holocaust, yet, despite this strict legislation, Irving visited the country 17 years ago to voice his controversial views to the nation. During a series of speeches and interviews given in 1989, Irving claimed Adolph Hitler knew little, if anything, about the Holocaust and had in fact protected the Jews of Europe. Irving caused particular offence by dismissing the Auschwitz gas chambers as nothing more than a "fairytale" and incited widespread anger by referring to Holocaust survivors as "psychiatric cases". He alleged that the six million Jews death toll, a figure broadly accepted by historical experts, was in fact a "symbolic number" with the actual count being closer to 2.7 million.
Irving returned to Austria last November intending to deliver more speeches. Unfortunately for the discredited historian, he was immediately detained by the authorities, who issued a warrant for his arrest as a result of his statements during the previous visit. Irving, 67, pleaded guilty to the charge but insisted that his views had changed since his speech in 1989.
Speaking before his trial, he told reporters: "I'm not a Holocaust denier. Obviously, I've changed my views. History is a constantly growing tree - the more you know and the more documents that become available, the more you learn, and I have learnt a lot since 1989."
Irving entered the courtroom confidently carrying a self-penned historical text "Hitler's War" and a PG Wodehouse paperback. He refused to show deference during cross examination, calling the trial "ridiculous" and responding to prosecutors with the retort "Frankly, questions about the holocaust bore me". After the verdict was passed, Irving expressed shock and vowed to appeal against the court's decision, explaining that he felt he had no choice in pleading guilty and, furthermore, that being jailed for expressing an opinion was "ridiculous".
Irving studied physics at Imperial College from 1957 to 1959, although he failed his degree. During his time at Imperial, he wrote for the student arts magazine, Phoenix. After leaving College, Irving became Editor for the London University Carnival Committee's journal, the Carnival Times in 1959. During his editorial post, he caused much controversy as a Nazi-apologist; expressing sympathetic views towards both Hitler, whom he referred to as "Herr Hitler," and Nazi Germany.
After yesterday's hearing, state prosecutor Michael Klackl disagreed with claims that Irving's trial could be viewed as denial of free speech, stipulating, "He's not a historian, he's a falsifier of history. This is about abuse of freedom of speech."
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