Following years Irving published more books, including Gabbles’ bibliography and a book covering the Nierenberg process. In spite of abundant critics from the part of scientists, these editions were successfully sold in different countries without loud public debates. In 1977 Irving published a book “Hitler’s war”. It asserts that the Fuhrer had no idea about the program on mass annihilation of Jews but Hitler and his assistant Hedrick are imposed a full responsibility for the Holocaust.
Since late 1970s Irving became much more notoriously known. He assures that gas chambers in the Nazi concentration camps never existed, he doubts the generally accepted point of view on 6 mln dead Jews in the Holocaust years, he called Ann Frank’s diary falsification and in an open way he personally refutes the fact of regular annihilation of Jews, recognizing just separate brutalities of Nazis.
Irving agrees on existence of concentration camps but draws the main reason for the prisoners’ deaths as an epidemic of typhus. According to him, gas chambers were built in Poland already after the war in compliance with “imaginations” of former prisoners.
Similar allegations resulted in banning for Irving to enter a number of countries.
In Germany and Austria they issued warrants for his arrest.
In 2000 a trial on Irving’s suit against the American citizen Deborah Lipstadt and the publishing house Penguin Books took place. The book by Lipstadt where she called Irving a negationist of the Holocaust and accused him in historical data falsification reasoned for accusation in libel. The court decision obliged Irving to pay costs. He was not able to do this; he called himself a bankrupt and had to sell his house in the center of London.
In November, 2005 Irving was arrested in Austria when he came there despite the warrant. Grounds for arrest are stated in the Austrian law which stipulates a criminal liability for “denial, underestimation, approval or justification of Nazi-social genocide and other crimes of Nazi-socialists against mankind”. Irving’s lawyers tried to release him on bail; however, the court rejected to satisfy petition, as considered the accused man might leave the country.
At the trial Irving pleaded guilty having claimed that his views greatly changed since 1989 when they issued a warrant on his arrest. According to Irving, he reconsidered his attitude to the fact of a mass annihilation of Jews when in 1991 he got an access to the documents of “the architect of the Holocaust” Adolph Eichmann. “Nazis really killed millions of Jews”, the accused man admitted. In response the prosecutor noted that Irving even after 1991 publicly had denied the existence of gas chambers.
The theme of censorship was raised in relation to Irving’s case by many European newspapers. They did not try to justify Irving they just expressed serious concerns on the indictment. The British Independent claimed that three years in custody was too severe punishment for “following the principle of free speech in a democratic society”. Times considered that “restrictions on free speech always deserve to be regretted for”. The Spanish El Mundo reasonably notes that the indictment allows speaking once more about dubious standards in western countries. The newspaper called the European laws against anti-Semitic “unworthy exceptions”.
Irving’s case became the same rare case when Iranian authorities agreed with European journalists, the country whose president claims to destroy Israel and openly doubts the fact of a mass annihilation of Jews during the World War II. The Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry called the indictment to Irving an example “of the Western paradox” in relation to freedom on self expression. The history on publications of cartoons on Prophet Mohammed arise parallels: Danish cartoonists and Irving have encroached upon the basic values of the Muslim and Western world correspondingly. The trial in Austria once more proved the lack of coincidence in these values.

Dmitriy Tomilov