The Zündel Affair

Manuel Prutschi

Notes

1. Formerly S. 177, now S. 181, Criminal Code of Canada.

2. Richard Harrwood [alias Richard Verrall] Did Six Million Really Die? (Toronto: Samisdat. n.d.) p. 4.

3. See the "Report of the Board of Review Appointed to Inquire into the Facts and Circumstances Surrounding the Interim Prohibitory Order" on Samisdat Publishers Ltd., October 18, 1982, in Toronto Jewish Congress/Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region Archives, JCRC papers MG8/S-Ernst Zündel (hereafter referred to as TJC-JCRC-Zündel).

4. Formerly S.281.1-281.3. now Ss. 318, 319 and 320 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

5. Cal Millar, "Man Who Claims Holocaust Never Happened Facing Charge," The Toronto Star, December 7, 1983 in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

6. Michael Tenstzen. "Man Charged by Auschwitz Survivor," The Globe and Mail, December 7. 1983, p. 3. Kelly McParland, "Weak Laws Let Have Peddlers Flourish, Critics Say," The Toronto Star, October 13, 1983, p. A24. Both in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

7. Alan Davies. "A Tale of Two Trials: Antiseminsm in Canada 1985." Holosaust and Genocide Studies 4.1 (1989): 77.

8. Lerter to the editor from Zündel to Canadian Lawyer (May 1986): 5. in TIC-JCRC-Zündel. At the time of writing Christie had most recently appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, representing Ross in late November and Taylor and Keegstra in early December 1989. Finta was acquitted at his trial.

9. See, for example, Peter K. McWilliams, Canadian Criminal Evidence, 3rd ed. (Aurora, ON: Canada Law Book. 1988). p. 24-1; R. v. Zündel, in Criminal Reports. 3rd series. vol. 56, editor-in-chief Don Stuart (Toronto: Carswell, 1987), p. 55 and Ronald Joseph Delisle. Evidence: Principles and Problems (Toronto: Carswell 1984), p. 90.

10. Paul Lungen, "Zündel: 'I Won', Despite Conviction," The Canadian Jewish News, March 7, 1985

11. Kirk Makin, "Zündel Guilty but Unrepentant," The Globe and Mail, March 1, 1985.

12. See Gabriel Weimann and Conrad Winn, Hate on Trial: The Zündel Affair, The Media and Public Opinion in Canada (Oakville: Mosaic Press 1986).

13. See Manuel Prutschi. "Zündel Verdict Validated Use of 'False News' Law," The Canadian Jewish News, February 19, 1987.

14. Ernst Zündel graphic arts/photo retouching grade record (March 23) diploma (March 31,1956), attached to his application to Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) for position of Director of Holocaust Documentation Bank Project, all attached to CJC memo, with enclosures. Rebecca Rosenberg (National Holosaust Remembrance Committee) to Ben Kayfetz, May 11, 1981 in TJC-JCRC-Zündel. Zündel's "The Hitler We Loved and Why" is inappropriately titled, since he had no real personal experience of Hitler at all. At his first trial he claimed that he only provided the photographs.

15. Michael Tenstzen, "Hate Literature Factory in a Congenial Setting," The Globe and Mail, December 6, 1983, in TJC-JCRC- Zündel.

16. Two-page memo from B. G. Kayfetz to Rabbi Jordan Pearlson summarizing "Zündel's autobiography," including a number of direct quotations, January 25, 1982. Kayfetz had received a copy of the 64-page Zündel autobiography from Canada Post, for analysis, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

17. Zündel letter of application (April 10, 1981), re Directorship Holocaust Bank Documenution Project (see n. 14, above).

18. Memo Kayfetz to Pearlson, "Zündel's autobiography" (n. 16, above).

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Christof Friedrich and Eric Thomson, The Hitler We Loved and Why (Reedy, WV: White Power Publications, 1977), pp. 20, 23 in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

23. Memo, Kayfetz to Pearlson, "Zündel autobiography."

24. The Toronto Star, daily feature What Ever Became of...?" by Hanoch Borda, attached to memo B. G. Kayfetz to J. C. Horwitz and Rabbi Jordan Pearlson, "Re: Ernst Zündel" July 20, 1976, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

25. Memo, Kayfetz to Pearlson. "Zündel autobiography"

26. Photocopy of advertisement submitted as part of his curriculum vitae by Zündel to CJC re job application. Holocaust Documentation Bank Project (see n. 14, above).

27. Zündel flyer "Truth-Declassified," addressed to "Dear UFO Researcher." Part of enclosures re letter from B. G. Kayfetz to Morris Saltzman (CJC Vancouver) March 29, 1977, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

28. Ibid.

29. Ibid.

30. Tenstzen, "Hate Literature Factory."

31. Mark Bonokoski, "Neo Nazi Leads Protest," The Toronto Sun, April 19, 1978 p. 16, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

32. Borda, "What Ever Became of...?"

33. Unidentified newspaper article reproduced in Zündel flyer headed "Achtung: Act Now-Prevent Pogroms Later," and attached to a letter to a subscriber from Eric Murray, an official with Concerned Parents of German Descent, March 14, 1979 in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

34. Zündel flyer addressed to "Comrades" and beneath his signature he refers to his organization as SAMISDAT/COMBAT GROUP Zündel, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

35. See, for but one example, flyer headlined "Dear Member of Parliament you are being lied to...," and flyer, "Dissent is not hate. The 'Holocaust' is a hoax!" both part of a packet of Zündel materials attached to memo Bob Willmot (Canada Israel Committee) to Mark Silverberg (CJC Vancouver) cc'd to Ben Kayfetz, Ottawa April 19, 1984, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

36. Zündel flyer on letterhead of Concerned Parents of German Descent addressed "To Our Fellow Canadians" [1979?], in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

37. Zündel flyer addressed "To the People of Canada" and headlined "Attorney General Attempts Cover-Up and Censorship," attached to memo from B. G. Kayfetz to Morley Wolfe re "Zündel," December 3, 1979, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

38. Zündel flyer titled "Is This 'Racism' or 'Hate'?" addressed to politicians, media clergy and educators as "A Final Appeal for Help!" attached to memo Kayfetz to M. Wolfe re "Zündel" ibid.

39. Zündel flyer headlined "Who Are the Hatemongers, Agitators and Terrorists in Toronto?" p. 4 responding to an anti-Zündel march by the Jewish community, May 31, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

40. Ibid.

41. Memo, B. G. Kayfetz to Rabbi Jordan Pearlson and four others, re "Zündel's German Material," June 10, 1981, p. 2. It is a "precis" with, in some cases, "direct translation" by Kayfetz of four Zündel items, all bearing the title "Samisdat" in one form or another made available to CJC by West German Consulate. Covering memo plus six pages of text in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

42. Ibid.

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid.

45. Rene Jean Ravault, "A Content Analysis of Two Mailed 'Messages' Written by Mr. Ernst Zündel (Samisdat)" February 1982, p. 16, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel. Ravault is quoting from p. 1 of Backlash. The other publication analyzed was The West, War and Islam. Dr. Ravault, a Professor of Communisations at the Universiry of Quebec in Montreal did the analysis for Canada Post re the hearings into Zündel's mail ban, February-March 1982.

46. Ibid. p. 11.

47. Ibid. p. 28.

48. However, these Jews are far from denying the Holocaust. Thus Richard Ahrens, in a press clipping that Zündel himself has reproduced refers to "the massacre of Jews under Hitler in World War II," and declares unequivocally: "I saw some of the death camps." Yet Zündel, unfazed, includes this press clipping as part of a Holocaust denial mailing!

49. See p. 2. For a text of the law, refer to Pocket Criminal Code 1990, ed. Gary P. Rodrigues (Toronto: Carswell. 1989), pp. 166-68.

50. Zündel flyer, attached to memo. Kayfetz to M. Wolfe re "Zündel," December 3, 1979 (see above. n. 37).

51. Ibid.

52. Zündel flyer, "Let's Take a Closer Look," addressed to politicians, p. 4, headlined "Battle Royal Between Zündel and Zionists?" in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

53. Third page of flyer "Dissent Is Not Hate," etc., part of packet attached to memo from Willmot to Silverberg, cc'd to Kayfetz (see above, n. 35).

54. P. 2 of Zündel circular headlined: "Kaplan: Justice, Vengeance or Hate?" attached to note from J. S. Midanik, Q.C. to Ben Kayfetz, July 7, 1980, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

55. Reverse side of flyer on letterhead of The German-Jewish Historisal Commission titled "A Challenge to Simon Wiesenthal!" in TJC-JCRC-Zündel. The question of Demjanjuk's identity has not been settled by the Israeli courts.

[Transcriptor's Note: The Israeli court later confirmed that Demjanjuk was indeed an SS guard at Treblinka, but not the infamous "Ivan the Terrible." http://www.nizkor.org/cgi-bin/ftp.pl?people/d/demjanjuk.john ]

56. Zündel flyer with Star of David on one side and symbol for poison on the other, titled "Hate, the 'New' Poison," p. 6 [late 1983] in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

57. Ibid.

58. Ibid., p. 10.

59. Memo, Kayfetz to Pearlson et al.. "Zündel's German mat'l." June 10, 1981, p. 5 (see above, n. 41).

60. Ibid., p. 3

61. Copy of six-page catalogue offerings from Samisdat Publishers, attached to letter from a Universiry of Chicago Professor of Medicine (who received the material unsolicited) to the FBI in Washington and cc'd to B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

62. The Mirror, October 10, 1979, copy of press clipping attached to letter from Shirlee Fox (Atlantic Jewish Council) to Ben Kayfetz, November 30, 1979 in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

63. So reported Shelley Kesselman, when covering Zündel's postal hearing for the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin and Review. March 19, 1982, p. 2.

64. Pat Cunningham. "Mail-Order Fascism Rewrites History," in The Toronto Clarion, November 28-December 11 [1979?], in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

65. Text of exchange in the Bundestag as translated by Ben Kayfetz, attached to memo from Ben Kayfetz to Rabbi Jordan Pearlson re "Zündel," May 11, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

66. Copy of letter, as translated by Ben Kayfetz, attached to ibid.

67. Paul Hofman, "Austria's Jewish Question." in the New York Times Magazine, May 3, 1981, p. 144. Attached to memo from Ben Kayfetz to Jordan Pearlson, June 16, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

68. In "Zündel's German material," p. 4 attached to memo from Kayfetz to Pearlson et al., June 10, 1981 (see above, n. 41).

69. Geonze Jahn, "Bonn Fears Extremists Being Supported from Abroad," The Globe and Mail, October 30, 1981, p. 16. in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

70. In "Zündel's German Mat'l," p. 5. attached to memo, Kayfetz to Pearlson, et al. (see above, n. 41).

71. Zündel flyer/invitation in German. on obverse side announcing program for June 4 and 5, 1983, attached to English translation by Ben Kayfetz, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

72. See Zündel flyer attached to memo from B. G. Kayfetz to Rabbi J. Pearlson and R. L. Ronson re "Zündel," August 20, 1979 and exchange of correspondence between Kayfetz and Milton Ellerin (American Jewish Committee), August 8 and 15, 1979, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

73 Zündel flyer on letterhead of The German-Jewish Historical Commission announcing the Commission's founding, with Zündel as "Director and Spokesman" and "Prof." R. G. Dommerque as "Research Analyst (France)." For specific reference see reverse side of flyer. In TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

74. "German Raids Find Metro Nazi Propaganda," The Toronto Star, March 25, 1981, p. A25 (UPI wire story) in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

75. Ibid.; Dick Chapman "Metro Man Branded a Nazi" The Toronto Sun, March 25, 1981, p. 22; "City Man Link to Nazis" The Toronto Sun, March 30, 1981, p. 27; Jahn "Bonn Fears Extremists," p. 16; and Bonokoski, "Neo Nazi Leads Toronto Protest."

76. In Zündel's German material, p. 4 attached to memo Kayfetz to Pearlson et al., June 10, 1981 (see above n. 41).

77. Letter from Ernst Nielsen, "Student of History," to William J. Callahan, Chairman, Department of History, University of Toronto, November 10, 1980, turned into Zündel flyer headlined "Race Hatred Taught at University of Toronto," p. 2, attached to letter from Ray D. Wolfe to Ben Kayfetz, January 13, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

78. Ibid.

79. Ibid., p. 1.

80. Ibid., p. 2.

81. Ibid., p. 1.

82. Zündel flyer likewise attached to letter from R. D. Wolfe to Kayfetz January 13, 1981, (see above, n. 77).

83. Ibid.

84. Zündel letter of application April 10, 1981, re Holocaust Documentation Bank Project.

85. Ibid.

86. Zündel letter on German-Jewish Historical Commission letterhead, September 14, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

87. Zündel letter on German-Jewish Historical Commission letterhead, with attachments, to Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, c/o The Canadian Jewish News. September 1 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

88. Zündel letter on German-Jewish Historical Commission letterhead with attachments, to Professor M. Marrus, c/o History Department, University of Toronto, September 14, 1981, attached to letter from Michael M. Marrus to Ben Kayfetz, September 24, 1981, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

89. Zündel letter in German to Rabbi Plaut [probably June 1981] on plain white paper and signed "the non-hater." Zündel letter on plain white paper to "The Directors, The Canadian Jewish Congress," November 4, 1982, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

90. Ibid.

91. Zündel letter artached to blue covering note sent by a recipient to Ben Kayfetz, p. 1, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

92. Ibid., p. 6.

93. Ibid.

94. Copy of a letter from B. G. Kaytetz to Mark Silverberg in Edmonton, April 16,1979, in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

95. Bonokoski, "Neo-Nazi Leads Toronto Protest."

96. Friedrich and Thomson. The Hitler We Loved and Why, pp. 72.78.

97. Ibid., p. 83.

98. Ibid., pp. 77, 86.

99. Ibid., p. 116.

100. Tensrzen, "Hate Literature Factory."

101. Reproduced on a Zündel flyer, the obverse side of which bears the Ietterhead of the "Western Unity Movement" and the inscnption "There is a world to be conquered together, or to be lost alone," in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

102. Reproduced on Zündel flyer, the obverse side of which has the letterhead of Concerned Parents of German Descent and the inscription at the foot of it "Only the Blind Can't See," in TJC-JCRC-Zündel.

103. Second page of flyer, "Dissent Is Not Hate," etc., part of packet attached to memo, Willmot to Silverberg, April 19, 1984, (see above, n. 35).

104. Manuel Prutschi, "Holocaust Denial Today," in Canadian Jewry Today: Who's Who in Canadian Jewry, ed. Edmond Y. Lipsitz (Downsvicw. ON: J.E.S.L. Educational Product,1989), p.31.

105. Reproduced in a Zündel flyer attached to letter from Eric Murray of Concerned Parents of German Descent to a subscriber, March 14, 1979 (see above, n. 33).

106. Tensrzen, "Hate Literature Factory."

107. Chapman, "Metro Man Branded a Nazi."

Work Cited

Prutschi, Manuel. "The Zündel Affair," in Davies, Alan, Ed. Antisemitism in Canada: History & Interpretation. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1992, pp. 249-277. Courtesy Canadian Jewish Congress.

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

[ Previous | Index ]

Home ·  Site Map ·  What's New? ·  Search Nizkor