U.S. Publisher of Rightist Newsletter Jailed in Germany
An American who publishes a pro-Nazi newsletter has been arrested on charges of inciting racial hatred for denying that the Holocaust occurred, German authorities said Monday.
Hans Schmidt, 68, of Pensacola, Fla., was arrested Wednesday at the Frankfurt airport and taken Monday to the northeastern city of Schwerin, said his wife, Rosita Schmidt.
Schmidt’s German-language publication, U.S.A. Bericht (U.S.A. Report), denies that the systematic murder of Jews occurred during World War II, said Judge Soeren Gemes of the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state court in Schwerin.
Schmidt apparently mailed a copy of his November, 1994, newsletter to the state Interior minister in Schwerin, which is why charges were brought there, Gemes said.
The German-born Schmidt has lived in the United States since 1949, his wife said. He was in Germany on vacation when he was arrested, she said.
American right-wingers are the main suppliers of propaganda for the estimated 60,000 right-wing extremists in Germany, where it is illegal to publish such material.
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