Don't Mention the War

David Irving was arrested in Austria for the crime of denying the Holocaust.

I'm trying to figure out the process where you pass a law saying that it's a crime to deny the holocaust.

He was going to travel to New Zealand, but he was not allowed entry, because anyone who has ever been deported from another country needs a special waiver to get into New Zealand and he wasn't granted one. I had no problem with that at all. Or rather I have a problem with our immigration laws, but given that we have these immigration laws then I have no problem with them applying to David Irving just like he was anyone else. But arresting him?

At first I was surprised because I thought Austria was particularly bad at facing up to its anti-semitic past (I may be wrong about that - I've no idea why I think it's true), but actually it makes sense. If you're trying to pretend that something never happened you don't want someone tramping up and down saying in a very loud voice "THIS NEVER HAPPENED". You just ignore it and hope it goes away.

I'm against the state engaging with Holocaust deniers for much the same reasons I'm against the left engaging with neo-nazis. But I think in a country like Austria, putting laws up to deal with a Holocaust denier, paradoxically shows an unwillingness to deal with the reality of the holocaust.