Tolerance Camp
Long-time Nazi apologist David Irving has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for denying the Holocaust, despite his subsequent admission that the Holocaust really did happen after all. It sure is nice to know that Austria, like its neighbor to the north, loves tolerance and democracy so much it throws people in prison for not appreciating them enough.
February 20th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
which is all the more surprising given the prominent role of so many Austrians in the Holocaust…
February 20th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
It’s probably not coincidental; Germany has a similar prohibition, and for the same reason. The irony I do see with Austria is that Austria has long maintained a Holocaust revisionism of its own, in which Austria is portrayed not as a willing participant in Nazism, but as its first victim. That brand of revisionism is just as offensive as the version Irving was convicted of, but AFAIK no Austrian has ever gone to prison (or faced any other repercussions) for that.
February 20th, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Interesting, tonight I just finished reading a Daniel Silva novel, A Death in Vienna, which includes some of the same issues you mentioned.
February 21st, 2006 at 9:11 pm
[...] Some who find this verdict upsetting have had a taste of liberal utopia, and don’t like it. Perhaps they’ve seen the reality of campus speech codes or hate-crime laws, and have realized that the quest to perfect mankind twists the souls of those who pursue it. Xrlq says it nicely: “It sure is nice to know that Austria, like its neighbor to the north, loves tolerance and democracy so much it throws people in prison for not appreciating them enough.” [...]