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Holocaust Denier Tossed out of a German Cultural Festival

January 3, 1986
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Ernst Zundel, who faces deportation to his native Germany for spreading propaganda that the Holocaust was a hoax, was ousted from a German cultural festival in Kitchner, Ontario, last weekend after its organizers were flooded with protests.

Zundel, free on bail pending the outcome of his appeal against conviction for “spreading false news,” displayed his paintings at the Christkindl (Christ Child) show at the festival. He was asked politely to leave, with his art, according to Hans Grumme, one of the organizers. “He just disappeared,” Grumme said.

He admitted Zundel’s participation in the festival “was a slip on my part. I didn’t know then what I do now. His presence and name at the show were tasteless. None of us like what this man stands for,” Grumme said.

The two-day festival is a traditional occasion for the sale of German and Austrian arts and crafts. Kitchner, which has a large population of German origin, was named Berlin before World War I.

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