A former member of Austria’s Parliament pled not guilty to charges that he questioned the existence of Nazi gas chambers. In an interview last year on Austrian TV, John Gudenus said the existence of gas chambers during the Third Reich ought to be “seriously debated,” The Associated Press reported. Later, he clarified that “there were gas chambers, though not in the Third Reich but in Poland.” Austrian law forbids such questioning of the Holocaust. Gudenus’ lawyer argued that his client did not deny that gas chambers existed, but simply said the issue of their presence between 1933 and 1938 should be examined. “I am not at all unsure about gas chambers in the Greater German Reich,” Gudenus said in his defense, according to the A.P. report, which cited the Austria Press Agency. “Concerning gas chambers in the Third Reich, I would still like to express some uncertainty.” The state attorney rejected Gudenus’ argument, and he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
