Haverbeck, a well-known Holocaust denier, faces another trial.
Ursula Haverbeck, an infamous Holocaust denier, faces trial in Hamburg at the age of 95. She's no stranger to legal complications, having been convicted on multiple occasions for denying the mass murder of European Jews by the Nazis. Haverbeck is known in far-right circles for her open rejection of the Holocaust. She's served time in prison before without the option of parole, most recently appearing in court in Berlin in April 2022.
Her current trial focuses on comments she made in April 2015 at a Berlin court hearing for a former SS member, Oskar Gröning, as well as during a TV interview. According to the charges, she claimed Auschwitz wasn't a concentration and extermination camp, but rather a labor camp. She also refuted the idea that mass killings took place there. In November 2015, the Hamburg District Court sentenced Haverbeck to ten months for inciting public unrest. She appealed the decision. Initial hearings at the Hamburg Regional Court were delayed - due to illnesses and the coronavirus pandemic.
The trial started on Friday with additional dates planned for June 12 and 26. Haverbeck apparently addressed the indictment on Friday, according to a court spokesperson, but didn't refute the accusations and maintained her Holocaust denial stance. Court staff accompanied her due to her age, but her physical appearance surprised everyone - she looked surprisingly fit. During the next hearing, Haverbeck plans to talk about her personal connections, as per her own statements.
Denying or lessening the impact of the Holocaust is illegal in Germany if it's done publicly and potentially disrupts public order. This specific type of offense falls under Paragraph 130 of the Criminal Code, which treats it as a particular case of incitement. Punishments could range from fines to up to five years in jail.
