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Late 20th-Century poster criticizing a court acquittal of Holocaust deniers

Object | Accession Number: 1995.96.162

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    Late 20th-Century poster criticizing a court acquittal of Holocaust deniers
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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Post-period poster published in 1995, juxtaposing photos of emaciated concentration camp victims with a short editorial about the acquittal of two Holocaust deniers in Hamburg, Germany. In February 1995, a German Judge acquitted two men, both members of the right-wing Freiheitliche Arbeiter Partei (FAP, Free Worker’s Party), of charges stemming from their recording of a message that criticized the film, “Schindler’s List,” as “perpetuating the Auschwitz myth” on an established Neo-Nazi phone line. The judge based his decision on the defense’s successful arguments over the ambiguity of the word “myth.” This ruling followed soon after another high-profile German court decision involving a Holocaust denier involved in a separate incident. The two rulings brought to the forefront long-standing public distrust of the courts’ dealing with Holocaust denial and antisemitism cases. This distrust stemmed from the return of Nazi judges to their posts in the German civil service during the postwar years, and accusations that judges were lenient on right-wing extremists while being harsh in cases against the left. These cases came at a time of intense moral concern over Holocaust denial. The decisions created public scandals, which precipitated intense debates over the judges’ personal and professional backgrounds, as well as the rulings and opinions in the cases.
    Title
    Auschwitz-Mythos
    Alternate Title
    Auschwitz Myth
    Date
    publication/distribution:  1995
    Geography
    distribution: Germany
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
    Markings
    front, top, within star outline, printed, black ink : Jude [Jew]
    front, center, black banner, printed, white : AUSCHWITZ-MYTHOS? [Auschwitz Myth?]
    front, bottom center, printed, black ink : „AUSCHWITZ-MYTHOS” / Das Hamburger Amtsgericht hat zwei / junge Männer freigesprochen, die zu / den bekanntesten Figuren der Hambur- / ger Neonaziszene gehören. / Die zwei hatten über ihr „Nationales / Infotelefon" den Massenmord im Natio- / nalsozialismus als „Auschwitz- My- / thos" bezeichnet. Der Richter hatte ge- / urteilt, der Begriff „Mythos-Auschwitz" / sei ein selbständiger Begriff geworden / und müsse die Greueltaten nicht leugnen. / „Dieses Urteil kann so nicht hingenom- / men werden. Es hätte zu einer Verur- / teilung kommen müssen", kritisierte / ein Sprecher der Hamburger Staatsan- / waltschaft: „Wir gehen in die Beru- / fung". Wegen Volksverhetzung, Ver- / leumdung und Verunglimpfung des An- / denkens Verstorbener hatte die Staats- / anwaltschaft gegen die 23 und 24 Jah- / re alten Männer Anklage erhoben. / Auf dem Anrufbeantworter ihres „Nationalen Infotelefons" hatten die beiden / Neonazis den Kinofilm „Schindlers Li- / ste" über die Judenvernichtung kriti- / siert, da er angeblich „den Auschwitz- / Mythos am Leben" erhalte. "Auschwitz Myth" / The Hamburg district court acquitted two young men who are among the most famous figures in Hamburg's neo-Nazi scene. / The two had called the mass murder under national socialism an "Auschwitz myth" over their "national information telephone". The judge had ruled that the term "Mythos-Auschwitz" had become an independent term and did not have to deny the atrocities. / "This judgment cannot be accepted like this. It should have resulted in a conviction," criticized a spokesman for the Hamburg public prosecutor: "We are appealing." The public prosecutor's office had brought charges against the 23 and 24-year-old men for sedition, slander and disparagement of the memory of the deceased. On the answering machine of their "National information telephone ", the two neo-Nazis had criticized the movie "Schindler's List" about the extermination of the Jews, because it allegedly kept "the Auschwitz myth alive".
    front, bottom right margin, printed, black ink : EINE AKTION VON WESER LABEL / Papier aus Fehldruck / DIE FOTOS AUF DIESEM POSTER WURDEN DEM BUCH VON G. SCHOENBERGER, "DER GELBE STERN", / ERSCHIENEN IM BERTELSMANN VERLAG, ENTNOMMEN [AN ACTION BY THE WESER LABEL / Paper from misprint / THE PHOTOS ON THIS POSTER WERE TAKEN FROM G. SCHOENBERGER'S BOOK, "THE YELLOW STAR", PUBLISHED BY BERTELSMANN VERLAG]
    Contributor
    Publisher: Weser Label

    Physical Details

    Language
    German
    Classification
    Posters
    Category
    Postwar posters
    Object Type
    Posters (lcsh)
    Genre/Form
    Posters.
    Physical Description
    Black-and-white printed poster on faded, off-white paper with two columns of concentration camp prisoner photos flanking a central white column. Overlaid on the columns is a black outline of a Star of David prisoner badge above a horizontal black banner bearing a line of white, German text across the center. There are three photos in each side column. The top left photo shows deceased, emaciated prisoners lying on the ground with two soldiers among them, one kneeling down, and the other standing in the background. Below, the middle photo shows several unclothed, deceased prisoners lying on the ground. The bottom left photo shows a prisoner supporting another prisoner, with two others behind them. All are wearing striped concentration camp uniforms. The top right picture is a profile shot of a man with a shaved head and a gaunt looking face. Below, the middle photo shows two deceased, emaciated men on the ground. One is very pale and lying with his arms spread open, the other has darker skin with one arm folded beneath him. The bottom right photo shows an unclothed, emaciated woman standing and holding a bedframe with each hand to support herself. In the central, white column, between the two bottom photos, there are several paragraphs of German text. Below the bottom right photo are several lines of publication text.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 24.125 inches (61.278 cm) | Width: 34.000 inches (86.36 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Geographic Name
    Germany.

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The poster was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995.
    Record last modified:
    2024-10-03 12:54:00
    This page:
    http:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn11158

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