Germany: 91-year-old neo-Nazi denied early release

Haverback has been convicted several times but long avoided prison due to lengthy appeals.

By World Israel News Staff and AP 

A German court decided Wednesday that a notorious 91-year-old neo-Nazi serving a two-year sentence for Holocaust denial shouldn’t be released early.

Ursula Haverbeck was convicted of incitement by a court in the northern town of Verden in 2017 and started serving her sentence last year.

Haverbeck has repeatedly asserted that the Auschwitz death camp was just a work camp. On one occasion, she stated on television that “the Holocaust is the biggest and most sustained lie in history,” writes the Noticias de Israel website.

German law prohibits Holocaust denial and the use of Nazi symbols such as swastikas. Hate speech can carry up to five years in prison, the news source noted.

Haverback has been convicted several times but long avoided prison due to lengthy appeals. Germany’s highest court threw out her case against the Verden conviction.

It is common in Germany for people to be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence. But news agency dpa reported that the state court in Bielefeld, where she is in prison, said Wednesday it has decided not to release Haverbeck in January. It didn’t give reasons for the decision.

Haverbeck’s sentence is due to end next November.

Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of “deep shame” as she visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland for the first time, and announced that Germany would donate $66 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.