Ludwig Fanghänel, 8 October 1937 – 20 January 2017

My wife Olga and I learned with immense sadness that our dear friend Dr. Ludwig Fanghänel passed away on 20 January. To the revisionist community, Ludwig was known under his pen name Klaus Schwensen. He was the author of seven revisionist articles published in the English language at Inconvenient History:

https://codoh.com/library/document/author/schwensen-klaus/

Of these articles, the ones about the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp and the Soviet Extraordinary Commission are of particular importance.

Several other studies authored by Dr. Fanghänel under the pseudonym Klaus Schwensen only appeared in German. Of special interest is his analysis of the so-called “Lachout Document” (Vierteljahreshefte für freie Geschichtsforschung, 2/2004). According to this document, which purportedly emanated from a “Militärpolizeilicher Dienst” in Vienna, no homicidal gassings had taken place in the concentration camps of the “Altreich” (Germany in its 1937 borders), nor at the Mauthausen Camp. Unfortunately, the alleged authenticity of this document was tenaciously defended by several revisionists for many years.

As Dr. Fanghänel conclusively demonstrated in his meticulous analysis, there is not the faintest evidence that a “Militärpolizeilicher Dienst” ever existed. As such an organization would inevitably have left ample traces in the archives; this alone is sufficient to demolish the credibility of the “Lachout Document,” which was in all probability fabricated by Emil Lachout himself, a man whom Prof. Robert Faurisson had always suspected of being an imposter, and who gave all kinds of contradictory explanations as to how he had obtained this “document.” Of course, this does not mean that the claim made in this “document” is wrong; as a matter of fact, no homicidal gas chambers existed at any of the aforementioned camps. But we revisionists cannot afford to base our claims on forgeries. We do not depend on them.

Ludwig Fanghänel was born in Saxony in 1937. He later emigrated to Western Germany and settled in Munich, where he acquired a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a chemist for decades. He never lost his unmistakable Saxon accent.

I first met Ludwig in April 2003 when he visited me and Olga in Moscow. A second visit would follow ten years later. Ludwig was an exceptionally kind person; it was simply impossible not to love him. He was also a most fascinating interlocutor. An avid traveler, he had visited numerous countries from India to Mexico. I will never forget his vivid and humorous accounts of his adventures in these distant lands.

The unspeakable disaster which has struck his German fatherland under the treacherous Merkel regime deeply upset Ludwig. He placed his hope in the ADF (Alternative für Deutschland) party, whose electoral successes in East Germany filled him with cautious optimism.

Ludwig used to call me every few weeks from Munich. After his phone calls stopped and he did not reply to my mails, my wife and I became alarmed and contacted one of his friends who informed us that Ludwig, who wore a cardiac pacemaker and whose physical health had been deteriorating for some time, had been found dead in his flat. According to the forensic experts, his death had probably occurred on 20 January. He was buried in Munich.

A wonderful friend and excellent scholar has left us. May he rest in peace!