Police Raid Judge’s Home

Police raided the home of retired judge Wilhelm Stäglich on April 8th. Police were apparently looking for a German-language edition of a videotape featuring Professor Robert Faurisson entitled, The Problem of the Gas Chambers. Police were unable to find a copy of the prohibited videotape.

Judge Stäglich is a member of the editorial advisory committee of the Journal of Historical Review, a leading American Revisionist Journal. He is best known as the author of Der Auschwitz Mythos (The Auschwitz Myth), (published in English as: Auschwitz: A Judge Looks at the Evidence. This volume which first appeared in West Germany in 1979 is cited as the main impetus for increased censorship of books in Germany.

In Germany offending books are “indexed” as “harmful to youth,” thereby severely restricting their advertising and distribution. Stäglich's book was later seized as the result of further legal action. Stäglich himself was stripped of his doctoral degree which he had earned at the University of Göttingen in 1951.

Police confiscated various research materials including crematory plans which were obtained from the Auschwitz Museum. It is reported that Faurisson had given these plans to Judge Stäglich in 1976. They are displayed in the video The Problem of the Gas Chambers.

Adapted from IHR Newsletter #39, May 1986 – Institute for Historical Review, PO Box 2739, Newport Beach, CA 92659