- At the outset, it should be noted that this piece is
in no sense a substitute for Paul Eisen's excellent and exhaustive "The
Holocaust Wars." Rather, it is a personal reflection upon the growing
lack of freedom in the Western world, as illustrated by the story of one
man. Though it is the story of one man, it applies to us all, as the mistreatment
once handed down to those handily designated and demonized as 'extremists'
and 'cultists' is extended more and more to ordinary citizens.
-
- Ladies and Gentleman, the New World Order is on your
doorstep. Open resistance brings down a rain of fire as at Fallujah, while
in the outer ring of indirect, diffuse oppression, more subtle methods
than mass murder usually prevail.
-
- 'Terror' and fear of 'terror' - which is anyway largely
sponsored and created by government intelligence agencies - means acquiescence
as acres of streets in the city of Leeds are sealed off or tanks ring Heathrow
Airport. Even English country towns are monitored and secured, under perpetual
watch by veritable forests of security cameras on poles.
-
- Indeed it's fortunate that Zundel is still around to
face the Mannheim trial, when one bears in mind the dismal and sinister
fate that often befalls very high-profile dissenters when they fall into
the hands of the injustice system. Such was the case even in the Eisenhower
era : in this context one thinks of psychologist Wilhelm Reich, the originator
of the wonderful term 'Hoodlums in Government' or HIGs, a phrase which
is much more applicable now than in Reich's days. Or of Francis Parker
Yockey, widely accused of being both pro-Communist and pro-Nazi, but more
likely a fellow of philosophical bent unenamoured of liberal capitalism.
-
- Reading through a selection of Ernst Zundel's letters
from prison, you may feel that he has descended as a witness into the dismal
and deadly underbelly of so-called democracy. Ernst notes the following
incident during his stay at the Ottawa Detention Center, which he - quite
justifiably - nicknamed 'Abu Ghraib North' :
-
- 'One young Negro died in the cell next to me. Why? He
must have had some seizure or breathing difficulties. The guards shouted,
danced around and taunted him. I saw him the day before. He was athletic,
had good muscle tone like many young Blacks who are in far better physical
shape than Whites - yet I saw him through my little 8 1/2 by 11 cell observation
window, carried out of his cell limp like a dish rag, dumped unto a gurney,
electric shock applied to his heart, given an injection, given CPR, oxygen
- the fellow was dead!'
-
- What is prison, if not a place where society attempts
- and fails - to hide its true face, its real nature? Are not many of the
'cons' little more than victims of a harsh, commercialised and globalized
environment? The outer jail is 'society', while the inner one is prison
itself. Over two million Americans are now incarcerated; something to think
about when you hear those vain and bombastic State of the Union addresses.
-
- Ernst again :
-
- 'Four big guards came in the afternoon. Ordered me out
of my cell with my stuff, took me to the corridor, threw my mental cellmate
on the floor, kicked him, pummelled him 'til he was dragged along the halls,
bleeding and screaming. Eventually, I was put into the general population,
which meant three times out of the cell.'
-
- Ernst Zundel's initial arrest came over two years ago,
a short while before the start of the US-UK assault on Iraq. A posse of
immigration officials - some of them armed - descended upon his home in
rural Tennessee. A little excessive, perhaps, when the 'villain' concerned
is a life-long pacifist and the ostensible charge he faces is a mere visa
violation! By all normal standards, as his wife Ingrid is an American citizen,
Zundel should enjoy legal status, and not be subject to arbitrary harassment
in this way. Incidentally, as a pacifist, Ernst Zundel would make quite
an unusual 'Nazi'.
-
- After the arrest, he entered into a nether world of leg
irons, a cell with a perpetually glowing light and a regime of ridiculous,
pettifogging regulations - such as being forbidden access to Post-it notes
and marker pens. And all for what?
-
- The ostensible charge in America was a violation of immigration
rules. In Canada, Zundel was officially some sort of (undefined) threat
to national security. But in essence, Ernst Zundel is being accused of
heresy. He has challenged a dogma of the 'Church' and the 'Empire' prosecutes
and persecutes.
-
- We are all different, and have varying political ideals
and viewpoints. For example, I don't share Zundel's almost instinctive
anti-Communism. To my mind, there is something to be said for Communism
when mixed with national patriotism, as seen in Fidel's Cuba or the latter
years of the USSR. At least such nations provide - or did provide - full
employment, universal health care, and a sense of community.
-
- But for three centuries or more, opinion was sacred.
The idea that no man or woman should be arrested for their thoughts or
beliefs was an essential part of a civilised society. But Zundel has endured
over two years in jail, and faces the possibility of much more jail time,
solely because of his opinions on the events of World War II. I say 'solely',
but - who knows - maybe his pamphlet "The West, War and Islam"
also contributed to his arrest as a 'Public Enemy'.
-
- In "The West, War and Islam" he warns that
'..distorted viewpoints are deliberately being used and often magnified
to goad the West into a future criminal war against the Islamic world.'
-
- Huh, completely wrong there, Ernst!
-
- Jesting aside, Zundel 'denies' much less than some might
imagine, saying that: 'It is absolutely true that Jews were incarcerated
and often treated cruelly. They were seen as the enemy, just as in our
times the "Nazis" are seen as the enemy of entrenched oligarchies.'
He just disbelieves in the existence of extermination gas chambers, after
initiating some first hand research on the matter. Surely the normal, rational
procedure would be have honest, open debate on this subject, and not to
suppress one side of the argument. Suspicion must always fall on those
who attempt to silence their opponents.
-
- One very important statement on the case was made by
Dr. Roger Dommergue from France, who had this to say to American officials:
-
- 'I have known M. Zundel these last 20 years, and as a
Jew I felt compelled to check what he said and published. I became conscious
of the fact that he was a most distinguished mind, that he told the truth
and that I could understand why my all-powerful peers did not like him!
I feel that a country in which he resides can be proud of having him. Please
give him back his liberty in the country of liberty, and keep away from
the totalitarianism of my worst peers who think they have all the rights
because of their financial and political power.'
-
- All true, of course, but Zundel was still railroaded
back to Germany, after high-level twisting of the law had taken place in
both the USA and Canada. There his trial began just a week ago, on the
8th November, with Zundel's first thoughts just before its start being
for others : 'This judgment is important for other imprisoned idealists
/ human rights activists - people who struggle for their human and civil
rights in Germany and beyond!'
-
- The trial itself has an interesting feature in that the
defence team must weave a delicate ballet, for if they seem to share the
heretic's views, then they too are subject to arrest. It is like the return
of Galileo!
-
- However, unlike the deluded American and British dole
queue conscripts now occupying Iraq, Zundel has one great consolation:
-
- "At least I have the privilege of understanding
the forces which took hold of me. God have mercy on mankind!"
|
