Holocaust denier jailed in Germany

An 87-year-old German woman has been convicted of Holocaust denial and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Prominent neo-Nazi Ursula Haverbeck was charged earlier this year after giving an interview outside the trial of former SS sergeant Oskar Groening, claiming Auschwitz was not a death camp.

When she challenged the presiding judge in Hamburg to prove it was, Bild newspaper said he told her he would not debate with someone who “can’t accept any facts”, adding: “I also don’t have to prove to you the world is round.”

Groening, who gave lengthy evidence on how the death camp functioned, was convicted of 300,000 counts of accessory to murder for the Jews killed while he was there.

Haverbeck said she would appeal yesterday’s ruling by the Hamburg state court.