Zündel offered the full unedited interview for sale to his supporters
so that "everyone can decide whether or not I got a fair shake.
I do not think that it was fair. All of my readers that don't think I got
a fair shake should write to the Canadian Radio and Television Commission
in Ottawa and protest this abuse and ideologically motivated hatchet job...Your
letter would go a long way to get this situation corrected! Letters are
a terrific weapon in the struggle for justice and freedom!"
On March 5, 1993, after yet another six month investigation of Zündel
involving three police forces, the Hate Literature Section of the Ontario
Provincial Police informed the Canadian Jewish Congress that no charges
under the hate propaganda law would be laid as Zündel's comments did
not constitute the offence of inciting hatred.
Zündel responded to the news by a press release reiterating his position:
"The facts are: My material, my ideas, my television and radio appearances do not create 'anti-semitic' incidents, because they are not anti-semitic. My material is attempting to counter anti-German hate mongering in the media, in films and in text books. There is a simple solution to this problem: Stop telling untruths, half truths and outright lies about Germans and their role in history and I won't have to counter with uncomfortable and unpopular truths. Simple! Remember: A lie does not become a truth, just because it has been repeated millions of times!"
The Canadian Jewish Congress reacted with fury at the OPP decision and
immediately renewed their call to have Zündel charged, demanding a
meeting with Ontario Premier Bob Rae. They said the decision did not change
their view of Zündel as an "anti-Semite." (Toronto Sun,
March 9, 1993) In the Toronto Star CJC officials were quoted as being "outraged"
at the police for failing to charge Zündel. (Toronto Star, March 9,
1993) Gerta Frieberg, of the CJC, relied on the "Fifth Estate"
programme to justify her contention that Zündel was a "hatemonger."
(Canadian Jewish News, March 18, 1993)
The CJC officials later met with Premier Rae who, it was reported, made
no promises. (Canadian Jewish News, March 18, 1993)
Sabina Citron stated: "He must be charged. Otherwise, we will lose
our respect for the law in Canada." She was "outraged" by
the police decision. "With all the information they have, the police
have still not moved." Citron stated her lawyers had already been
in touch with Crown prosecutors and would continue to lobby for charges.
(Canadian Jewish News, March 18, 1993)
B'nai Brith stated that they were confident Zündel would be charged
at some point in the future when sufficient evidence was gathered. (Canadian
Jewish News, March 18, 1993)
To his supporters, Zündel wrote in his newsletter (March 22, 1993):
"There has to be room for honest differences of opinion, about everything, history included.
Even a child or simpleton knows that the German viewpoint on the second world war would be different from the Jewish experience, at least as different as the Soviet version of the 'Great Patriotic' War' is to them.
It is foolish for Jewish thinkers, writers, or lobbyists and media personalities to be so stubborn, arrogant, and insensitive to think that they had the one and only infallible truth in history. Their interpretation was the one and only, no other viewpoint was valid or matters!
It is shortsighted for the Jewish leadership to think that they can impose their intellectual will on all people, and that they can forever terrorize into silence hundreds of millions of people by vilifying and character assassinating people - decent, carefree, honest people - just because they do not like a different viewpoint on a mere detail of the history of the second world war.
The Supreme Court Decision, affirming my right to express an unpopular, even heretical or false opinion, shook my enemies to the core!"
After the refusal of the Ontario Provincial Police to charge Zündel
with inciting hatred, B'nai Brith and the Canadian Holocaust Remembrance
Association and other Jewish groups paid for an advertisement in York University's
student newspaper the "excalibur" (March 24, 1993) urging students
to sign a petition to Attorney General Marion Boyd to charge Zündel
with inciting hatred. The ad quoted Edward Lintner's above-quoted comment
from the "Fifth Estate" programme, and stated: "BUT YOU
CAN HELP STOP THIS HATEMONGER." The ad was endorsed by various
university clubs such as the Jewish Students Association, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual
Collective, York Federation of Students, Womens Centre, African Students
Association, etc. Anti-Zündel video-tapes were played on monitors
in the halls of the university where tables had been set up for students
to sign the petition to re-charge Zündel. Speakers like Bernie Farber
from the Canadian Jewish Congress agitated the students with anti-Zündel
diatribes on the campus.
At about the same time, B'nai Brith released its report "The Extreme
Right: International Peace and Security at Risk" which had been funded
by a grant from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in the amount
of $100,000.00. One of its conclusions was that "Ernst Zündel,
a German citizen and resident of Toronto, is recognized as a major international
purveyor of Holocaust denial materials, but officials indicated he has
little impact in Germany." (Canadian Jewish News, March 11, 1993)
In a rally held in April of 1993, the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem held
a rally to combat "neo-Nazi" political movements. Its co-chairman
told the group in the presence of the German consul-general:
"Germany has asked many times that we suppress this material but the request gets lost in Canada's bureaucratic nightmare...In Germany, Ernst Zündel goes to jail. In Canada we call him a publisher." (Toronto Star, March 1, 1993)
In May of 1993, a sit-in in the lobby of the Ontario Attorney General's
offices and demonstrations outside the Attorney General's building were
held by the Jewish Student Network demanding that Zündel be charged
with hate. (Canadian Jewish News, May 28, 1993)
The media-fueled hysteria unleashed by the actions of B'nai Brith and the
Canadian Jewish Congress eventually had their effect as a vigilante mentality
began to develop amongst leftists, anarchists, the homosexual and lesbian
community and Jewish radicals in Toronto.
"ANTI-RACIST ACTION" (ARA) RIOT - JUNE 11, 1993
On June 11, 1993, a Marxist-Anarchist group called Anti-Racist Action (ARA)
trashed the home of Heritage Front member Gary Schipper. Described by the
Toronto Sun as a "rampaging mob of close to 300 anti-racists",
they did not attack Zündel's house as expected, but instead attacked
Schipper's house, smashing windows and doors, tossing smoke bombs, paint
bombs, rocks and bags of excrement through the broken windows. (Toronto
Sun, June 12, 1993) Zündel's house had been well-protected by the
police and the ARA had decided at the last moment to attack the less protected
home of Schipper.
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress said he understood why the
violence occurred: "While I can understand why these young people
feel frustrated at police inaction, violence is only counterproductive."
(Globe & Mail, June 14, 1993) Farber used the occasion to criticize
the police and government for failing to use the hate laws: "The police
and Marion Boyd especially have to take this as a message. They have to
start applying Canada's hate-mongering laws otherwise things will get worse
before they get better." (Toronto Star, June 14, 1993)
Other anti-racist groups such as the Black Action Defence Committee openly
supported the violence. ((Toronto Star, June 14, 1993)
In a subsequent media interview, members of the ARA pointed to the acquittal
of Zündel as a justification for violence. (Globe & Mail, June
16, 1993)
"ANTI-RACIST ACTION" (ARA) DEMONSTRATION- NOVEMBER 24, 1993
On November 24, 1993, the ARA demonstrated outside Zündel's house.
The event had been advertised in posters posted by the hundreds in downtown
Toronto that stated:
"THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY...NOT! STOP ZÜNDEL. Prevent a Nazi March! Toronto will no longer tolerate racism and fascism. We will be at the courts to prevent a Nazi march and then we will march to Zündel's production and distribution hatequarters."
The poster contained a photograph of Zündel with a rifle cross-hairs
superimposed over his head.
The demonstrators hurled eggs and red paint at the house. Five people were
arrested for assaulting police. 60 police officers were positioned to protect
the premises, some on horses. Some shouted, "Nazi in the neighbourhood,
trash him out." (Globe & Mail, Nov. 25, 1993)
On March 20, 1994, CBS "60 Minutes" aired a segment entitled
"Who Says It Never Happened?" on Holocaust revisionism featuring
an interview between Mike Wallace and Zündel. The original interview,
which had lasted for over one hundred minutes, was edited down to less
than four minutes of on-air time and gave a severely distorted picture
of the interview.
B'nai Brith called for Holocaust revisionism to be made a unique criminal
offence because the acquittal of Zündel and been wrongly interpreted
by law enforcement officials. (Canadian Jewish News, Oct. 27, 1994)
In November of 1994, Conservative MPP Charles Harnick, a Jew and a member
of the Yad Vashem Society, demanded to know in the legislature why Attorney
General Boyd had not charged Zündel with inciting hatred. Boyd replied
that charges were laid in the first instance by the police and that no
case had yet been made for a charge. (Transcript, Legislative Assembly
of Ontario, p. 7759)
"PROFESSION: NEO-NAZI"
After the airing of the documentary "Profession: Neo-Nazi" on
TVO television on March 29, 1995, the CJC again called on the Attorney
General of Ontario to charge Zündel. This call for prosecution was
also unsuccessful. (Canadian Jewish News, April 6, 1995, p. 4)
ARSON - JEWISH DEFENCE LEAGUE (1995)
Early in the morning of May 7, 1995, a man spread an inflammable liquid
over the porch of Zündel's house and set it on fire. The ensuing blaze
destroyed the front part of the house and totally gutted the third floor
causing $400,000 in damages. Kahane Chai, an offshoot of the Jewish Defence
League, claimed responsibility for the arson. (Toronto Sun, May 9, 1995)
The arson was preceded by agitation for months by the groups Anti-Racist
Action and Cabbagetown Campaign Against Nazis in Our Neighbourhood (C-Cannon)
to drive Zündel from the neighbourhood he had lived and worked as
a painter, writer and graphic artist for twenty years. Spray-painted slogans
and posters of "Drive Zündel Out!" and "Die Nazi Die!"
were posted in area.
The founder of C-Cannon, a school teacher named Bruce Eakin, who died some
months later of AIDS, clapped and cheered the fire. Asked if he condoned
the use of violence against Zündel, he said, "Absolutely. If
people don't fight back, then where are we?" (Toronto Star, May 8,
1995)
The media on the whole reported the arson and the near destruction of Zündel's
house with what can only be described as glee and pleasure.
Brian Hendersen of CHUM Radio reported the arson on its morning show news
on Monday, May 8, 1995 as follows:
"The 50th anniversary of VE Day, "V" for victory in the Second World War, was celebrated all over the world in a variety of ways yesterday, the most interesting observance coming here in Toronto where someone decided to pay tribute to the total surrender of the Nazis by torching hatemonger Ernst Zündel's house on Carlton Street. The fire was discovered early yesterday morning by a neighbour who noticed a man calmly walking down the street with a gas can. By the time the fire department had it doused damage was estimated at $500,000. Zündel was also out of town at the time but says he saw this coming. He receives regular threats, he says, but vows to carry on his campaign to lionize the Nazis while refuting the Holocaust. Says Zündel, 'I'll be damned if a bunch of leftist freaks are going to drive me out.' In contrast, a neighbour lady who stood on the sidewalk smiling while the fire was burning said, 'I don't want anyone to get hurt but I'm thrilled this happened.'"
Henderson's voice and delivery left no doubt that he approved of the
arson.
Dick Smyth, a columnist at the Toronto Sun, wrote:
"There are reports of a fire at Ernst Zündel's home in Cabbagetown and the destruction of his library of 5,000 books. I don't believe it ever happened, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary. The fire actually was a barbecue. The library of hate literature was really a tennis court." (The Toronto Sun, May 11, 1995)
Gary Dunford of the Toronto Sun wrote:
"Despite reports and documentation elsewhere, we choose to deny that Ernst Zündel's house burned up. Indeed, how do we really know this house ever existed? And if there was no house, how could there have been a fire? Checkmate. We've been blinded by the light. Or strange pamphlets. Or example. Or something." (Toronto Sun, May 9, 1995)
Bert Raphael, a prominent Jewish lawyer in Toronto and president of the Jewish Civil Rights Educational Foundation of Canada, wrote:
"Would it not be poetic justice if the insurers of Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel denied coverage for the fire that occurred at his home on the basis that it never happened?" (Globe & Mail, May 13, 1995)
The Canadian Jewish Congress made a lukewarm condemnation of the arson,
saying it was "unfortunate" and "deplorable." (Toronto
Sun, May 9, 1995).
Christie Blatchford, columnist for the Toronto Sun, wrote an important
column pointing out that in Canada the history of extremist political violence
came almost exclusively from the left. It included the riots at Sir George
Williams University in 1969, the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte
by the FLQ, the bombing of Litton Systems in Toronto, the dynamiting of
a British Columbia Hydro substation and the trashing of Heritage Front
member Gary Schipper's house in 1993. She concluded:
"Ernst Zündel is a distasteful fellow. His belief that the Holocaust never happened is, to me, so beyond the pale it is barely worthy of contempt. But he is not typical of the Canadian fanatic, and his group is not typical of the Canadian political extremist, and the blessedly limited tradition of bombings, and violence, and destruction in Canada comes not from the likes of Zündel, but rather from the smug and virtuous left." (Toronto Sun, May 9, 1995)
Shortly after the fire, Irv Rubin of the Jewish Defence League in the
United States and Meir Halevi of the Jewish Defence League in Canada came
to Zündel's house accompanied by two leading ARA members and attempted
to breach a protective barrier at the house. They were photographed and
filmed by Zündel's security surveillance cameras. Even though they
were apprehended and questioned by police at Zündel's request, they
were let go within minutes. Rubin has an extensive record of violence in
the United States and Halevi had publicly threatened violence against "haters"
in the past.
In an interview with NOW magazine (May 18-24, 1995), Halevi (alias Marvin
Weinstein) stated that Rubin was in Toronto "to discuss Jewish armed
resistance and applaud the recent arson attack on Zündel." Both
Halevi and Rubin attended the convention of the Canadian Jewish Congress
in Montreal that weekend.
It took seven months to rebuild Zündel's house. Zündel lost his
valuable 5,000 volume library and rare book collection and expensive office
equipment, none of which was insured because of the 1984 bombing. No suspects
have been arrested to date.
MAIL PIPE BOMB (1995)
In April of 1995, Zündel received in the mail an envelope containing
a razor blade glued onto a mousetrap. A letter accompanying the trap, from
a group called "Anti-Fascist Militia" said:
"SNAP...
Greeting's racist trash,
You and your organization have proven your self to be true scum. We don't really expect that you will immediately cease your activities in response to our threats. So take this first wave of devices as a declaration of war. Until we see evidence that you and your organization have stopped your fascistic activities, you, and others like you, will need to watch your backs, your homes, your cars, your mailboxes, your offices, your food...
This is only the beginning.
NO JUSTICE - NO PEACE.
MORE TO COME FROM THE ANTI-FASCIST MILITIA
...next time it might be BOOM!"