ZGram - 2/18/2004 - "Ernst Zundel in Court: Update"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

  February 18, 2004

  Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I had a 15-minute telephone conversation with Ernst.  His voice was 
strong and forceful.   When I asked how the day went, he said simply: 
"I essentially re-told my youth." 

He felt the day had gone well - he had an attentive audience and a 
supportive and respectful legal team that made it easy for him to 
relax.  He said some media folks were present, as were "quite a few 
Jews."  

I knew why he said it - he and I have often talked about how spooked 
his adversaries are of late by so much negative publicity coming at 
them from all sides, where practically every country is now ganging 
up on them for their perceived murky role in 9/11, the Iraq war, the 
USS Liberty and other mass murders either known or suspected.  They 
need their "security blanket" of knowing Ernst Zundel in jail - it 
shows, or so they like to tell themselves,  that they still have some 
clout!

The day before, a long-time Zundel supporter and loyal comrade had 
died, and Ernst had been asked to write the eulogy, which will be 
read at the funeral service.  He took great care to write it, even 
though he needed every minute preparation time for court.

  Paul Fromm's write-up below:

  [START]

  Subject: THE ERNST ZUNDEL STORY: IMMIGRANT SUCCESS, BUDDING POLITICIAN

  TORONTO. February 18, 2004. 

  Court heard a relaxed Ernst Zundel tell of his life in Canada. His 
was an immigrant success story: a graphic artist, with 400 words of 
English, who almost immediately was earning twice the average wage 
and was quickly moving to the top of his profession. Proud of his 
newly adopted land, Mr. Zundel began to educate himself about 
politics and began to participate,  first in the Ralliament des 
Creditistes (the Social Credit Party) in Quebec and, then, in the 
Liberal Party. However, as he began to speak out for fairness for 
German Canadians, he became the object of a concerted lobbying 
campaign by organized Jewish groups that led to his being denied 
citizenship, being charged on numerous occasions, and being the 
victims of bombings, arson, telephone harassment and assault.

  	The Zundel story emerged in a Toronto Court today before Mr. 
Justice Pierre Blais. The court hearing is investigating the 
reasonableness of a CSIS national security certificate issued last 
May 1 against Mr. Zundel and alleging that he is a threat to national 
security because he is a terrorist. The testimony of the 64-year old 
German publisher was cut short at 3:10m when lead counsel Peter 
Lindsay, after consulting with other members of the defence team, 
requested an adjournment. Mr. Zundel had been relaxed, confident and 
humorous in his morning testimony. However, as the afternoon wore on, 
he became pale and somewhat forgetful. Mr. Lindsay told the Court Mr. 
Zundel was suffering from the effects of antibiotics given him Monday 
for a periodontal condition.

  	Mr. Zundel told the Court: "I was born on April 24, 1939" in 
Southern Germany. "My father was a Social Democrat and a Seventh Day 
Adventist. Early on, I was recognized for my aptitude for drawing and 
art. I went to Pforzheim, a town 20 km. away, took an aptitude test 
and enrolled in an institute for graphic arts. I was in a three year 
apprenticeship, which lasted from ages 14 to 17. I attended school 
two days a week."

  	On graduating, Mr. Zundel spent a year in Northern Germany 
"to learn German", as, up until then, he had only spoken the local 
Swabish dialect. He, then, applied to emigrate to Canada. 

  	"I came to Canada in 1958, first to Quebec City and, then, to 
Montreal," he told the Court. "I started work in Toronto, but moved 
back to Montreal in 1960."  His fine German education ensured that 
his graphic arts skills were in high demand in Toronto.

  	"I had 400 words of English and no French, when I arrived," 
Mr. Zundel explained. "Within three days of arriving in Toronto, I 
landed a fantastic job in the graphic arts department of Simpson 
Sears. I was earning twice the average salary. I went to night school 
to learn English and there met my wife, a French Canadian girl named 
Janick who came from Ste. Josette d'Alma. We married. My wife was 
pregnant and became homesick for Quebec. We moved to Montreal in 
1960."

  	In Montreal, "there was not enough work for my 
qualifications. So, I freelanced and scrambled very hard to find 
work. I was making less in a month than I had earned in one week in 
Toronto.. Eventually, I landed a good job at Macdonald's Federated. 
By 1963, I had earned enough money to buy a house and two cars."

  	However, Mr. Zundel was spiritually restless. His swift 
financial and professional success made him hungry to learn and 
broaden himself. His political education began in 1960, when he met 
Adrien Arcand, who, in the 1930s. "had started the National Socialist 
Christian Party in Quebec. A former RCMP undercover agent told me to 
visit Mr. Arcand.'

  	A solemn Mr. Zundel told Mr. Justice Pierre Blais: "Mr. 
Arcand was the most profound influence on my life. He let me read the 
books in his huge library, including books in German. We'd meet on 
Saturday mornings and talk, while my wife and Madame Arcand and my 
son would socialize. Mr. Arcand said I was a brainwashed young 
German. I'd been taught the Allies non-history at school. Mr. Arcand 
had a profound influence on me. He shook me up. It took me two years 
to realize that there was another version of history. We talked about 
Nuremburg, about ex post facto law. Mr. Arcand saved me decades of 
going down false tracks. He had been one of Quebec's best 
journalists. Mr. Arcand was one of the greatest French Canadians I've 
met in my life. My relationship with him continued until the day he 
died in 1967."

  	Flowing from what he'd learned from Adrien Arcand, Mr. Zundel 
decided to get involved in politics. "Much to the dismay of Adrien 
Arcand, I joined the Creditistes of Rheal Caouette. I became their 
ethnic groups' organizer. I met Gilles Caouette and Dr. Robert 
Thompson, the leader of the Western wing of the Social Credit Party. 
I made radio commercials for the Creditistes in the early 1960s. 
Rheal Caouette was a real firebrand. He was alive to the Jewish 
issue. Copies of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion were 
sometimes sold under the counter at Creditiste meetings."

  	It was not long, however, before Mr. Zundel became 
disillusioned with the mercurial Creditistes, who had captured the 
public interest by being different from the staid and compromised old 
parties, the Liberals and Conservatives. Mr. Zundel came to believe 
that Caouette lacked  substance. "Mr. Caouette had little ideology. 
Factions and schisms began to develop within the party."

  	Mr. Zundel began to look around for a new political home. "I 
kept an eye on the Liberal Party. I saw people there like Andre 
Laurendeau and Jean Lesage. Under Premier Lesage and his 'Quiet 
Revolution', Quebec was becoming almost European and much less 
Church-dominated. I joined the Liberals in 1967.

  	I was doing graphic arts work and had founded Ernst Zundel 
Studios. I attended night school courses at Sir George Williams 
University, taking courses in political science, history, English and 
French." Although working at a full time job, Mr. Zundel also wrote 
for the student newspaper.

  	When Prime Minister Lester Pearson stepped down as Liberal 
leader because of ill health, according to Liberal Party tradition, 
the next leader would be a French Canadian.  I had supported 
bilingualism. When Jewish Judge Maxwell Cohen spearheaded a 
resolution supporting bilingual labelling, I seconded the resolution."

  	In a bold move for a recent immigrant, the ambitious Ernst 
Zundel announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal 
Party at a press conference at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Hotel 
in downtown Montreal. Reminiscing about this golden bygone era, Mr. 
Zundel told the Court: "I loved this country. It was 1967. With Expo 
'67, Montreal was the centre of the world. There was no inflation. I 
wanted to put my shoulder to the wheel. I felt that German and 
European immigrants were getting the short end of the stick. We 
wanted to enjoy full equality and our share of the political pie and 
not just be trotted out for ethnic folk dances when the Queen 
visited. I was the representative for the new European arrivals," Mr. 
Zundel said.

  	The eventual winner of the 1968 Liberal leadership contest, 
Pierre Elliot Trudeau spent $375,000 on the race. "I spent $3,750 of 
my own money," Mr. Zundel explained to the Court. "However, I spoke 
to 25,000 people at the Ottawa Civic Centre. I got my message across. 
I was called a 'maverick' and a 'dark horse'. To fulfill the party 
rules, I had to rustle up the endorsements of 50 prominent Liberals."

  	However, the brash Ernst Zundel was too pushy for some 
people. "Germans should be seen and not heard," Gerard Pelletier, one 
of the "three wise men" and a close associate of Pierre Trudeau's 
warned him. -- 

  [END]

  [The EZ life story be continued today in an all-day hearing]