Abravanel: Antisemitic ministers and Holocaust deniers enter the new Greek government

In other words a minister of the Greek government [Adonis Georgiadis] was called by a neonazi [Konstantin Plevris] to defend his book which advocated the extermination of the Greek Jewish Community.  (About Plevris see: - K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite" and Kostas Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not.)  And guess what?  Nicolas Sarkozy has sent his congratulations to the new Government. European politicians, the elites, the media and the European Commission have remained silent and focused their attention on Berlusconi's departure.  Thus avoiding unpleasant subjects.

“Let’s talk about the myth of Auschwitz and Dachau and talk about these ovens, to talk about these gas chambers, whether the gas chambers were insulated to hold gas inside or they were simple bricks” (George Karatzaferis). 

Source: Abravanel blog

A. What happened ?

Under international pressure over erroneous political decisions concerning the economic policy, the socialist government led by Yorgos Papandreou collapsed. A new government of national unity was formed led by former European Central Bank vice-president Lukas Papademos and supported by the majoritarian socialist party PASOK, the conservative Nea Dimokratia and the far-Right LàOS; the leftist SYRIZA and the Greek Communist Party have declined to participate. Although there is a long history of public antisemitism within all greek parties, it was usually kept under control by moderate leadership; these new developments mark the first time that the antisemitic far-Right gains institutional access and real power by entering in four ministries with one minister and three undersecretaries.

B. The recent history of the LàOS party

Until 2000 the greek Far-Right practically consisted of two major groups: the faction inside the greek conservative party of Nea Dimokratia and a small neonazi galaxy of groups in which the violent Chrisi Avgi, (Golden Dawn) was prominent. The domination of the two major parties, the conservative Nea Dimokratia and the socialist PASOK in which nationalistic and antisemitic sentiments were tolerated but also kept in check, gave grounds to the often cited but misleading assumption that a strong Far-Right does not exist in Greece.

All this changed when Yorgos Karatzaferis, a parliamentarian from Nea Dimokratia was expelled in 2000 when he accused the party leader of being surrounded by gays. Immediately after he created his new party called LàOS, (Popular Orthodox Rally), which managed 4 years later to enter the European Parliament and 3 years afterwards to enter the Greek Parliament.

Greece: Jewish cemetery vandalized for 3rd time this year

ATHENS (EJP)---A Jewish cemetery in Ioannina, in northwestern Greece, was vandalized for the third time this year.

According to the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, extremists brutally vandalized six tombs – among which that of the mother of the President of the local Jewish community-, destroyed part of a Holocaust memorial situated in the cemetery and daubed it with the blood of a turtle which they previously killed. The desecration occurred early on Wednesday morning, news reports said.

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The president of the Jewish community of Ioninna, Moses Elisaf, who is also a town councilor, urged local authorities "to take measures to arrest the perpetrators" and called upon his fellow citizens "to condemn these violent anti-Semitic attacks."
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The Central Board issued a statement stressing "the responsibility of the local authorities" and urging "all competent authorities to speed up the procedure to arrest the vandals" and the local society to react against the manifestations of anti-Semitism in Ioannina".

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The Board stressed that the attack against the Jewish cemetery "is directly related to the recent court decision to acquit neo-nazi writer Kostas Plevris who incites to acts of violence against the Greek Jews."
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The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece addressed a letter of protest to the Interior Minister asking for the protection of Jewish sites.

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Central Board President Moses Constantinis has blamed the authorities for ignoring the repeated requests for the protection of the cemetery by police. He also pointed out the recent increase of anti-Semitic incidents in Greece. Local representatives of political parties have condemned the attack.

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Hundreds of Jews lived in Ioannina until the outbreak of World War II. Most were deported to concentration camps under the Nazi occupation of Greece.

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Article by Maud Swinnen

- Greek Jews protest over cemetery vandalism

- Mikis Theodorakis is denounced for referring to Jews as "the root of evil"

- Greek Newspaper: "The End of Jewish Domination"

- Greek Holocaust denier acquitted by Athens Appeals court

- Kostas Plevris - Greek Neo-Nazi Author Convicted

- K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"

- Kostas Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not

Greek Holocaust denier acquitted by Athens Appeals court

"In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory." " (Kostas Plevris)
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"... the Appeals court prosecutor characterized Plevris’s defamatory book - which denies the Holocaust, calls the Jews "sub-human" and threatens them with the "re-opening of the crematoria in Auschwitz" - a "scientific work"."

"ATHENS (EJP): The Greek Jewish community said Friday it was "shocked" after neo-Nazi militant Kostas Plevris, who wrote a book denying the Holocaust and containing offensive references to Jews, was acquitted by an Appeals court in Athens.

Plevris was found not guilty of "incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jews" by the 5-member court.

In a reaction, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece (KIS) expressed its "disappointment and amazement at the decision of the Athens court.

"This decision saddens and causes concern among citizens of a modern democratic society as a self-confessed advocate of Nazism and racism remains unpunished though he not only distorts proven historical evidence, but even worse, uses his pen to incite hatred and provoke discrimination and violence against citizens of Greece and Europe," the Central Board said.

"The Greek Jewry believes that the fundamental constitutional right of freedom of speech has nothing to do with the direct threats, insults and incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jews that Plevris includes in his book" titled "Jews-The whole truth".

Plevris had been convicted in first instance in December 2007 and condemned to 14 months of imprisonment on probation for three years for "racial insult", "incitement to hatred and racial violence" on the basis of the 1979 anti-racist law.

At the time, the Jewish community saw the trial as a key test of the Greek authorities’ determination to deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in a country where anti-Semitic literature such as the infamous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is on sale in bookshops. The charges against Plevris were also brought by the Helsinki Monitor and the "Anti-Nazi Initiative" organization, two human right Greek NGO’s.

He immediately appealed the sentence.

According to Moses Constantinis, the Appeals court prosecutor characterized Plevris’s defamatory book - which denies the Holocaust, calls the Jews "sub-human" and threatens them with the "re-opening of the crematoria in Auschwitz" - a "scientific work".

To express the resentment of the Greek Jews, the Jewish umbrella body has decided not to be represented at the European symposium "Building together the Future of Europe" which will be held next Monday in Brussels, "given that theoretical analysis and statements made by Greek MEPs on the denunciation and condemnation of anti-Semitism are meaningless".

Around 6,000 Jews live in Greece."
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From The Jews - The Whole Truth :

Adolf Hitler: The tragic leader of the German Third Reich is certainly the most impressive leadership figure of the modern age… Human history will blame Adolf Hitler for the following: 1. He could have rid Europe of the Jews, but did not; 2. He did not use the special chemical weapons, which only Germany possessed, to gain a victory... Because of the defeat of Germany then, the White Race and Europe are at risk now… The day will come when Europeans will either dominate or be destroyed. Either way they will acknowledge that Hitler was right... (p. 881)
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Heinrich Himmler: Chief in Command of the SS… facts and arguments verify the high moral standing of the Man who, despite the fact that in one day he could have issued the order for all Jews to be put to death, chose to expel them from Europe so as to rid the continent of the White Race of the non-European Semites.... The SS, in particular the combatant SS (Waffen SS,) were the knights in armor of the modern age, indomitable fighting men from every country in Europe, who sacrificed their lives for the ideal of a New Order for civilized peoples. Unfortunately for the human race, they were defeated… They were all fine examples of faith, discipline and fighting skill, serving the ideals of National Socialism. Their bearing reflected the greatness of their character so only the very best of the Aryan Race were included in the ranks of the SS…. (p. 869)
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Joseph Goebbels: One of the brightest minds of the century. A philosopher and fighter with a deep understanding of mass psychology, on every battlefield he vanquished Jewish Bolshevism and headed his country's all out war. (p. 885)Hitler was blamed for something that did not actually take place. Later the history of humanity will blame him for not ridding Europe of the Jews, though he could have … My dear Jews, I do not ask you to suffer all the things that your holy books tell you that we should suffer from you… You are criminals because that is what your religion has taught you to be. You are murderers because crime is instilled in you from an early age. Therefore we others have the right to deal with you. And that is what we will do. (p. 852)
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ZYKLON B, so extensively publicized as the gas used to put Jews to death in the special gas chambers (which have not been found) was merely a poisonous gas used to fumigate the concentration camps … everything else [said about it] is fiction produced for the purposes of propaganda. (p. 1008)
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The SS divisions fought with unparalleled heroism. (p. 853)
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In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory. (p. 869)

- Kostas Plevris - Greek Neo-Nazi Author Convicted
- K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"
- Kostas Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not
- Anti-semitism in Greece: Final conviction of "Eleftheros Cosmos"

Kostas Plevris - Greek Neo-Nazi Author Convicted

"In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory."

"A Greek court sentenced a neo-Nazi author of an anti-Semitic book to a 14-month suspended sentence, in the first case of its kind in Greece. Constantine Plevris was found guilty of inciting hatred and racial violence with his book The Jews - The Whole Truth.

In his 1,400 page book, Plevris glorifies Hitler and calls for the extermination of the Jews. He declares himself "a Nazi, a fascist, a racist, an anti-democrat, an anti-Semite. Jews are mortal enemies and deserve the firing squad".

"Hitler is only criticized for not clearing Europe of the Jews. Afterwards, history of humankind will accuse him (Hitler) of having done nothing to rid Europe of the Jews, though he could," the author writes.

He adds: "They rightly preserve the camp (Auschwitz) at a good condition, because nobody knows what might happen in the future."

"We thank the Greek justice system for its dignity and for demonstrating that we truly live in a democratic society," president of the Central Jewish Council of Greece, Moisis Constantinis, said after the trial.

Moses Costantinis testified in court that after the book was published, attacks against Jewish sites increased.

Benjamin Albalas, head of the Jewish Community of Athens, said before the court that the book "incites violence and encourages people to kill us."

Defense lawyers said their clients were being persecuted for freely expressing their views.

The Jewish community saw the trial as a key test of the Greek authoritiesʼ determination to deal with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece issued the following press release: "Regarding the decision of the Athens Court of Appeal for Indictable Offences to find against K. Plevris, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece expresses its contentment with the decision of the Court as it effectively condemns modern-day racism and Nazism in any form. This decision is an instrumental parameter in the on-going, unceasing battle being waged by society and humanity against barbarity and racism, anti-Semitism and fascism".

Mr. Plevris, who plans to appeal, claimed that if he was convicted, it would merely show that the judges had been "bought by the Jews".

On trial together with Plevris, the publisher, the editor and a journalist of the extreme-right weekly newspaper Elefteros Kosmos were found not guilty.

Elefteros Kosmos (Free World) is a marginal extreme right wing weekly with no more than 800 copies in circulation. Plevris is also appearing on a small TV station "Extra".

Once the book was published in May 2006, the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) immediately filled a suite against it under the anti-discrimination law. But a district attorney later dropped the charge of discrimination and instead charged the book with a lesser offence of disseminating false facts.

The anti-Nazi Organization of Greece and the Greek Jewish umbrella organization Central Jewish Board of Greece (CJBG) filled a suit to oblige the district attorney to accept the charge of discrimination.

The trial had a rocky start when district attorney L. Lazarakos moved to have the GHM and the CJBG removed from the trial claiming that no individual Jew was in any immediate danger and that two organizations had no legal claim or standing. The three judges accepted Lazarakosʼs argument.

The district attorney also surprised the court when he called the book "a scientific research" and asked for the acquittal of all defendants. But the court decided with a 2-1 decision to convict Plevris.

It was the first trial in Greece on the recently introduced incitement charges, under the 1979 anti-discrimination law."

An estimated 60,000 Greek Jews, most of the country's prewar Jewish population, were killed by the Nazis during World War II. Around 4,000 Jews live today in Greece."

Source: Greek News
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From The Jews - The Whole Truth :

Adolf Hitler: The tragic leader of the German Third Reich is certainly the most impressive leadership figure of the modern age… Human history will blame Adolf Hitler for the following: 1. He could have rid Europe of the Jews, but did not; 2. He did not use the special chemical weapons, which only Germany possessed, to gain a victory... Because of the defeat of Germany then, the White Race and Europe are at risk now… The day will come when Europeans will either dominate or be destroyed. Either way they will acknowledge that Hitler was right... (p. 881)

Heinrich Himmler: Chief in Command of the SS… facts and arguments verify the high moral standing of the Man who, despite the fact that in one day he could have issued the order for all Jews to be put to death, chose to expel them from Europe so as to rid the continent of the White Race of the non-European Semites.... The SS, in particular the combatant SS (Waffen SS,) were the knights in armor of the modern age, indomitable fighting men from every country in Europe, who sacrificed their lives for the ideal of a New Order for civilized peoples. Unfortunately for the human race, they were defeated… They were all fine examples of faith, discipline and fighting skill, serving the ideals of National Socialism. Their bearing reflected the greatness of their character so only the very best of the Aryan Race were included in the ranks of the SS…. (p. 869)

Joseph Goebbels: One of the brightest minds of the century. A philosopher and fighter with a deep understanding of mass psychology, on every battlefield he vanquished Jewish Bolshevism and headed his country's all out war. (p. 885)

Hitler was blamed for something that did not actually take place. Later the history of humanity will blame him for not ridding Europe of the Jews, though he could have … My dear Jews, I do not ask you to suffer all the things that your holy books tell you that we should suffer from you… You are criminals because that is what your religion has taught you to be. You are murderers because crime is instilled in you from an early age. Therefore we others have the right to deal with you. And that is what we will do. (p. 852)

ZYKLON B, so extensively publicized as the gas used to put Jews to death in the special gas chambers (which have not been found) was merely a poisonous gas used to fumigate the concentration camps … everything else [said about it] is fiction produced for the purposes of propaganda. (p. 1008)

The SS divisions fought with unparalleled heroism. (p. 853)

In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory. (p. 869)

- K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"
- Kostas Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not
- Anti-semitism in Greece: Final conviction of "Eleftheros Cosmos"

Greek insurance claims (and Jewish greed)

Abravanel makes an important but largely ignored point: there is a widespread belief in Europe - and not only in Greece - that Jews received and are still receiving considerable amounts of money from their own and the German governments as compensation for the Holocaust. The truth of the matter is that most Jewish survivors did not get their property back and received little or no compensation for their material losses, or for their suffering and the loss of their murdered relatives.

"... how interesting was it to see Christian Greeks acting in the same way that, when practiced by Jewish Greeks, is considered "greedy"."
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"One of the leitmotifs in Greece is how Jews became immensely rich by compensations by Germany or even by Greece which supposedly paid Israel in return to Jewish property (!!!). This is augmented by the "Holocaust Industry" story in which Jews constantly ask for money and political support from Germany/Switzerland for the alleged victims, which is ten-fold the amount originally lost, (if indeed it was lost). I shall not bother to say that the word "Holocaust Industry" appears in Greece most often in the Far-Right or the Far-Left confirming my theory of an unholy alliance between them on this matter (despite some desperate few voices in the Left to whom I continue to pay tribute).

So when the story broke of Greeks seeking compensations from American life-insurances never paid after the 1922 mass persecutions of Greeks in Asia Minor by the new Turkish state during and after the 1921 Asia Minor Campaign I became curious to know more. Well it appears that the New York Life Insurance Company decided to pay out premiums to the holders of policies sold to persons of Greek descent who never claimed them - a decision linked to the indirect recognition that the persecution was part of a genocide policy.

The decision got a huge exposure in Greece in the television and radio; two posts (1, 2) dealing with the subject entered the WordPress Top 10 most popular posts on the 21st of September 2008. There were even some interviews of descendants in the television and many people hailed the decision for various reasons.

I would like to clarify that I find this decision by the New York Life Insurance Company absolutely correct and inherently moral. Personally I find the people who wish to get the compensations are acting in a legitimate and just manner, not aimed only in acquiring what is legally theirs but also in acknowledgment of the ethnic cleansing which was applied during the Greco-Turkish War.

Having cleared my personal view I would like to add how interesting was it to see Christian Greeks acting in the same way that, when practiced by Jewish Greeks, is considered "greedy". If I had published anything on the Jewish Claims Conference I know that (far too) many would think "wow, these Jews are aways obsessed with money". Hell, on seeing the names of some who commented triumphantly on the decision I recognized a couple who are even Holocaust-Deniers! But still, they had no trouble not only acclaiming the decision but asking for more money! I must admit that the inherent hypocrisy of these people shall never seize to amaze me…".

Read the full article here

Greek Newspaper: "The End of Jewish Domination"
Anti-semitism in Greece: Final conviction of "Eleftheros Cosmos"
K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"

Anti-semitism in Greece: Final conviction of "Eleftheros Cosmos"

Source: EJC

Press Release from The Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece

"Following their conviction at first instance, the editor of the far-right Greek weekly "Eleftheros Cosmos" Dimitris Zafeiropoulos and journalist Theodoros Hatzigogos were tried on 18 September 2008 on appeal before a Three-Member Court of Appeals of Athens, and were unanimously sentenced to imprisonment for 5 months (with a three-year suspension) for anti-semitism (violation of Law 927/1979 against racism), for the article published in the newspaper’s 12 March 2006 issue, which stated : "Thank God, not even 1,500 Jews are left in Thessaloniki ...".

It is worth noting that the defense counsel was Kostas Plevris (!), the known anti-semite and Holocaust denier, who did not fail to plead in court with his familiar arguments against the Jews."

Source: EJP (17.09.2007)

""Elefteros Kosmos" (Free World) is a marginal extreme right wing weekly with no more than 800 copies in circulation. (...)

A conviction based on the anti-discrimination law would constitute a legal precedent allowing for further prosecutions in the future against anti-Semitic literature in Greece.

Dozens of pro-Hitler magazines and books or specifically anti-Semitic - like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion - are being sold in nearly every kiosk and in bookstores in the country.

However nothing is done to deal with this hatred and Nazi propaganda despite the existence of anti-discrimination law.

The reasoning of the courts is that prosecuting this type of literature constitutes a violation of free speech.

Anti-Semitism in Greece, although not violent and institutionalized, is not a marginal ideology of a minority but is embedded in the mainstream society and manifests itself in religious contexts, education, politics and the media.

Recent research showed that 24% of Greeks do not want to have a Jew as a neighbour. The Greek mainstream media is one of the most fiercely anti-Israeli in Europe.

Around 4,000 Jews live today in Greece."

Kosta Plevris: Hitler could have rid Europe of the Jews but did not

The trial of Kostas Plevris, a Greek lawyer, neo-Nazi militant and author of Jews: The Whole Truth, and of the far-right newspaper Eleftheros Cosmos, on charges of breaking the anti-racism law, has opened in Athens on 3 December. Mr. Plevris stands accused of publishing anti-Semitic material and of "inciting actions that could provoke discrimination, hatred and violence against persons and groups of persons, solely because of their racial and ethnic origins". Here are some quotes from his book:

Adolf Hitler: The tragic leader of the German Third Reich is certainly the most impressive leadership figure of the modern age… Human history will blame Adolf Hitler for the following: 1. He could have rid Europe of the Jews, but did not; 2. He did not use the special chemical weapons, which only Germany possessed, to gain a victory... Because of the defeat of Germany then, the White Race and Europe are at risk now… The day will come when Europeans will either dominate or be destroyed. Either way they will acknowledge that Hitler was right... (p. 881)
Heinrich Himmler: Chief in Command of the SS… facts and arguments verify the high moral standing of the Man who, despite the fact that in one day he could have issued the order for all Jews to be put to death, chose to expel them from Europe so as to rid the continent of the White Race of the non-European Semites …. The SS, in particular the combatant SS (Waffen SS,) were the knights in armor of the modern age, indomitable fighting men from every country in Europe, who sacrificed their lives for the ideal of a New Order for civilized peoples. Unfortunately for the human race, they were defeated… They were all fine examples of faith, discipline and fighting skill, serving the ideals of National Socialism. Their bearing reflected the greatness of their character so only the very best of the Aryan Race were included in the ranks of the SS…. (p. 869)
Joseph Goebbels: One of the brightest minds of the century. A philosopher and fighter with a deep understanding of mass psychology, on every battlefield he vanquished Jewish Bolshevism and headed his country's all out war. (p. 885)
Hitler was blamed for something that did not actually take place. Later the history of humanity will blame him for not ridding Europe of the Jews, though he could have … My dear Jews, I do not ask you to suffer all the things that your holy books tell you that we should suffer from you… You are criminals because that is what your religion has taught you to be. You are murderers because crime is instilled in you from an early age. Therefore we others have the right to deal with you. And that is what we will do. (p. 852)
ZYKLON B, so extensively publicized as the gas used to put Jews to death in the special gas chambers (which have not been found) was merely a poisonous gas used to fumigate the concentration camps…everything else [said about it] is fiction produced for the purposes ofpropaganda. (p. 1008)
The SS divisions fought with unparalleled heroism. (p. 853)
In 1945 the White Race suffered the greatest catastrophe in its history. Hitlerian Germany's epic struggle for dominance by Aryans ended without a victory. (p. 869)

K. Plevris: "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite"

At long last, one anti-Semite was found in Europe and he is going to be taken to court ! Do you really need to declare "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite", deny the Holocaust, and ask that Europe be ridden of Jews to be considered an anti-Semite and taken to court ?

This posting in the ECJ speaks volumes:
"In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis, EJC President Moshe Kantor commended the Greek authorities for taking to court a notorious Greek author for his 400-page book entitled "The Jews - the Whole Truth."
The text of the lettter :
Dear Mr. Karamanlis,
On September 11th 2007, the anti-Semitic author K. Plevris will stand on trial in the Greek Court for his 1,400-page book entitled "The Jews - the Whole Truth". In his book Mr Plevris declares, "I am a Nazi and a fascist, I am racist, anti-democratic and I am an anti-Semite".
He openly calls the Holocaust into question while justifying Nazism, given that in his opinion, "ridding Europe of the Jews is necessary because Judaism poses a threat to the freedom of Nations" (page 432). To this he adds, "I constantly blame the German Nazis for not ridding our Europe of Jewish Zionism when it was in their power to do so," (page 1,221).
We must commend the law enforcement authorities in Greece, in particular the General Prosecutor, for having taken Mr. Plevris to court.
However, along with the Neo-Nazi rally, which was supposed to take place in Greece exactly two years ago, this has become a worrying chain of events in which anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head too many times in Greece during the last few years.
The Greek people and the Jewish people share the common honour of being the founders of European Civilization. Sixty years after the Holocaust, the resurgence of a threat to the Jewish people is also a threat to European culture as a whole.
We will be following this trial closely. We hope Greece will go along with other European states in the common struggle against racism and anti-Semitism."