Jürgen Graf (born 15 August 1951) is a Swiss author, former teacher and
Holocaust denier
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements:
* ...
.
Since August 2000 he has been living in exile, and is currently living in Russia, working as a translator, with his wife.
Background
Born in
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
, Graf studied
philology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
at the
University of Basel
The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...
;
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
and
Scandinavian studies, and in 1979 completed his
licentiate.
Graf spent several years working as a
school teacher teaching languages and later taught German at a
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
school in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
On his return to Basel, he worked as interrogator of
asylum seekers at the receiving agency on the repurposed
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
cruise ship ''Basilea''. He described his experiences in his 1990 book ''The Ship of Fools'' (''Das Narrenschiff''), over which he was accused of
xenophobia
Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...
.
By the early 1990s, Graf was a convert to
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
, and was introduced to the field by his friend and retired school teacher Arthur Vogt through the works of
Serge Thion
Serge Thion (25 April 1942 – 15 October 2017, Créteil) was a French sociologist. A former researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research, he was dismissed from his position at the center for Holocaust denial activities."His Hol ...
,
Arthur Butz and
Wilhelm Stäglich.
During the 1990s, Graf published several Holocaust denial works, his first titled ''The Holocaust on trial: Eyewitness accounts versus natural laws'' (''Der Holocaust auf dem Prüfstand: Augenzeugenberichte versus Naturgesetze''),
several of his later books co-authored with the Italian Holocaust denier
Carlo Mattogno
Carlo Mattogno (born 1951) is an Italian writer and Holocaust denier. He served on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Historical Review and as an editor of its publication '' Journal of Historical Review''. As of 2016, Mattogno is editorial ...
.
Graf distributed his book to journalists and parliamentarians, establishing a reputation as a Holocaust denier. As the result, he was dismissed from his teaching position; he was later employed in a private school in Basel, teaching German to foreign students.
Graf's publications eventually led Swiss authorities to prosecute him for violating Swiss anti-racism laws.
Graf and his then publisher, Gerhard Förster, were tried by a Swiss court in July 1998; Graf was sentenced to a substantial fine and 15-months imprisonment.
He fled the country while awaiting his appeal, traveling through Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, ending in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, where a group of Iranian Holocaust deniers sheltered him in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
.
Graf subsequently relocated to Moscow, Russia, where he met and married a
Belarusian woman in 2001.
He currently lives and works in Moscow as a translator.
References
External links
Official homepage
1951 births
Living people
Swiss expatriates in Russia
Swiss Holocaust deniers
Swiss exiles
Writers from Basel-Stadt
University of Basel alumni
Pseudohistorians
{{Switzerland-bio-stub