Udo Walendy (21 January 1927 – 17 November 2022) was a German author, soldier, 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: * ...

. Like Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof, he disputed Germany's guilt for the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Life

Walendy was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

on 21 January 1927. . Towards the end of the war Walendy was drafted first into the ''

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...

'' (auxiliary force), then the ''

Luftwaffenhelfer A ''Luftwaffenhelfer'', also commonly known as a ''Flakhelfer'', was any member of the auxiliary staff of the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Such terms often implied students conscripted as child soldiers. Establishment ''Luftwaff ...

'' (

child soldier Children (defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child as people under the age of 18) have been recruited for participation in military operations and campaigns throughout history and in many cultures. Children in the military, includ ...

in the air force) and finally into the regular ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

'' (the German military). He completed his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' (

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

) in 1946 and then went to

journalism school A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of the ...

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

. From 1950 to 1956 he studied political science at the Hochschule für Politik in

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, where he received his diploma. Afterwards he worked as the director of a

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford. Geography ...

and as the business leader of an employers' association in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

. In 1965 he went independent and founded the ''Verlag für Volkstum und Zeitgeschichtsforschung'' ("Publishing House for Folklore and Contemporary Historical Research") in

Vlotho Vlotho () is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Vlotho is located along the Weser river, south of the Wiehengebirge, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west, Lipperland in the south, an ...

. In 1999 ownership of the publishing house was transferred to his wife, since Walendy was barred from directing it due to his conviction and imprisonment for 15 months for publicly questioning

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. He maintained close contact with the Belgian revisionist organisation

Vrij Historisch Onderzoek Vrij or De Vrij may refer to: *Aldert Vrij, Dutch psychologist *Dick Vrij, Dutch mixed martial artist * James Vrij (born 1951), Dutch boxer *Stefan de Vrij (born 1992), Dutch footballer See also *''Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Neth ...

(VHO).

Activity as author and publisher

Besides other works Walendy oversaw the publication of numerous materials in which the Holocaust was denied and the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

was generally presented in a positive light. Among others these include: * As early as 1964 he published his own book, ''Wahrheit für Deutschland – Die Schuldfrage des Zweiten Weltkriegs'' (''Truth for Germany – The Question of Guilt for the Second World War''), which in 1979 was listed by Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons as material that could not be publicly advertised or given to young readers, due to the version it presented of the events that led to World War II. This restriction was lifted in 1994, after a long legal battle, on the grounds that Walendy's constitutional rights had been violated, since the federal constitutional court ruled that even a supposedly biased representation could be defended as an academic work. A renewed attempt to have the work listed was abandoned in 2001 due to a negative assessment of the chances of success in the event of another court case. * Numerous copies of the historical revisionist magazine series ''Historische Tatsachen'',Die Literatur der Auschwitzleugner: Udo Walendy, Historische Tatsachen Nr. 26
Holocaust-Referenz: Argumente gegen Auschwitzleugner. which continues to be published by the Vrij Historisch Onderzoek (VHO) in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. Its very first edition from 1974 contains a German translation of Richard Harwood's Holocaust-denying booklet "

Did Six Million Really Die? ''Did Six Million Really Die? The Truth at Last'' is a neo-Nazi, Holocaust denial pamphlet allegedly written by British National Front (NF) member Richard Verrall under the pseudonym Richard E. Harwood and published in 1974 by neo-Nazi prop ...

". * The German translation of

Arthur Butz Arthur R. Butz is an associate professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern University and a Holocaust denier, best known as the author of the pseudohistorical book ''The Hoax of the Twentieth Century''. He achieved tenure in 1974 and curr ...

's book ''

The Hoax of the Twentieth Century ''The Hoax of the Twentieth Century: The Case Against the Presumed Extermination of European Jewry'' is a book by Northwestern University electrical engineering professor and Holocaust denier Arthur Butz. The book was originally published in 19 ...

'', in which the author attempts to discredit the evidence for the Holocaust. Walendy was charged with criminal activity several times, including under Germany's ''

Volksverhetzung , in English "incitement to hatred" (used also in the official English translation of the German Criminal Code), "incitement of popular hatred", "incitement of the masses", or "instigation of the people", is a concept in German criminal law that ...

'' law (incitement to hatred). On 1 September 2014,

Germar Rudolf Germar Rudolf (born 29 October 1964), also known as Germar Scheerer, is a German chemist and a convicted Holocaust denial, Holocaust denier. Background Rudolf was born in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse. In 1983 he took his Abitur in Remscheid, then ...

's Castle Hill Publishers (UK) reprinted ''Truth for Germany – The Question of Guilt for the Second World War'' in an updated expanded, and corrected second edition, as ''Who Started World War II: Truth for a War-Torn World'', which has also been translated anew from the German original.

Written works

*Who Started World War II: Truth for a War-Torn World (an updated, expanded, newly translated and corrected edition of Truth for Germany – The Question of Guilt for the Second World War), Castle Hill Publishers, 1 September 2014, . *Dissecting the Holocaust: The Growing Critique of ‘Truth’ and ‘Memory’ (contributor) *Forged War Crimes Malign the German Nation *Truth for Germany – The Question of Guilt for the Second World War (Wahrheit für Deutschland – Die Schuldfrage des Zweiten Weltkriegs), originally published in 1964. Reprint by the Barnes Review with original title from the translators’ file without any editing or changes in layout, 2013, .

Notes

:''Much of this article is translated from the German wikipedia article of 2 March 2007''

External links

Original German mp3-speeches from Udo WalendyPersonen: Udo Walendy
Holocaust-Referenz: Argumente gegen Auschwitzleugner.

''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'', 29 November 1971. {{DEFAULTSORT:Walendy, Udo 1927 births 2022 deaths Writers from Berlin German people convicted of Holocaust denial Luftwaffenhelfer German Army personnel of World War II Reich Labour Service members National Democratic Party of Germany politicians