David Irving, the well-known Holocaust-denying British historian, is planning a controversial return to Germany but may have a hard time finding a place to stay as hotels in the German capital have banded together to boycott him.
Mr Irving reversed the 20-year-old travel ban imposed by a German court that found him guilty of Holocaust denial, after successfully arguing that it contravened the EU’s freedom of movement policies.
The 75-year-old historian, who has written over 30 books on Hitler and the Second World War, will address guests at a private meeting in Berlin this September. The location of the event has not been announced and only advanced bookings at the cost of €91 (£78) will be accepted, the Berlin Tagesspiegel newspaper reported.
Hotels in Berlin have responded with a pledge to refuse Mr Irving accommodation or a venue.
The campaign is led by Green Party Bundestag member Volker Beck, the party’s parliamentary human rights spokesman, who urged members of the German hotel association not to “fall for the right-wing extremist trap”.
“I trust that Mr Irving will not be accommodated by our members,” added Thomas Lengfelder, general manager of the association, who posted Mr Beck’s letter on their website.
A Munich court imposed the travel ban on Mr Irving for “insulting the memory of the dead” under the German law that prohibits Holocaust denial, which was followed by similar bans from governments in Italy and Canada.
He served over a year in prison in Austria in 2006 for denying the Holocaust but continues to tour in America and live in Britain where there are no specific laws prohibiting Holocaust denial.
