Censorship

Forum: Keep Neo-Nazis From Web

By Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000; 7:51 a.m. EST

Ruth Dreifuss, the head of Switzerland's home affairs department, said the Web also was a valuable teaching tool to tell youth about the Holocaust and she called for international cooperation to find ways to prevent it from being used to promote racism. Switzerland will hold a conference on the subject in February, she said.

"The Internet is a cross-border vector for racist theories," Dreifuss said. "It makes it possible for the perpetrators to organize into networks and distribute propaganda."

Heads of several smaller countries addressed delegates on the second day of the International Forum on the Holocaust after an opening ceremony that included speeches by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga recalled the World War II devastation in her own country and said more than 1,000 Latvians were known to have participated in persecution.

"We condemn and unconditionally renounce the individuals who perpetrated such crimes," she said.

Latvian prosecutors have recently come under fire from Jewish groups for not seeking the extradition and indictment of alleged Nazi war criminal Konrads Kalejs, who is now in Australia.

Vike-Freiberga said officials were committed to prosecuting war criminals but only if they received sufficient evidence.

The forum coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day – marked today in several countries. Ceremonies were to be held at Stockholm's largest synagogue and in parliament. Panel discussions were also scheduled to focus on education and research.

Prompted by a lack of awareness among youth, the Swedish government organized the forum as part of a Holocaust education campaign in its own country. Six million Jews and 5 million others – including Gypsies and homosexuals – were killed during World War II at the hands of Nazi Germany and its supporters.

Austria's acting chancellor, Viktor Klima, said Tuesday night that education initiatives were important, but more needed to be done worldwide, as people still exist who will vote for "the political style that decides to hate."

Klima said he knew the conference delegates were concerned about increasing prospects that Joerg Haider – whose praise of the Nazi era and distrust of foreigners has drawn condemnation from several countries – may succeed in talks to form a government coalition between his far-right Freedom Party and a centrist junior partner.

Delegates applauded Klima as he said that the Holocaust was the worst crime this century and "anyone who does not say this is clearly not responsible enough to be entrusted with any public position national or international."

The conference was occurring against a backdrop of a series of recent violence linked to neo-Nazi groups in Sweden, which also has become known as a center for the production of racist music, magazines and Internet activity.

Schroeder told 600 delegates at the opening ceremony that neo-Nazi groups were increasingly using modern means of communication and he called for more international cooperation, use of police and judicial procedures to fight them.

Three neo-Nazis have been on trial in the southern Swedish city of Helsingborg, charged with distributing racist videos and compact discs.

The meeting was the first of its kind to bring together world leaders and activists to discuss the Holocaust, and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel suggested Sweden make it an annual event.

Persson, who was applauded by the forum for inroads he has made in World War II education, agreed to work to create an annual forum.

© Copyright 2000 The Associated Press