France: Trivializing the Holocaust

Trivializing the Holocaust

Jean-Marie Le Pen, 59, thrives on controversy. As leader of the far-right National Front, he has won a small but loyal following by advocating such policies as the repatriation of recent immigrants from North Africa and the virtual imprisonment of AIDS victims in special hospitals. But none of those positions has drawn as much opposition as one he took last week. Appearing on a radio panel show, Le Pen was asked about Nazi extermination chambers in the Holocaust. "The gas chambers," he replied, "are a detail in the history of World War II."

The remark provoked a storm of condemnation. Former...

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