German Prosecutors Drop Holocaust Denial Investigation of Leni Riefenstahl
Bruce Calvert
Holocaust Denial Probe Dropped
German Prosecutors Drop Holocaust Denial Investigation of Leni Riefenstahl
The Associated Press
B E R L I N, Oct. 18 — Frankfurt prosecutors have dropped a Holocaust denial
investigation of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, saying Friday that her comments did
not rise to a prosecutable level.
Riefenstahl, best known for her Nazi-era propaganda films, was accused of
Holocaust denial by a Gypsy organization after saying in a newspaper interview
that none of the Gypsies taken from concentration camps to be used as extras in
the wartime feature film, 'Lowlands,' died in the camps.
"We saw all the Gypsies that played in 'Lowlands' again after the war,"
Riefenstahl was quoted as saying in the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper,
referring to the film. "Nothing happened to them."
The Cologne-based organization Rom, however, said Riefenstahl who turned 100 in
August used 120 Gypsies from camps in Salzburg and Berlin from 1940 to 1942,
then failed to prevent them from being returned to the Nazi camp system, where
many died.
Riefenstahl subsequently apologized. Frankfurt prosecutor's spokesman Job
Tilmann said his office had determined the case did not rise to the level of
Holocaust denial, which is prohibited in Germany. The case was dropped Sept. 26,
Tilmann said.
It is estimated that the Nazis killed at least 250,000 Gypsies during the
Holocaust, in addition to 6 million Jews and people from groups targeted by the
Nazis.
Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Bruce Calvert
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