Holocaust denial

Yes. Holocaust denial is a crime in Germany. Under Section 130, paragraph 3 of the Criminal Code, publicly denying, approving or playing down the genocide committed under Nazi rule can be punished with up to five years in prison or a fine. The rule was written into the law in 1994.

How the law developed

Germany first revised Section 130, its law against incitement to hatred, in 1960, after a wave of antisemitic graffiti. In 1985, a separate change treated Holocaust denial mainly as an insult to Jewish people, with lighter penalties. The turning point came in 1994. That March, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice overturned the conviction of Günter Deckert, then leader of the far-right NPD, who had organised a lecture calling the gassing of Jews at Auschwitz a hoax. The outcry led lawmakers to make denial a specific crime, as PBS Frontline explains.

Not protected as free speech

In April 1994, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that denying the Holocaust is not protected by freedom of expression, because it is a claim that has been proven false. The law is applied regularly, and well-known deniers have been convicted and jailed.

What the law covers

The offence applies to statements made in public or at meetings, in a way that could disturb public peace. It covers outright denial, approval of Nazi crimes and downplaying them, for example by greatly understating the number of victims. Germany’s law sits alongside related bans, such as the ban on Nazi symbols, and the 1994 reform also tightened those rules.

Other countries

Germany is not alone. Several European countries, including France, Austria and Belgium, also have laws against Holocaust denial, while others, such as the UK and US, do not ban it.

For every restriction we track in the country, see the Germany page.