Ursula Haverbeck-Wetzel was sentenced to ten months in prison by a Hamburg court, convicted of incitement of hatred for statements she made denying the Holocaust, German media reported on Thursday. Nevertheless, the recalcitrant Holocaust denier is not without supporters. Haverbeck-Wetzel was dragged back into court after she went on television in April to declare to NDR reporters that "the Holocaust is the biggest and most sustainable lie in history". That is "only a belief," Ursula Haverbeck told a court in Hamburg, causing German media to dub her "Nazi-Oma" (Nazi grandma) on Friday. German legislation regards as incitement of hatred not only encouraging hatred or violence to a particular group of people, but also approving of, denying or downplaying Nazi crimes. Unapologetic for her comment, she had told the court cheerfully, "yes I said that indeed", according to media reports. “I don’t have to prove to you that the Earth is round,” the judge answered. “I will never accept this verdict!” Haverbeck-Wetzel said at the court. Haverbeck-Wetzel is a known right-wing extremist who has a criminal record, two fines and a suspended sentence for sedition. Haverbeck-Wetzel was also once chair of the "Collegium Humanum," which started as an environmental group, but became a right-wing extremist organization and was banned by the German government. Haverbeck-Wetzel, moreover, helped to establish an association aimed at helping people persecuted for denying the Holocaust. Some 1.1 million people, most of them European Jews, perished between 1940 and 1945 in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp before it was liberated by Soviet forces.
– Ursula Haverbeck-Wetzel says there's no proof that Auschwitz was a death camp and that that's "only a belief." Those thoughts spoken in a Hamburg court Thursday—and others, such as the "Holocaust is the biggest and most sustainable lie in history" comment she made on TV in April——are what just earned her a 10-month stay in a German prison, the Local reports. Her crime: inciting hatred. The 87-year-old extremist who's been dubbed "Nazi-Oma" ("Nazi Grandma") has been steadfast for years in her conviction that the Holocaust is a sham. And Haverbeck-Wetzel, who used to run an ultra-conservative center that was shut down for spreading Nazi propaganda, has her share of supporters: The Telegraph notes that far-right activists filled the courtroom's benches, with others outside demanding to be let in. They would have seen quite a spectacle. Haverbeck-Wetzel tried to goad the court into proving to her Auschwitz was a death camp, saying, per RT.com, "You know about it [Auschwitz] only through the grapevine—like me." This spurred Bjoern Joensson, the presiding judge, to retort, "It is pointless holding a debate with someone who can't accept any facts," adding: "Neither do I have to prove to you that the world is round." In Germany, the crime of incitement of hatred includes anyone who publicly "approves of, denies, or downplays" what the Nazis did during the Holocaust. "I will never accept this verdict!" Haverbeck-Wetzel told the court. (A California middle school decided to nix a Holocaust-denial lesson plan.)