Controversial books
July 25, 2009
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Berlin said it wants German prosecutors to investigate whether the online bookseller Amazon.de has broken German law by selling far-right books.
The AJC has said it found as many as 50 right-wing extremist books listed in the online catalog of Amazon.de, some of which are classified by the German authorities as unsuitable for people under 18.
One of the books available was for instance "Der Auschwitz-Mythos – Legende oder Wirklichkeit" ("The Auschwitz Myth – Legend or Reality") by Wilhelm Staglich.
"It is unacceptable that books are for sale on Amazon.de, that normally are only available under the counter in far-right extremist shops," the committee said in a statement.
The AJC also accused Amazon.de of posting ads on Google leading Internet users who enter searches for the names of right-wing authors to the Amazon.de Web site.
"We cannot let the spread of Internet sales erode laws that ban Holocaust denial and incitement to hatred of minorities in Germany," the statement added.
Amazon.de denial
Amazon.de said the company had recently tightened its internal rules over books that glorify or trivialize the Nazis, but said there were no immediate plans to remove any books from its online offering.
"We believe that the correct answer to controversial literature is not to ban it, but to engage in discussion over the controversy," a spokeswoman for Amazon.de said.
She added that in the future there would be books on offer which contained "questionable content with regards to the Nazis," but stressed that none of the books in question were restricted or banned in Germany.
ai/AP/AFP/EPD
Editor: Kyle James