Holocaust denying historian leads tour group to Latvia

Take note – story published 8 years ago

David Irving, probably the most infamous Holocaust-denying historian in the world, recently led a tourist group in Latvia, LTV's Russian language news show Ličnoje Delo reported Friday.

According to the show, British citizen Irving brought a group of 15 international tourists to Latvia on August 31, a fact confirmed by his official website.

According to his itinerary the main focus of the tour was World War II sites in Poland for $2,900 with an "optional" visit to Riga for another $300.

"For an extra $300 you will see Riga, capital of Latvia, and visit the dark secrets of the forest of Rumbuli" the site says, using an alternative spelling of what is generally referred to as Rumbula, scene of a massacre of Latvian Jews.

"The Riga tour starts on August 31, and if there is time our Riga guests will see the grim display at the former Soviet secret police KGB building - the other side of the coin," it adds.

"Forget the phoney allures, mass tourism and 'reconstructions' of modern day Auschwitz," a brochure for the tour suggests.

In 2005 Irving was imprisoned in Austria for Holocaust denial after flouting a ban on entering the country. He served 13 months of a three year sentence.

Among the most notorious of his claims is one that the gas chambers of Auschwitz were built by Poland at the end of World War II.

What he told his guests of the fate of the Rumbula Jews is not recorded.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry told Ličnoje Delo Irving was not banned from entering Latvia as he is in several other countries, despite the fact that it has several other self-styled historians on its blacklist.

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