Subject: Lawyer for German neo-Nazi attacked outside court
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 11:30:25 PDT

	 HAMBURG, Germany (Reuter) - A lawyer for a German neo-Nazi
who branded Auschwitz a "myth" was attacked with a baseball
bat and a broom handle Wednesday by a masked gang outside the
Hamburg courthouse where he was defending his client, police
said.
	 Attorney Juergen Rieger was taken to hospital with a head
injury, bruising and grazes but was allowed home after
treatment. One man, suspected to be a member of the gang of
between five and seven, was detained.
	 Rieger was representing one of two men on the first day of
their trial on charges of inciting public disorder for saying
American director Steven Spielberg's film "Schindler's List"
had won Oscars by "keeping the Auschwitz myth alive."
	 Prosecutors appealed after a lower court decided in February
that the word "myth" did not amount to a denial that the
holocaust had taken place. Denying the holocaust is against the
law in Germany.
	 The two unidentified men recorded the controversial
statement for a telephone information service for extreme
right-wing activists in March last year.
	 "A film by Spielberg basically wins an Oscar," the message
said. "He stands up against Nazi Germany, others join in, he
keeps the Auschwitz myth alive and he gets seven Oscars for the
film of the year."
	 The original court ruling caused uproar across Germany,
particularly among Jewish community leaders and politicians.

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