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5.3.19. On 9 March Irving spoke in Moers at an AVÖ meeting.<245> Irving again gave his `Truth frees!' talk.<246>

Then [at the time of writing Hitler's War] I believed these gentlemen [German historians] who said that something happened in Auschwitz. Now I no longer believe this story at all. Today I say the following: there were no gassings in Auschwitz. Today I say, that they are only dummies that the Poles built after 1945. Exactly as the Americans built similar dummies in Dachan-How do I know so precisely that they are only dummies? What convinced me? I was convinced two years ago in Canada by an expert's report.<247>

5.3.20. Despite the `closed' nature of the meeting Irving made its political nature of his message clear.

It takes something to stand up and say that there were no gas chambers. The existing gas chambers-were only dummies built by the Poles or some other officials after the. end of the Second World War for the purpose of the damnation and defamation of the German people in the world. [...] We're gaining acceptance, but only with the help of the German population, the German people. You can support it yourself with letters to newspapers, through a whispering campaign,. precisely by passing on what I have said to you tonight.<248>

5.3.20. During this tour Irving also began to become aware of the possibilities of publishing, recording, and generally marketing his speeches. In a later diary entry he recorded `...Althans phoned, with details of Karl Höf[f]kes' offer. Wants five brochures, 4 month intervals [Sic]; will pay DM 5000 for Wahrheit macht Frei (Tagebuch einer

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<245> Diary entry., 9.March 1990.
<246> 'Vortrag des englishen Historikers David living in Moers', 9 March-1990, 10 pp.-See also videocassette 186, 'David Irving in Moers,' 5 [9] March 1990.
<247> `Damals habe auch ich den Herren geglaubt, die sagten, in Auschwitz waere etwas gewesen. Jetzt glaube ich diese Geschichte schon lange nicht mehr. Heute sage ich, dass es nur Attrappen sind, die die Polen nach 1945 aufgebaut haben. Genauso wie die Amerikaner ebensolche Attrappen in Dachau errichtet haben. Woher weiss ich so genau, dass das nur Attrappen sind? Was hat mich überzeugt? Überzeugt hat mich vor zwei Jahren in Kanada ein Gutachten.' 'Vortrag des englishen Historikers David Irving...', p. 5.
<248> 'Es gehört schon etwas dazu, aufzustehen and zu sagen, es hat keine Gaskammern gegeben. Die vorhandenen Gaskammern sind nur Attrappen, die von den Polen oder irgendwelchen Behörden nach Ende des 2. Weltkrieges erstellt wurden, eigens zur Verdammung and Diffamierung der Deutschen in der Welt.[...] Wir setzen uns durch aber nur mit Hilfe der deutschen Bevölkerung, dem deutschen Volk. Sie könnnen es selbst untermauern durch Briefe an Zeitungen, durch Flüsterpropaganda, eben das Weitererzählen was ich Ihnen heute abend gesagt habe.' Ibid., pp. 9-10.

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Vortragsreihe [diary of a speaking tour]) brochure text of Moers speech ....' <249> In an April entry `Worked all morning concluding the revision of the transcript of my Moers speech. It is better than I thought. Tightened it up, checked the facts, dates, and quotations. I must publish more of these. <250>

5.3.21. On 10 March Irving was banned from speaking to the DVU at Passau. His initial plan to speak at a meeting in .Belgium organised by Althans indicates his preferences at the time.<251> Althans was obviously irritated by Irving's last minute decision to speak in Passau, although both men agreed that there was political capital to be made from the ban for the forthcoming revisionist conference in Munich.<252>

Althans was not pleased that I had gone to Passau, though he agrees his April 21 meeting ['Wahrheit macht Frei'] will now be enhanced by the result of the ban. (I hope I don't get banned there.) He arranges a last minute deal with me, whereby he will pay me DM5000 for right to publish a synopsis of this most recent Vortrag [Speech]. They'll print 10,000. He is an ambitious man, and I like that.<253>

5.3.22. The synthesis of money, politics, and revisionism can be illustrated by referring to this one of Irving's best documented tours.

5.3.23. The organisation was such that Althans and the AVÖ acted as Irving's direct agent. Althans then `sold' Irving on to other organisations by closing contracts with third parties at an agreed rate.<254> The printed contractual equivalent agreement ['Vertragsgleiche Vereinbarung'] between `X' and Althans and the AVÖ, offered three topics: New Documents of Contemporary History [`Neue Dokumente zur

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<249> Diary entry, 30 March 1990.
<250> Diary entry, 9 April 1990. See also diary entry 24 March `...day in ruins after that. Discussion of various petty publishing projects, speeches, videos, etc., to be published by a Karl Höf[f]kes. All of these projects (Soyka, Munier, etc) take much time, and seem to produce either no, or negligible, financial yield.'
<251> `Anne Frank-Stiftung protested and the local organizer got cold feet and cancelled it! How wet! And infuriating.' Diary entry 9 March 1990. See also 'Abrechnung D. Irving von Feb / Matz 90' handwritten, dated Monster 11 March 1990; Irving to Karl Philipp, 6 February 1990.
<252> It was at around this time that Zündel claimed that the office Althans ran in Munich (i.e. in the Herzog-Heinrich-Strasse 30) was his. See Power. Zündelists vs. Zionists, no. 196, 15 July 1995, p. 2. 'This young man [Althans] used to run my Munich office during the planned Leuchter Congress of 1990 and during my subsequent trials in Munich.'
<253> Diary entry, 11 March 1990.
<254> Ewald Althans, undated circular of the Deutsches Jugendbildungswerk, stamped 'Received 17 Jan 1990'.

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Zeitgeschichte'], Warmongerer Churchill - the Fall of a Monument [`Kriegstreiber W. Churchill - Ein Denkmal stuerm'], and Germany's way to Unity - a Historian looks in the Future ['Deutschlands Weg zur Einheit - Ein Historiker blickt in die Zukunft].

5.3.24. The fee to be paid to Althans was set at either DM 650 or DM 1,300. Irving was guaranteed the right to sell and sign his own books, whilst the organiser was requested to restrict the amount of literature he or she himself could offer. The signator guaranteed that Irving would not be `misused for party politics' ['Herr Irving wird auf den Veranstaltungen nicht parteipolitisch miábraucht werden.].<255>

5.3.25. Thus for instance the Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit [Robert Fronauer] booked Irving through Althans's AVÖ to speak in Landshut on 23 February 1990.<256> They paid an initial instalment of DM 650 to Althans, to be followed by a further DM 650 at a. later date.<257> The Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit in turn requested DM 10 contribution to expenses [`Unkostenbeitrag'].'<258> Of this DM 1,300 Irving received a DM 1,000 speaker's fee [`Rednerhonohar'].<259>

5.3.26. Irving received DM 500 for some speeches (presumably his share from those who had paid Althans DM 650) and DM 1000 for larger speeches (presumably his share from those who had paid DM 1,300). In Dresden 13 February 1990 the speech was free [`kostenlos'] or the turnover did not apply [`Umsatz entfaellt'], perhaps because of Irving's eagerness to speak there.'<260> Althans also paid Irving DM 500 compensation for the cancelled Munich and Stuttgart speeches, and DM 1,000 compensation for the banned Antwerp speech. <261> That Ernst Zündel was part of the financial dealings is clear from the same model contract between Althans and Christian Worch. For the meeting

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<255> 'Vertragsgleiche Vereinbarung zwischen and AVÖ, B. Ewald Althans...', n.d.
<256> Robert Fronauer to Ewald Althans, 1 February 1990, enclosing 'Vertragsgleiche Vereinbatung' between the Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit [Robert Fronauer) and the AVÖ [B. Ewald Althans] for Irving to speak in Landshut on the 23 February 1990, 1 February 1990.
<257> Vertragsgleich Vereinbarung between the Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit [Robert Fronauer) and the AVÖ [B. Ewald Althans] for Irving to speak in Landshut on the 23 February 1990, 1 February 1990.
<258> `Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit, 'Persoenliche Einladung', 12 February 1990.
<259> Abrechnung D. Irving von Feb / Mary 90' handwritten, dated Munster 1 I March 1990; handwritten list of Irving's speech engagernnts 13 February to 10 March [1990], n.d., n.a.
<260> Abrechnung D. Irving von Feb / Marz 90' handwritten, dated Munster 1 I March 1990; handwritten list of Irving's speech engagemnts 13 February to 10 March [1990], n.d., n.a.
<261> Abrechnung D. Irving von Feb / Marz 90' handwritten, dated Munster i l March 1990.

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in Hamburg of 3 March 1990 Worch paid DM 300 to Althans and Irving's DM 1.000 speaker's fee direct to Zündel, as Worch's preferred 'middleman' [`Mittelsmann'] due to his and a general mistrust in Althans.<262>

5.3.27. The three themes offered by Althans were evidently flexible or expendable.<263> The Arbeitskreis Deutsche Wahrheit decided to advertise Irving to speak under the title `Is Germany alone Responsible for the War?' ["'Gibt es eine deutsche Alleinkriegsschuld?"']<264> In its invitation to Irving's speech on 11 March 1989, Stephan Raber of the Foerderverein Junges Deutschland made it clear what the audience could expect. The speech was advertised as `The latest scholarly findings of historical research' [`Neueste wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse der Gesichtsforschung.'] The letter was headed with a quote from Irving: "'Hundreds of millions of honest, intelligent people are being duped by extremely financially strong and brilliantly made post-war propaganda."' [`Hunderte von Millionen ehrlicher, intelligenter Menschen wurde durch extrem finanzstarke, wie auch brilliant gemachte Nachkriegspropaganda hinters Licht gefuehrt."']

Without falling prey to self-pity, we Germans can confirm that our people are by far and away the greatest victim of manipulation of the historical truth. [...]In his speech Mr. Irving will discuss the sensational report of the American engineer FRED LEUCHTER; hotly discussed amongst experts, as well as present explosive statistics about the population numbers in Europe (before and after the war) and also discuss latest documents on the complicity of Prime Minister in the start of World War II.<265>

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<262> Christian Worch to Ewald Althans, 1 January 1990 enclosing 'Vertragsgleiche Vereinbarung' between the Nationale Liste [Christian Worch] and the AVÖ [B. Ewald Althans] for Irving to speak in Hamburg on the 3 February 1990, 1 January 1990. The 'Abrechnung D. Irving von Feb / Marz 90' handwritten, dated Munster 11 March 1990 recorded 'Hamburg No.2 Kostenlos [free]'. See also Christian Worch to Ernst Zündel, 1 January 1990.
<263> In a fax of 4 January 1990, a person named by Irving as 'Toronto' [presumably Ernst Zündel], listed the themes Irving was to speak on as 'Churchill - Wiedervereinigung [reunification], plus your findings on P.W.E. and L.R.' Irving to Sally Cox, 4 January 1990 [misdated 1989].
<264> Robert Fronauer to Ewald Althans, 1 February 1990; Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit, 'Persoenliche Einladung', 12 February 1990.
<265> 'Ohne in Selbstmitleid zu verfallen, koennen wir Deutsche feststellen, dass unser Volk mit Abstand das grösste Opfer von Manipulation an der geschichtlichen Wahrheit gewesen ist.[...]Herr Irving wird in seinem Referat ebenso auf den aufsehenerregenden and auch in der Fachwelt heiss diskutierte Bericht des US-amerikanischen Ingenieurs FRED LEUCHTER eingehen, wie auch brisantes Zahlenmaterial ueber Bevölkerungszahlen in Europa (vor and nach dem Kriege) präsentieren and auch jüngste Dokumente zur Mitschuld des britischen Premierministers Winston Churchill am Entstehen des II. Weltkriegs erläutern.' Stephan Raber [Förderverein Junges Deutschland] and Manfred Aengenvoort [Freundeskreis Rhein-Ruhr], Open letter, March 1990.

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5.3.28. Udo Walendy was rather more measured in his language in the invitation to the meeting in Porta Westfalica on 4 March 1990, but the message was clear.

This planned meeting is of enormous political importance because the British historian has caused a great stir, better said has considerably widened the breach in the change “f opinions with numerous researches, with his unequivocal position on the most recent German past and revisionist research world wide - and once again in Dresden![...] As others try to help politicians on their way with street demonstrations, so we want to assert in our way that "we are the people" by supporting the intellectual pioneer.<266>

5.3.29. Robert Fronauer wrote to Althans: `Because it is supposed to be a closed meeting we have decided not to invite people in the name of the NPD. We believe that this way we can better attract national thinking people in our area to come.<267> Indeed the meeting took place under the auspices of a 'Working Group Historical Truth' [`Arbeitskreis Historische Wahrheit'], obviously a front set up purely for Irving's meeting.

5.3.30. Ernst Zündel wrote a circular introducing Irving and his forthcoming tour to his `Zündel friends' [`Zündel freunde']. Zündel made an appeal for all kinds of help: cameramen, book carriers, alternative venues for any emergency cellar meetings [`Katakomben-Versammlung.'] He , also wanted volunteers for `strike troops' [`Eingreiftrupps'] to escort the audience unmolested to their cars. Zündel went on to explain the integrative nature of such events for RWE.

In this process, through the common struggle, we also grow together ourselves and bridge the existing divisive prejudices between "old" and "young", from activists like the FAP compared to passive people like those from the DVU etc.<268>