'Nazi Grandma' Ursula Haverbeck Arrested in Germany After Avoiding Jail For Denying Holocaust

German Police on Monday arrested an 89-year-old who escaped jail sentence several times for Holocaust denial. Dubbed as the 'Nazi Grandma' the elderly woman has now bee jailed for two years. Ursula Haverbeck was taken by the police after she failed to appear for her prison sentence in the town of Bielefeld last Wednesday. Authorities had issued an arrest warrant on Monday, asking her to report for the prison sentence failing to which, the police located at her home in the northwestern town of Vlotho.

The most recent sentence said that Haverbeck sent a letter to the Mayor of Detmold and the media that Jews were never exterminated by Auschwitz. She was once the chairman of a right training centre that promoted Nazi propaganda which shut down in 2008. Despite several convictions for denying the Holocaust, the 'Nazi Grandma' never spent time in jail.

In Germany, those who deny the Holocaust may be charged with incitement of hatred. The Holocaust was a genocide during World War II in which Germany along with its aides murdered approximately six million European Jews between 1941 and 1945. She had also appeared on television claiming that 'the Holocaust is the biggest and most sustainable lie in history'. In an article in a neo-Nazi magazine, she argued that Auschwitz was a labour camp and not the death camp.

Her husband Werner Georg Haverbeck who worked during World War II also preached right views. Even after her husband died in 1999, she continued to preach neo-Nazis views. Reportedly, the couple maintained close ties to several neo-Nazi groups. Ahead of the arrest, it was observed whether Haverbeck was physically fit enough to serve two years in jail but last week, however, she was held.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 09, 2018 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).