Pedro Varela Geiss (born 9 October 1957) is a Spanish writer, librarian and Holocaust denier. He was the owner of a Neo-Nazi bookstore in Barcelona that is now closed, and he describes himself as a “National Socialist” inspired by Adolf Hitler. He was also the former President of the disbanded Neo-Nazi group CEDADE to which the Belgian Nazi collaborator Léon Degrelle belonged.
Pedro Varela Geiss | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Varela in an interview | |
| Born | 9 October 1957 Barcelona, Spain |
| Occupation(s) | Librarian, author, publisher |
| Known for | Holocaust denial |
| Criminal charges | Convicted for Holocaust denial |
| Children | One |
Biography
editBorn in Barcelona,[1] he became the President of CEDADE in 1978,[2] publishing Holocaust denial material.[3]
In 1992, he spent three months in pre-trial detention in Austria for a Nazi speech that he gave, but he was acquitted. After the end of CEDADE, he opened the Libreria Europa bookstore in Barcelona, from which he promoted pro-Nazi speeches, conferences, lectures, and books on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.[4] In 1998, he was sentenced to five years in prison for justifying genocide because of the Holocaust denial material that he sold at his store.[5]
In 2010, he was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for the felony of "disseminating genocidal ideals".[6] He was released from prison on 8 March 2012.[7] He went back to run his bookstore. However, in July 2016, his bookstore was closed down for inciting hate speech and racial discrimination.[8]
Personal life
editHe has a daughter. He is a mountaineer and an enthusiast of Richard Wagner and his body of work. He is also a Roman Catholic and a vegetarian.
References
edit- ^ Bueno, Jesús García (15 January 2012). "El nazi Varela siembra cruces gamadas en prisión | Edición impresa | EL PAÍS". El País. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Stephen E. Atkins (2009). Holocaust Denial as an International Movement. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313345388. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Hermann Kurthen; Werner Bergmann; Rainer Erb (29 May 1997). Antisemitism and Xenophobia in Germany After Unification. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-511010-4. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Is Europe on the "Right" Path?" (PDF). Library.fes.de. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Andrea Mammone; Emmanuel Godin; Brian Jenkins (16 May 2012). Mapping the Extreme Right in Contemporary Europe: From Local to Transnational. Routledge. ISBN 9780415502641. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Dos años y nueves meses de cárcel para el neonazi Pedro Varela | Actualidad | EL PAÍS". El País. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Sale en libertad el dueño de la filonazi Librería Europa tras cumplir 15 meses de cárcel | Barcelona". Elmundo.es. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Revista de Claseshistoria : Publicación digital de Historia y Ciencias Sociales : Artículo Nº 293" (PDF). Claseshistoria.com. 15 April 2012. ISSN 1989-4988. Retrieved 3 December 2016.