September 21–Seventy-five Holocaust and genocide scholars from around the world have signed a letter urging Austria’s leaders to cancel the jail sentence imposed on a Jewish historian.

The letter, addressed to the Austrian ambassador in Washington, Hans Peter Manz, was organized by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies.

Historian and journalist Stephan Templ was sentenced to one year in prison because he omitted a relative’s name in his application for the return of property seized from his family by the Nazis. Templ is the author of the book Our Vienna: Aryanization Austrian-Style, which criticized Austria’s policy concerning the restitution of Jewish property.

“This matter could have been resolved by the Templ family in civil court,” the letter argued. “The Austrian government’s decision to intervene by prosecuting and jailing Mr. Templ will be seen as an extreme overreaction to Mr. Templ’s important book.”

The signatories on the letter include such prominent scholars as Prof. David S. Wyman, author of The Abandonment of the Jews; Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, author of History on Trial; Prof. Walter Reich, former executive director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum; and Prof. Michael Berenbaum, former research director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Among the signatories are scholars from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Poland, Italy, Germany, Spain, India, and Israel.

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