Czech court upholds fine for nursery school employee whose company published the so-called "Bible" of Holocaust deniers in Czech translation

The Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic has upheld the fine handed down against Bodyart Press and its CEO, Hedvika Fiksová, for printing a Czech edition of a book by David L. Hoggan, The Myth of the Six Million, which denies that the Holocaust ever happened, and for distributing it. According to the verdict, the publishing house in Žďár nad Sázavou and its CEO have committed the crime of denying, casting doubt on, approving of and justifying genocide. 

The verdict rejected Fiksová's appeal against the first-instance judgment in the case. She must now pay a fine of CZK 15,000 [EUR 600 ] and the publishing house must pay CZK 45,000 [EUR 1,800]. 

The book was published by Bodyart Press in 2016 in a print run of more than 600 copies, most of which sold. Lawyer Martin Zobač told the court that Fiksová does not identify with the book's content and had it translated into Czech and published solely for the purpose of turning a profit. 

Presiding Judge Markéta Jirsová said when announcing the decision that the book does not include a preface to present Fiksová's opinion of the book's content. "She has merely issued a statement online to the effect that she does not share the book's ethos," the judge said.

The lower court decision has now been upheld, including the amounts of the fines. Denying genocide is a crime under Czech law that can be punished by up to three years in prison.

The prosecutor first proposed a CZK 20,000 [EUR 810] fine for the CEO and a CZK 60,000 [EUR 2,430] fine for the Bodyart Press company. The amounts of the fines were calculated based on the company's income and on Fiksová's personal income from her job at a nursery school. 

Detectives began investigating the Czech edition of The Myth of the Six Million at the beginning of 2020 when the Deník N news server reported on the publishing house and its productions. The High Public Prosecutor in Prague sent the case to the Vysočina Region, where the publisher is based.   

Police there initially shelved the case last March. The Prosecutor General, however, had that decision reviewed and detectives then began the prosecution of the company and the individual at the close of the summer last year.

The Myth of the Six Million is one of the most famous publications denying the Holocaust. The author of the slim pamphlet alleges, for example, that the data about six million Jewish victims of Nazism is a "blatant, intentional" counterfeiting of history and calls it the "genocide legend".