Czech Police investigate distribution of antisemitic book after media reports

Pemic Books, a distributor in the Czech Republic, has paused its distribution of a publication entitled "The Myth of Six Million" (Mýtus šesti milionů). The book openly denies that Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Second World War.

Another antisemitic book entitled "Circumcised Republic" (Obřezaná republika) continues to be available through the distributor, however. News server Deník N drew attention to the Czech edition of "The Myth of Six Million" last month in several articles.

"We have paused that publication," responded Hana Mýdlová, product manager at Pemic Books. The distributor said it has withdrawn the book at the request of Bodyart Press, the publisher.

"Bodyart Press has requested suspension of distribution," the product manager said. The publishing house also deleted the book from its website last month after inquiries from journalists.

The publication is from the 1960s and was written by American author David L. Hoggan. In it, Hoggan writes about the Holocaust of the Jews as a "deliberate and blatant" counterfeit of history and calls it the "genocide legend".

The book "The Circumcised Republic" by Czech author Adam B. Bartoš, who has been convicted of committing antisemitism more than once, will continue to be offered for sale. "I sent your e-mail to the Head of the Purchasing Department, Pavel Hurt, and I was told there has been no court ruling and we have no reason to withdraw the book," Mýdlová responded after Deník N pointed out the existence of both books.

The antisemitic publications were released in Czech three years ago, but police in Prague only began to deal with them after Deník N published its articles. When asked why investigators had not noticed the publication of the antisemitic literature for so many years, police president Jan Švejdar did not respond.