Richard Verrall (born 1948) is a British

Holocaust denier Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

and former deputy chairman of the British National Front (NF) who edited the magazine ''

Spearhead A spearhead is the sharpened point (head) of a spear, similar to an arrowhead. It is often a separate piece called a projectile point. Spearhead may also refer to: Armed conflict * Armoured spearhead, a tactical formation * HMS Spearhead ( ...

'' from 1976 to 1980. Under the ''nom de plume'' (pen name) of Richard E. Harwood, Verrall wrote the pamphlet ''

Did Six Million Really Die? ''Did Six Million Really Die? The Truth at Last'' is a neo-Nazi, Holocaust denial pamphlet allegedly written by British National Front (NF) member Richard Verrall under the pseudonym Richard E. Harwood and published in 1974 by neo-Nazi propa ...

National Front involvement

Verrall studied

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

, now part of

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and previously Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of ...

, obtaining a first class honours degree.S. Taylor, ''The National Front in English Politics'', London: Macmillan, 1982, p. 62 Initially a member of the Conservative Party, Verrall left in the early 1970s, along with a number of members on the right who supported

Enoch Powell John Enoch Powell, (16 June 1912 – 8 February 1998) was a British politician, classical scholar, author, linguist, soldier, philologist, and poet. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (1950–1974) and was Minister of Health (1 ...

, to join the NF. Initially a close supporter of

John Tyndall John Tyndall Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of ...

, he was appointed ''Spearhead'' editor by Tyndall and used the magazine to deny

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. He was also known for his endorsement of

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

and

biological determinism Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behaviour is directly controlled by an individual's genes or some component of their physiology, generally at the expense of the role of the environment, whether ...

, adding to this theory that it was equally natural for members of a genetic group to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others of the same group, thus attacking the criticism that the notion of sacrifice makes this theory inapplicable to humanity. Despite his initial support for Tyndall, Verrall did not follow him into the New National Front and indeed was appointed deputy chairman of the NF by

Andrew Brons Andrew Henry William Brons (born 3 June 1947) is a British politician and former MEP. Long active in far-right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National ...

in 1980. Although appointed to this role Verrall, played little further role in the politics of the NF and was aloof from the struggle between the

Official National Front The Official National Front (ONF) was one of two far-right groups to emerge in the United Kingdom in 1986 following a split within the National Front. Following ideological paths that were mostly new to the British far-right, the ONF stood oppose ...

and the

Flag Group The Flag Group was a British far-right political party, formed from one of the two wings of the National Front in the 1980s. Formed in opposition to the Political Soldier wing of the Official National Front, it took its name from ''The Flag'', a ...

. Instead, he concentrated most of his efforts on writing about the Holocaust.

Holocaust denial career

Verrall is best known today for his pamphlet (under the assumed name of Richard Harwood) ''

'', a

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

pamphlet which was the subject of the criminal action brought against its Canadian-based German publisher

Ernst Zündel Ernst Christof Friedrich Zündel (; 24 April 1939 – 5 August 2017) was a German neo-Nazi publisher and pamphleteer of Holocaust denial literature.

. The trial court found the pamphlet to be composed of fabrications and distortions. The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to ...

ruled that the book "misrepresented the work of historians, misquoted witnesses, fabricated evidence, and cited non-existent authorities". In 2017,

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

in the UK removed the entry for ''Did Six Million Really Die?'' from the offerings on its site after many years of having carried it.

Personal life

Verrall is married to Tessa Sempik, a solicitor, and they were mentioned in a 1996 article about tenancy law.

References

External links

*Renton, D.
''Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Britain''Holocaust Denial on Trial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verrall, Richard 1948 births Living people Alumni of Westfield College Pseudonymous writers British Holocaust deniers English male journalists English neo-Nazis National Front (UK) politicians

National Front involvement

Holocaust denial career

Personal life

See also

References

External links