Richard Verrall (born 1948) is a British

Holocaust denier Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: *Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" wa ...

and former deputy chairman of the British National Front (NF) who edited the magazine '' Spearhead'' from 1976 to 1980. Under the ''nom de plume'' of Richard E. Harwood, Verrall wrote the pamphlet '' Did Six Million Really Die?''

National Front involvement

Verrall studied

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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 formerly 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 ...

, 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 19128 February 1998) was a British politician, scholar and writer. He served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South West for the Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

, to join the NF. Initially a close supporter of

John Tyndall John Tyndall (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was an Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the physical properties of air ...

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

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He was also known for his endorsement of

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

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, wheth ...

, 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 Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

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 fascist British ...

in 1980. In 1985, he testified before a British court that he was disassociated from the NF, testimony that was corroborated by that of his Canadian publisher in a separate trial held in Ontario.

Holocaust denial career

Verrall is best known for his pamphlet (under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Richard Harwood), '' Did Six Million Really Die?'', a

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

pamphlet which was the subject of criminal action against its Canadian-based German publisher, Ernst Zündel. The

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) 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 between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

found the pamphlet contained fabrications and distortions, noting it "misrepresented the work of historians, misquoted witnesses, fabricated evidence, and cited non-existent authorities". In 2017,

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

in the UK removed the pamphlet from its site.

Personal life

Verrall married Tessa Sempik, a British solicitor. 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