45 Spring 2026 § 130 (3) StGB – Denial or Trivialization of the Holocaust Anyone who denies the Holocaust via conspiracy ideology is punishable under § 130 (3) StGB. The main instance is the so-called “Auschwitz Lie” – that is, the denial of the mass murders in the Auschwitz concentration camp. This includes statements such as “Auschwitz was not an extermination camp but a labor camp,” “the Holocaust is the greatest lie in history,” or “there was no mass extermination of people in Auschwitz.”49 Such denial serves to relativize Nazi crimes and rests on the assumption of an allegedly Jewish-controlled falsification of history. In addition to denial, trivialization of the Holocaust is also criminalized under § 130 (3) StGB. In this context, trivialization occurs when the perpetrator “plays down, glosses over, conceals the true gravity, or trivializes the wrongful nature of the Holocaust.”50 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the BGH had to decide whether the offense of “trivialization” was satisfied when a defendant posted on Facebook an image of a concentration camp gate with the caption “Vaccination brings freedom” (Impfen macht frei), echoing the Auschwitz slogan Arbeit macht frei. The gate depicted caricatures of a Chinese man, guards wielding oversized syringes, and Bill Gates. The Court ultimately upheld the conviction for trivialization under § 130 (3) StGB. The Court found that such depictions, “lower inhibitions against antisemitic assaults … because recognition of the gravity and exceptional nature of this injustice constitutes a protective barrier against such acts.”51 The Court further emphasized that the depiction perpetuated the narrative of a “capitalist Jewish world conspiracy” and that “the image has an emotionalizing effect.”52 By contrast, in more recent cases involving tasteless and hyperbolic analogies – such as wearing a yellow “Star of David” labeled “unvaccinated” during the COVID-19 pandemic – courts have denied the existence of “trivialization,” as such comparisons acknowledge the historical facts themselves.53 Nonetheless, expressions that deny or trivialize the Holocaust and thereby fuel antisemitic conspiracy narratives can in many instances be identified as offenses under paragraph 3. A conspiracy ideology’s ability to instigate acts of violence was demonstrated by the attack on a synagogue in Halle on the holiest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which, in 2019, was observed on October 9. A right-wing extremist attempted to storm the synagogue with firearms and commit a massacre. When he failed, he shot and killed two people nearby. The attacker live-streamed the entire crime using a helmet camera. After his arrest, he disclosed the antisemitic conspiracy theories that inspired him to the investigating judge. He claimed that “Jews sought world domination and were behind the manipulations of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Union,” and that “the refugee crisis was orchestrated by the U.S. businessman of Jewish descent, George Soros.”54 The perpetrator was convicted of two counts of murder and more than fifty counts of attempted murder. The Court held that his antisemitic and ideological motives had to be considered aggravating circumstances.55 Had the attacker succeeded in entering the synagogue, it would probably have been the deadliest antisemitic assault in post-war German history. § 130 (4) StGB As far as can be seen, cases in which the dissemination of conspiracy theories have actually been sanctioned 49. LG Hamburg decision of June 26, 2024 - 715 NBs 2/23; “Ursula Haverbeck: Convicted Holocaust denier files appeal,” BECK-AKTUELL (Oct. 27, 2025), available at https://rsw.beck.de/aktuell/daily/meldung/detail/ursula-haverbeckverurteilte-holocaust-leugnerin-revision 50. BGH, decision of Feb. 4, 2025 – 3 StR 468/24 –, juris, para. 6. 51. BGH, decision of Feb. 4, 2025 – 3 StR 468/24 –, juris, para. 17. 52. BGH, decision of Feb. 4, 2025 – 3 StR 468/24 –, juris, para. 20f. 53. See MüKoStGB/Anstötz StGB § 130 Rn. 82; supra note 34. 54. Armin Langer, “Zusammenhänge zwischen antisemitischer Hundepfeifenpolitik und rechtsextremer Gewalt. Das Beispiel der George-Soros-Verschwörungstheorien und des QAnon-Kollektivs” in RECHTER TERRORISMUS: INTERNATIONAL – DIGITAL – ANALOG, WIESBADEN 231, 232 (Springer VS 2023). 55. OLG Naumburg, Urteil vom 21.12.2020 - 1 St 1/20, - openjur para. 558, 580.
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