In article <05420837fedc9854c432bcb0fcd781a5@news.teranews.com>, UFO Coverup
Team says...

On Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:13:08 GMT, Sir Arthur C.B.E. Wholeflaffers
A.S.A. <nospam@newsranger.com> wrote:

In article <bnqdvf$1emg$1@pencil.math.missouri.edu>, President, USA Exile Govt.
says...

Su....

German Police Storm 1000 Book Stores Across the Country After Prosecutor Orders
'Dangerous' Books Confiscated

Publishers Speak of 'Climate of Fear'; Art Spiegelman Anti-Nazi 'Maus'
Poster Confiscated During Raid

HAMBURG, 12 April 1996 --- Battle dressed German police from 480
police units across the country raided nearly 1000 bookstores,
confiscating books and even a beloved anti-Nazi poster. Thousands
of copies of titles which the goernment claimed to be literature
"endangering youth" were confiscated. Among them were best
sellers. Germany's attack on press freedom, the first on such a
massive level since Hitler was in power, followed an order by a
regional prosecutor who was backed by government prosecutors and
police officials throughout Germany.

One publisher whose works were among those confiscated told
reporters the massive action is clearly an anti-Semitic and
anti-gay attack. Sonneberger Verlag spokesman H�rp Schr�ppel
declared that the raids and confiscation also violates German
privacy laws. Other publishers condemned the sweeping denial of
press freedom and freedom of opinion.

In an ominous move, Germany's increasingly government-compliant
media waited five days before reporting the storming of bookstores
and confiscation of books. Many mainline media continued to ignore
the story as of Friday (12/4).

Police even confiscated posters by Pulitzer prize winner Art
Spiegelman, author of the internationally acclaimed anti-Nazi
"Maus" books, claiming that they "glorify violence" and are "a
threat to German youth."

An official of the German book publisher's association, Harald
Heker, said the raids set off a "climate of fear."

Officials came down hard on books about gays, including titles
which help parents adjust when their daughters or sons "come out"
as gay. One of the targeted books, Kondom des Grauens, is a cult
comic favorite by Ralf Konig. The book combines sharply witted
text with drawings to portray gay life in Germany. The prized work
has, since published, been adapted for both theater and film.

Several of the titles confiscated are best sellers including Der
Kleine Arschloch, which has reportedly sold one half million
copies. The book is considered to be a German version of the
American comic and film favorite Dennis The Menace.

German police were battle dressed and used truncheons as they
stormed some of the bookstores. Two persons were seriously hurt in
one of the raids, believed to have been near D�sseldorf. In other
raids, police entered bookstores and simply began removing
"offending" titles and carrying them away.

Publishers have reacted with fury. Several announced they have
begun "judicial moves" against police and prosecutors. Others
decried the "criminalization" of publishers.

Sonneberger Verlag spokesman H�rp Schr�ppel disclosed that it is
the second time his firm has been hit by confiscation ordered by
regional prosecutors in Thuringa. Among the titles ordered
confiscated and rounded up in the first round was a prize-winning
anti-Nazi comic, "Der Schrei nach Leben" by Paul Gillon, which
deals with life and death in the Warsaw Ghetto while Hitler was in
power.

Attempts by some in the German media to play down the raids as the
sole responsibility of regional prosecutors in Thuringa were
sharply contradicted by both police and government officials.
Coordination of the storming of 1,000 bookstores throughout
Germany required "express, written approval" and "enormous
resources" of federal as well as regional authorities, officials
admitted.