Russian court dismisses criminal case against historian from St. Petersburg who branded Holocaust ‘hoax’

The St. Petersburg City Court has dismissed the criminal case on justification of Nazism against professor Vladimir Matveev, the joint city courts press service reports.

The case has been dismissed due to expiration of the statute of limitations, for which the defence was also petitioning. The hearings were held behind closed doors. The case was being tried by a jury, however, they were let go due to the termination of the proceedings request.

In January 2021, professor Matveev said during a webinar that “Holocaust just did not happen in the numbers [that historians talk about]”.

“It was impossible to make six million victims pass through all the concentration camps. So that number — six millions — is nothing but a hoax. <…> As representatives of the educational field, we have to bring the truth to the masses. Conclusion: Holocaust didn’t happen to that extent,” he said.

He was later fired from both universities he worked at. In March 2021, a criminal case was initiated against him.