Enter Peter Malborn

As you may know, I am currently working on my FILM 360 project (the major film project for junior year film students at LMU). It is a 10 minute documentary about freedom of speech here in Germany. I'm talking about the Holocaust revisionists, especially Ernst Zundel and the Mohammad cartoons published last year that sparked the international cartoon wars that followed.

I'm trying to get interviews with various German leaders about the subject... whatever I can fit into 10 minutes--the arbitrary limit imposed by the professors.

Anyway, I'm also trying to get an interview with a leader of the National Democratic Party, (basically Germany's neo-Nazi party), and emailed a contact that my friend Nathalie gave me named Dr. Peter Malborn. Allow me to share with you now our correspondence.

The Initiation
This morning:
Dear Dr. Malborn,

My friend Nathalie Curtis has been contacting you on my behalf in the
hope of arranging an interview for my documentary about free speech in
Germany, but I thought the time was probably right for me to write to
you directly.

My documentary is on the subject of freedom of speech in Germany. I
will talk about Mr. Ernst Zündel and Holocaust revisionism. And I
will talk about the Danish Mohammad cartoons that were reprinted in
German newspapers last year and the international cartoon wars that
they started. I will explain Zündel's situation through interviews
with various German leaders and citizens. And I will close the
documentary with a plea for open dialogue in Germany because arbitrary
censorship leads to tragedy.

I have begun interviewing German leaders, including an NRW CDU
Parliament representative, the deputy whip of the SPD in NRW, and a
leader of the Zentralrat der Juden in Cologne. Furthermore, I have
interviews scheduled with a television censorship board member and a
member of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. Finally, I'm still
working on contacting a leader of the Muslim community and a
constitutional lawyer. And at some point, I will probably go to
Altstadt and ask random people on the street about the subject.

I hope that we can arrange an interview at some point in the next
month. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Mike Litzenberg

The Response
This afternoon:
Dear Mr. Litzenberg,

thank you for your interest in our party. I expect that you are familiar
with the juridical state of being in Germany and know that the denial of
the holocaust is illegal. Frankly speaking, as what is nowadays called a
far-right politician I have more than enough experience with attempts to
trick me into saying something illegal. That is why I am definitely not
going to discuss any aspect of the holocaust.

May I suggest that you are looking for another person to interview.

Sincerely yours,
Peter Malborn

The Follow-up
This evening:
Dear Dr. Malborn,

I was merely attempting to get voices from all points of the German
political spectrum in my film as I am sure that the NPD has a unique
perspective on freedom of speech and censorship.

However, because my documentary is not on the subject of the Holocaust
but rather on free speech, I am still hoping we can work something
out. I wonder if I could send you a list of the questions I would
have potentially asked you in an interview, and you could write out
the answers rather than sitting for a filmed interview which would be
understandably less comfortable.

Once again, I know we have never met, but understand that I had no
intention of tricking anyone into doing or saying anything.

Sincerely,
Mike Litzenberg


Stay tuned, Junior Woodchucks. Should be interesting.