German writer Hochhuth apologizes for Irving praise

The renowned German writer Rolf Hochhuth has apologized publicly for his positive remarks about the British far-right historian Holocaust David Irving. In a newspaper interview, Hochhuth had said that it was "stupid" to call Irving a Holocaust denier, and defended the latter's academic record. Now, Hochhuth said that his own statement had been idiotic, and that he was ashamed to have said this sentence. Had he known that Irving, after publishing well-received books on the Hitler regime in the 1970s and 1980s, had become an extreme right-wing figure himself, he would not have made those comments. Paul Spiegel, the president of German Jewish community, welcomed Hochhuth's apologies.