n essence, documented for Ernst's immigration attorney:

February 5, 2003

This is what I remember about Ernst's arrest by the officers of INS:

It is now 1:10 pm.

Shortly after 11 a. m. the door bell rang. I was in my office. I remember the time because I am on a diet and I knew I could have a snack at 11 a.m. Ernst and John, a local man who helps out with odd jobs, were working on Ernst's painting, framing some of them.

Two minutes or so later, Ernst came into my office and said, as I remember it. "Guess what. The INS guys are here because I am supposed to have missed a hearing."

I went outside with him, and there were a total of 5 men, one of them in uniform. (John later told me that the man in uniform was the local deputy sheriff.) Ernst stood by the hood of John's car with one of the officers handing him a pad with a one-page text that he was trying to get Ernst to sign.

Ernst asked if he could call his lawyer. He was told that he could not.

I asked if I could call a lawyer, and I was told that I could not.

The demeanor of the men, I felt, was threatening. Ernst said he wanted to read the document he was to sign, and was told the men did not have all day. Nonetheless, he read it very carefully, then told them that he never received a request for a hearing. I reiterated that as well. I also said that we had received a notification that said a hearing might take "up to 36 months". (Ernst had applied for permanent residency status in the US in the summer of 2000) The officer just shrugged. Ernst was again urged to sign the paper, and I suggested that he put a note at the bottom stating that he had never received a hearing date. Ernst then said, as I remember it: "What happens if I don't sign it?" and he was told by the man who stood to his left: "Then we'll have to arrest you." "And if I sign it?" At that, the man said: "Either way. We are here to arrest you."

Thereupon Ernst signed the paper, I believe. Maybe he just wrote his objection. I never saw what was written there, nor was I given a copy. Ernst then asked me to get him a jacket and his passport. I went upstairs and one of the agents followed me. He was very snoopy and looked around in several rooms but did not touch anything. He only said: "You have a nice house. You have a lot of books. Your husband likes to read?" I said: "We both like to read."

I found the jacket and passport, and when I came down, Ernst had emptied his pockets of his bills and money. It lay on the hood of John's car. He said to me: "Remember what I told you? That's what they were going to do. Use a bureaucratic excuse to get me." (That was the meaning of his words. I don't remember them exactly.)

I had the presence of mind to ask the names of the officers. They are: John Barnes, Gary Slaybough (apparently the boss), Scott Pitman, Sat D. (?) Lee, and County Sheriff Steve Watson.

Ernst then said to the officers: "I am on medication. Can I take my medication along?" He was told that he could. He asked me to get it, and I went upstairs to get it. Again, one of the agents followed me. I was shaking by that time, but I got his medication in a plastic grocery bag and took it down. I saw that he was being put in handcuffs. I said, thinking of his sore wrist: "Is that necessary? There's five of you. He isn't going to run away." One of the officers said: "We do that to all of them, not to show favoritism." Then Ernst was led away.

I did not see in which car he was put, or if he waved goodbye. It all happened very fast.

Our helper, John, was there the whole time because he had worked with Ernst on his painting frames in the garage, and he witnessed everything. I went upstairs, found our immigration lawyer's number, and called him. I told John to stay with me and listen so I would have a witness.

The immigration lawyer said he knew nothing of a hearing; he had not been informed either. He also said that people didn't get arrested for missing a hearing. He said he would call around and find out what was going on. I told him that one of the officers had told me that Ernst was being taken to Knoxville, and that I would be called and informed what would happen to him. (So far, I have not yet been called by any of the agents.) The lawyer repeated that he would call around to find out what was going on and he would call me back.

I then called another attorney who is a family friend who had been with us when we first met the immigration lawyer. This attorney thought that the arrest probably had to do with "war fever" - that immigration was rounding up people and Ernst's enemies took advantage of the situation and put on pressure in the right places. He also thought there might come the question of bail, and that bail for a federal arrest was very high. I said that we would not be able to pay it.

Our friend then offered to have his in-laws come and stay with me for a few days. I told them I had trusted friends in the area and would be all right.

I then talked briefly with John and asked for his recollection. John told me that he was asked for ID and some nosy questions, and he also said he perceived the agents as threatening.

I told him that chances were he would be interrogated, and to make sure to tell the truth. I told him that I was sure he knew that Ernst had a high profile, but that he also knew we were decent people who had nothing to hide. I told him it was very important to tell the truth is he knew it.

Our lawyer friend then called me back and said that he had had a very good conversation with the immigration lawyer who thought that a judge had not ordered the arrest, that the arrest came from the Immigration Commissioner - that is, from the top.

John is upstairs writing down what he saw and experienced.

Ingrid Zündel

[END]

I only want to add that I have since talked to Ernst twice, last night and this morning. He is being held in a neighboring county jail and expects to be sent "elsewhere". He also said to look in the drawer of his night stand for my Valentine's present.

How do I feel? I feel like I felt as a child when my father was taken away by Soviet goons, under a similar flimsy pretense and without any prior notification. My readers know that I never saw my father again.

I expect to see Ernst again - make no mistake about that!

That is all I know and want to say at this time.

I would like to keep my phone line open in case I need to communicate with either Ernst, his attorneys or government officials. Please do not call. E-mail me or use our fax. Our number is 865-774-7758.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

From :Zgrams-admin@zundelsite.org

Date :Sat, 8 Feb 2003 20:19:56 -0800 ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny February 8, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

I visited Ernst today in Blount County Jail where he is being held. Persistence won the day.

Here is what happened:

I had called several times to find out when I could visit, and via many runarounds and yet more runarounds I finally figured out that visiting hours are scheduled according to which floor an "inmate" is assigned. I was first told I could come today, at 11 a.m. When I called to make double-sure, I was told no, Ernst's visiting hour was Monday at 1 p.m., but my husband would have to indicate he really wanted to see me by signing a visitor sheet.

Perhaps someone ought to inform him?

Well, did I not know it was a weekend - and people had gone home?

I put some extra steel in my voice and threw in my doctor's title for good measure. I told the person on the phone in charge of procedures that word had come to me that Ernst would be shipped "elsewhere" - and was there any way to make an exception? I simply HAD to see him.

A very curt "Sorry!" Next Saturday.

I said that really WAS strange - I had been told if not today, then Monday.

Well, sorry, Ma'am! Next Saturday.

Serendipity intervened at that point. A friend who is a minister volunteered his own visiting slot over to me.

I called again and asked: could I come? I KNEW there was a slot. The answer was: "No, only Monday." All slots had since been filled.

I said it was odd - I knew for a fact a visiting slot had just opened.

Well, I was not on the visiting list.

I said to double-check. PLEASE double-check.

No doing. Back and forth. Back and forth. And yet more back and forth.

With gritted teeth I managed to get to some supervisor who, after hearing my story of woe of the Royal Runaround, allowed me to come in at 12:45 - and he gave me his word he would make sure I would be on the all-important list.

I drove there two hours early, expecting more trouble. Guess what? I was not on anyone's list.

I said I had been promised.

Sorry. The supervisor who had promised me had left.

Yet more to-do - and all this time I was just speaking - and, frankly, zee accent getting pretty zick - a list was found, Eureka! It even had my name.

Another problem next arose. Where to find Mr. Zundel?

He wasn't here. He wasn't there. Dr. Seuss comes to mind - doesn't he?

Sit DOWN, Mrs. Zundel - and WAIT!

To make a very complicated story short, somehow a miracle occurred, and I was buzzed upstairs.

As far as I can tell, this business with the musical chairs, shifting Ernst from floor to floor, was nothing but harassment. It was meant to prevent me, and probably others, from seeing and talking to him.

Those are the times that make you thankful for your ancestors' genes that instruct you exactly just how deep to dig in your heels.

===== So there was my dear love, behind a glass partition - just like in the movies. And for what?

AP World Politics U.S. immigration agents arrest Canadian neo-Nazi on visa problems Fri Feb 7,10:06 PM ET By DUNCAN MANSFIELD, Associated Press Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee - A man notorious for neo-Nazi writings and for running a white supremacist publi shing house in Toronto has been arrested for having an expired visa, immigratio n authorities said.

Immigration and Naturalization Service agents arrested Ernst Zundel, 63, on Wednesday without resistance.

"He has not been removed from the country, but I can tell you he is in our custody," Sarah Mouw, a spokeswoman for the INS in New Orleans, said Friday.

Zundel had been living in the foothills of eastern Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains for about two years. No one answered the phone at Zundel's home in Sevierville Friday.

"I don't know what his immigration status is but he is a bad boy," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "He is an anti-Semite, a Holocaust denier. He is somebody America could do without."

[END] Ernst and I talked for an hour, and I managed to tell him most of what he needed to know. Is he well? Yes, to all appearances. He isn't treated badly.

"But everything," he told me, "is unpleasant."

The food is a disgrace, and very small portions are given. He shares a cell with only one other person who gets moved back and forth as well. One night he had to spend with a howling and utterly deranged schizophrenic. Now he has a "roommate" who seems to be all right. If he wants pen and paper, he has to put in a request for it on Monday - and maybe he'll get it on Thursday. He said his "roommate" had given him a few sheets of paper, on which he is writing his February Power letter for his worldwide supporters. If he can get it mailed out, I will type it, format it, have it translated, and ship it out next week.

I won't pretend this is a lark that Ernst can take in stride. During the three years we have been together as a married couple committed to each other, I have become keenly aware of how beauty-responsive and esthetically sensitive Ernst is. A sunset, a spring blossom can make his entire being just radiate with joy. He is an artist, through and through - his soul just hungers for beauty. It must be very hard on him to know that from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. he is allowed to share in the company of whatever else is locked up in that place - and if he chooses not to partake in inanities, he cannot go back to his cell. Not before 9 p.m., that is!

=====

I believe there is a good chance Ernst will be moved back and forth across America to avoid any meaningful strategy of freeing him in a concerted effort. There is a name for this treatment - I have forgotten what it's called. Another possibility, of course, is that he will be shipped to Germany so fast that all we'll see is dust clouds.

Our best chance is delay - and supporter involvement and outrage!

Many of you have asked what you can do, and I have stalled with an answer because I wanted to talk to him first. Ernst feels you should use as many avenues as you can think of to spread the word and tell his story - but, please, always with class and discernment!

Don't get vile. Don't get abusive. Never forget who we are. Let's leave the filth and violence to our enemies - we have nothing but nothing in common with them!

I will tell you more tomorrow about our plans and how we can band together and free this freedom-loving man who has already given 40 years of his life to this struggle. I am too tired tonight to do a good job, but I will have strategies ready tomorrow.

=====

You need an upbeat ending - and I have that for you:

Media-wise, it's been a mad-house! The story of the Zundel arrest is truly all over the globe! I have had news from as odd a place as Malta! Huge! Simply huge exposure! It is wry fun to let our enemies do our publicity for us!

Briefly, this morning, the Zundelsite was down. Guess why?

We manage to resurrect it. My volunteer webmaster tells me:

So far in Feb, we have had 670,661 visitors, which looked at 2.3 million different pages on the Zundelsite!!!

By the end of Feb, maybe we can hit 6 million pages viewed!

Go take a look - and send others there. The homepage is re-done - I think it looks very effective.

www.zundelsite.org

=====

You guys hang in there, and I will, too. Tomorrow, I'll rise like a phoenix from the ashes. I must admit that this prison visit - my very first ever! - has done a good number on me. But the line in the sand has been drawn.

With many, many thanks for your wonderful letters and also promised support, I say we are in this together - and we'll win!

Ingrid

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