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TORONTO (JTA) — Veteran British Columbia journalist Doug Collins faces charges of violating the 1993 Human Rights Act for accusing Jews of distorting the Holocaust to make money.

Collins could be fined if convicted by a judicial panel for a newspaper column he wrote three years ago for the Vancouver newspaper North Shore News, which claims a circulation of about 60,000.

Collins dismissed the accepted figure of 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust as "nonsense," and suggested the total was "hundreds of thousands."

He described Holocaust films such as "Schindler's List" as "hate literature in the form of films" and said Jews control Hollywood and are making up lies to extort billions of dollars in German reparations.

Argentina to probe Nazis in its midst

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — The Argentine government this week created a national committee to probe how many Nazi officials arrived in the country after World War II, the level of protection extended to them by local authorities and the transfer of Nazi gold to Buenos Aires.

The committee will be headed by high-ranking members of the government, but will also include non-governmental personalities and an international board of trustees.

Jewish communal leaders applauded the move as a major step toward dealing with a subject long considered a taboo by government officials.

Two years ago, prodding by the Jewish community led President Carlos Menem to open a dark chapter in Argentina's wartime history by releasing official records about the postwar arrivals of Nazi officials in Argentina.

The latest action comes after a commission funded by the Argentine Jewish Mutual Aid Association, also known as AMIA, revealed the complicity of government officials in resettling Nazi officials in Argentina.

Argentina neo-Nazis march, sing, speak

BUENOS AIRES (JTA) — In the first neo-Nazi demonstration here in years, a small group this week marked the first anniversary of the death of a skinhead who was killed in a street fight with left-wing activists.

Some 50 black-clad youngsters gathered in a park Saturday, near the spot where Marcelo Scalera was killed, to sing patriotic songs and hear a speech by a neo-Nazi leader.

The demonstration was organized by two little-known groups, the Nationalist Youth and the New Social and Patriotic Order Party.

Heavily armed police watched.