The British co-founder of Extinction Rebellion sparked outrage in Germany today by referring to the Holocaust as 'just another f***ery in human history'.

Roger Hallam compared the murder of six million Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis to other historical massacres and claimed that memory of the Shoah - or Holocaust - was holding Germany back.

The 53-year-old former organic farmer was quickly condemned by Extinction Rebellion groups in Germany after his comments with a newspaper in the country.

In an English-language interview he told Die Zeit: 'The extremity of a trauma...can create a paralysis in actually learning the lessons from it.

'The fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history.'

He cited the Belgian colonialists who 'went to the Congo in the late 19th century and decimated it'.

Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, being arrested while setting up a toy drone inside London Heathrow airport's exclusion zone during a protest in September

Hallam was condemned by Extinction Rebellion groups in Germany after his newspaper interview in which he said the memory of the Holocaust was holding the country back

The headline of German newspaper Bild, showing outrage at Roger Hallam's comments about the Holocaust. It reads: 'Founder of extinction rebellion in shocking interview. ''Holocaust just another s*** in human history''' and adds that the 'Green leader Habeck calls for the movement to distance itself from Roger Hallam'

Hallam went on to say he considers the German attitude to the Holocaust harmful.

He warned in the interview: 'The extent of this trauma can paralyse. That prevents you from learning.'

Extinction Rebellion groups in Germany were quick to condemn the remarks.

'We distance ourselves from Roger Hallam's trivialising and relativising comments about the Holocaust,' tweeted Extinction Rebellion Germany.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION TO ROGER HALLAM'S COMMENTS ON THE HOLOCAUST Some Twitter users called for Extinction Rebellion to expel their co-founder Toger Hallam over his remarks about the Holocaust to a German newspaper. Henrique Laitenberger wrote: 'This is Extinction Rebellion's final litmus test - Roger Hallam is not just any activist, he co-founded the movement and was central to the development of its strategy, despite his extremist politics. Will @XRebellionUK expel Hallam? Or do they tolerate his heinous views?' Stephen Corry said: 'Sorry @ExtinctionR, but the balance of what is, and isn't, acceptable is fairly rapidly reaching a tipping point, in my view. Not good.' One user added: 'No-one will be surprised to discover that @RogerHallamXR , co-founder of #ExtinctionRebellion, has made extremely offensive remarks about the Holocaust.' Another user wrote: Will @ExtinctionR dissociate itself from Roger Hallam and his statements about the Holocaust in german media? #ExtinctionRebellion.' Advertisement

'Roger has contravened the principles of XR and is no longer welcome at XR Germany,' the group said, using an abbreviation for Extinction Rebellion.

The Berlin branch of the organisation tweeted: 'The systematic extermination of millions cannot be normalised. Never. Zero tolerance for anti-Semitism.'

In a statement sent to MailOnline, Extinction Rebellion UK said: 'Extinction Rebellion UK unreservedly denounces today’s comments from our co-founder, Roger Hallam, in the German newspaper Die Zeit, made in a personal capacity in relation to the recent launch of his book.

'Jewish people and many others are deeply wounded by the comments today. Internal conversations have begun with the XR Conflict team about how to manage the conflict process that will address this issue.

'We stand by restorative outcomes as preferable, although in some cases exclusion is necessary.

'Our 6th Principle states: ''We welcome everyone and every part of everyone working actively to create safer and more accessible spaces''. Our movement must be safe for Jews as well as all other minorities, marginalised peoples, and religious groups.

'We stand in solidarity with XR Germany, with Jewish communities, and with all those affected by the Holocaust, both in the past and in our times.'

The topic of the Holocaust was brought up by Hallam during the interview, carried out at his home in south Wales, because he wanted to discuss his views on Auschwitz.

He said that the horror of the concentration camp was not hidden from the public, and his theory is that climate change should be treated with same emotional response, because 'only emotionality drives people to make a difference'.

In a YouTube clip from an Amnesty International meeting in February, Hallam can been heard repeating a similar opinion.

Roger Hallam (pictured), a former organic farmer whose climate change movement brought large areas of London, claimed to be 'annoyed' that so many of his followers 'made up excuses' to not get arrested

When asked if the Holocaust has a unique position in human history, Hallam replied: 'There are various debates about whether the Holocaust is unique or not.

'I know that is the conviction in Germany, but I do not agree, with all due respect.'

The German newspaper characterised Hallam's description of the Holocaust as just another 's***' in human history, as he added that, 'genocide happened over the past 500 years again and again'.

Hallam claimed his comments had been taken out of context and compared the impact of the Holocaust with the looming climate disaster, but did not apologise for the offence caused.

He said: 'I want to fully acknowledge the unimaginable suffering caused by the Nazi holocaust, that led to all of Europe saying, ''never again''.

'But it is happening again, on a far greater scale, and in plain sight. The global north is pumping lethal levels of CO2 into the atmosphere and simultaneously erecting ever greater barriers to immigration, turning whole regions of the world into death zones. That is the grim reality.

The phrase on the main entrance gateway to the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland translates as 'Work will make you free'. More than one million people died at the camp

The arrival of Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz-Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland, June 1944

WHO IS THE CO-FOUNDER OF EXTINCTION REBELLION ROGER HALLAM? Roger Hallam's climate change movement brought large areas of central London to a standstill in protests that blocked major roads. He encouraged his followers to get arrested at demonstrations en-masse as a way of raising awareness of climate change. In a recent video on YouTube, he said protesters should be ready to cause disruption through personal 'sacrifice'. If necessary, they 'should be willing to die'. Hallam has also claimed paralysing traffic will eventually cause food shortages and trigger uprisings. He once stood unsuccessfully in the 2019 European Parliament election in the London constituency as an independent, winning 924 of the 2,241,681 votes cast, which was around 0.04 per cent of the vote. He became interested in climate change in his 40s when an organic farm he ran in south Wales went bankrupt because of extreme weather conditions. Hallam went on hunger strike in 2017 to demand King's College London stop investing in fossil fuels. His stated ambition for the group is to 'bring down all the regimes in the world and replace them', starting with Britain. Advertisement

'We are allowing our governments to willingly, and in full knowledge of the science, engage in genocide of our young people and those in the global south by refusing to take emergency action to reduce carbon emissions.'

But the German publisher of Hallam's book, Common Sense For The 21st Century: Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown And Social Collapse, said it will not be publishing his work as a result of his remarks.

Ullstein publishing house distanced itself from Hallam and his book, which was due to come out in German bookstores on November 26.

Julia Janicke, publishing house leader, told Zeit: 'The delivery of the book was stopped with immediate effect.'

Some on Twitter called for Extinction Rebellion to expel their co-founder over his controversial remarks.

A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: 'Extinction Rebellion UK unreservedly denounces today’s comments from our co-founder, Roger Hallam, in the German newspaper Die Zeit, made in a personal capacity in relation to the recent launch of his book.

'Jewish people and many others are deeply wounded by the comments today. Internal conversations have begun with the XR Conflict team about how to manage the conflict process that will address this issue. We stand by restorative outcomes as preferable, although in some cases exclusion is necessary.

'Our 6th Principle states: "We welcome everyone and every part of everyone working actively to create safer and more accessible spaces."

'Our movement must be safe for Jews as well as all other minorities, marginalised peoples, and religious groups.

'We stand in solidarity with XR Germany, with Jewish communities, and with all those affected by the Holocaust, both in the past and in our times.'

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted his outrage at Hallam's description of the Holocaust, that saw around 11 millions people, including six million Jews, die at the hands of the Nazis.

He wrote: 'The Holocaust led to millions of deaths and cruel torture methods. To assassinate and destroy Jews industrially is uniquely inhumane. We always have to be aware of that, to make sure: never again!'

Leader of the Green Party Robert Habeck distanced himself from Hallam, telling German newspaper Bild: 'The movement initiated by Hallam must be completely clear of him in its entirety.'

Rabbi Cooper, Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: 'This is the latest of unending ugly acts of Jew-hatred and Holocaust denial in the mainstream of the UK, much of it emanating from within the ranks of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party. The mass murder of 6 million Jews carried out by Germans during WWII, is now denied by a British environmental activist and in turn denounced by enraged German activists.'

Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany though several politicians have caused controversy with remarks about the Nazi era in recent years.

In 2018, co-leader of the far-right AfD party Alexander Gauland referred to the Nazi era as a 'speck of bird shit' in the history of Germany.

His party colleague Bjoern Hoecke also sparked outrage a year earlier, when he referred to the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin as a 'memorial of shame'.

The XR founder had been held on remand at Wormwood Scrubs since 16 September following his arrest for attempting to cause a public nuisance by trying to fly a drone near Heathrow Airport (pictured during his arrest on September 19)

Hallam, who encouraged his followers to get arrested at demonstrations en masse, caused outrage among his supporters last month when he claimed to be 'annoyed' that so many were 'making up excuses' to not get arrested

WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE HOLOCAUST? Germany implemented the mass killings in stages following Adolf Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in January 1933. The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, saw the genocide of the European Jews during World War II. The Nazi regime first built a network of concentration camps in Germany for political opponents and those deemed 'undesirable'. Between 1941 and 1945, across German-occupied Europe, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered around six million Jews, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. These murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings, extermination through labour in concentration camps and in gas chambers and gas vans. The majority of deaths occurred in camps such as Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobibor and Treblinka in occupied Poland. Around 11 million victims died, including six million Jews as a result of persecution by the Nazis. Advertisement

Hallam's climate change movement, from which he asked to be paid £300 a week, brought areas of London to a standstill in large-scale protests that saw roads in the centre of the capital blocked off.

He encouraged his followers to get arrested at demonstrations en-masse as a way of affecting political change and raising awareness of climate change.

In a recent video on YouTube, he said protesters should be ready to cause disruption through personal 'sacrifice'. If necessary, they 'should be willing to die'.

Hallam has also claimed paralysing traffic will eventually cause food shortages and trigger uprisings.

Hallam once stood unsuccessfully in the 2019 European Parliament election in the London constituency as an independent, winning 924 of the 2,241,681 votes cast, which was around 0.04 per cent of the vote.

He became interested in climate change in his 40s when an organic farm he ran in Wales went bankrupt because of extreme weather conditions.

Hallam went on hunger strike in 2017 to demand King's College London stop investing in fossil fuels.

His stated ambition for the group is to 'bring down all the regimes in the world and replace them', starting with Britain.

The former PhD student was arrested last month twice in the space of 24 hours and spent six weeks on remand at Wormwood Scrubs.

He was found to be in breach of his bail conditions by entering the five-mile exclusion zone and attempting to cause a public nuisance by trying to fly a drone near Heathrow Airport.

On his release on bail Hallam was slammed by supporters after boasting that prison is 'pretty much as good as it gets'. He is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17.

He was also branded an 'arrogant liability' for claiming to be 'annoyed' that so many of his followers 'made up excuses' to not get arrested.

Hallam told his 4,500 followers on Facebook: 'I was fine and if anything [it] was annoying, it was sitting there thinking about why so many people make up excuses for not taking this step which is now so necessary.

'I know I'm a bit weird, sitting on a bed all day reading biographies of Gandhi, having my food made for me, is pretty much as good as it gets as far as I am concerned.

'But really going to prison is not the end of the world. Obviously going to prison is a massive headache materially and politically for the authorities.

'Once hundreds and then thousands of people do it in an organised and coordinated way, then in my scholarly opinion real policy changes are going to happen.'

During Extinction Rebellion's ten-day autumn uprising, 1,832 people were arrested and more than 150 were charged for offences.

In the group's April protests activists glued themselves to DLR trains and broke windows at Shell's London headquarters. More than 1,100 people were arrested.