Did Free Speech Cause the Holocaust?

That appears to be the contention of the Saskatchewan "human rights" body. The case brought against it by Bill Whatcott, accused of saying hateful things about gays, is being heard today by Canada's highest court:

"At home and abroad the 20th century is rife with examples of extreme speech and related violence that was left unchecked and unchallenged to terrible and tragic ends," David Arnot, chief commissioner of the commission, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Yes, Hitler employed hateful propaganda to fire up the populace and justify his murder of Jews and theft of their property, but the notion that that, Fascist war-speech, constitutes an "extreme" example of free speech is about as ahistoric (and as downright silly) as it gets.