Hitler was a great man, says Holocaust denier David Irving

On his shocking tour of former Nazi death camps in Poland, controversial British historian David Irving praised Adolf Hitler as 'a great man' and his Gestapo as 'fabulous policeman'.

Irving said Hitler was not 'immoral' but was let down by lesser people in the Nazi regime, according to an undercover report by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

'Hitler could be very cruel but he was not immoral. He was just surrounded by "little" people,' the paper said Irving told those on a 1,500 pounds-a-head tour he has been hosting.

Irving, who was once jailed in Austria for denying the Holocaust, also told tourists that the German dictator should be compared to Hannibal, the leader of Carthage that fought against and who almost overpowered Rome.

'He was like Hannibal. He held the military forces of the rest of the world for six years. Exactly like Hannibal, but nobody has never denied the greatness of Hannibal," the Daily Mail quoted the historian as saying.

'Hitler was a great man, one of the greatest Europeans for centuries.'

'The Gestapo were fabulous policemen. They sent 300,000 to Auschwitz and 800,000 to Treblinka,' he added.

His comments will be studied closely by Polish authorities and are sure to infuriate Holocaust survivors.