Yes, this law is stupid. But it has been on the books (and is being enforced) since the country was founded in 1949. It was, in the past, even famously used to prosecute leftist insignia of a broken swastika being tossed into a rubbish bin.

This law is, in fact, on the books because of staunch American influence in the nascent Grundgesetz (the constitution of federal Germany). So this prosecution can’t surprise anybody who did their homework. The mitigating legal factors like educational material, history books or parody obviously do not apply here.

My thanks to

for helping the German authorities prosecute me (a fellow Bloomsbury author) for tweeting the cover art of one of my books (which they also banned). After all, as Margaret wrote, “anyone displaying the insignia is in effect saying ‘Kill all Jews’” … even if that author is “displaying the insignia” in order to oppose totalitarianism. “Logic 101” indeed.

1 Like
1 Reply
1 Restack
9:27 AM
Dec 29