BERLIN (AP) – Given Germany’s grim history as the home of National Socialism and the efforts it has made since then to atone for its genocidal past, it might seem surprising that far-right extremists who glorify a dead Nazi official are allowed to march in his honor this weekend.
Police in Berlin have given far-right extremists permission to hold a 500-person strong rally commemorating the death of Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess in the city’s western district of Spandau.
But there’s a catch.
Police have told organizers they can march, but they’re not allowed to glorify Hess, who died at Spandau prison 30 years ago. The neo-Nazis are allowed to bring banners: but only one for every 50 participants. And military music is strictly forbidden, unless a court overturns that rule before Saturday’s march.
Such restrictions are common in Germany and rooted in the experience of the pre-war Weimar Republic, when opposing political groups would try to forcibly interrupt their rivals’ rallies, resulting in frequent bloody street violence, said Sven Richwin, a Berlin lawyer.