A tourist who gave the Heil Hitler! salute outside the Reichstag in Berlin has been arrested for making a forbidden gesture.
The 30-year-old Canadian man was standing on the steps of the German parliament building with his right arm raised for a photograph when police rolled up and put him in handcuffs.
The chip card from his girlfriend’s digital camera was confiscated.
Giving the Hitler salute is potentially punishable with up to six months in jail, however the misguided tourist has been let off with a fine and a warning after being bailed.
Any Nazi gesture or the displaying of any of symbols from the old regime is a serious crime in Germany.
The Daily Mail reports that a British businessman who gave the Hitler salute to a car hire official at Cologne airport was arrested within 90 seconds.
German police apparently told the man: “You can call him a bastard and you can give him the finger, but you cannot do that.”
Thoughts?
