Young people want to visit the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz – and post a video with a Hitler salute. They are said to have been drunk when doing so. Now the state security service is interested in the incident.
A video showing a Hitler salute before a visit to the Auschwitz extermination camp may have consequences for five students from Laatzen near Hanover – the state security service is investigating. The incident and the suspected adolescents are known to the state security service, and an investigation is being carried out into the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations, the police announced on Monday.
The authorities did not want to give any further details for investigative reasons. The school principal also confirmed the incident. The 17-year-olds had “acted completely immaturely,” he stressed.
In mid-May, a total of 13 participants in a course went on a trip to Krakow, Poland, with their teachers to research the city’s Jewish history, media reported. A visit to the German extermination camp Auschwitz in then-occupied Poland was also on the agenda.
The incident occurred on the evening before the visit to the camp, the headmaster told the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”. According to the report, the students watched internet videos, including a speech by Adolf Hitler. Against this backdrop, one of the roommates filmed his four obviously drunk classmates giving a Hitler salute. The eight-second video was then posted on the social network Snapchat. This only became known after the group returned.
“We are of course shocked and appalled,” the headmaster told the newspaper. The five young people were initially suspended from classes after the video became known and the police were informed. According to the report, the school has been trying for years to educate students about the crimes of the Nazi era.
