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Vice Blog

Germany - Swastikas Are Back, Kinda

Just when we were about to post here about a weekly news show that the NPD (Germany's Right Wing Party) was launching on Youtube as a testing ground for the possible production of NPD TV, we are happy to find out that in this case democracy and freedom of speech have been compromised for the greater good of humanity and that Youtube has banned the channel from its site. On to the next Nazi-related problem in the Fatherland; an old punk Jürgen Kamm has been prosecuted and fined 3, 600 Euros for selling products with anti-Nazi-symbols through his company "Nix Gut".

This company offers product sfor punks including boots, buttons, CDs, T-shirts, neckbands, bracelets, belts and gloves with tons and tons of leather and studs. The trouble started when a mother from the Allgäu found a "Nix Gut" catalogue in her son's room while cleaning. She was so outraged by all the crossed out swastikas that she sued the company. Kamm was charged on the basis of using symbols of "unconstitutional organisations". As a defence, the slightly confused Jürgen said that "a prohibition sign with a crossed out cigarette doesn't encourage people to smoke either." This whole big pile of nonsense that one might call an "issue" has since taken on unimaginable dimensions. When a youth group from Stuttgart had a drawing competition with the theme of fighting against racism and intolerance, tons of sketches were confiscated due to them drawing similar crossed-out Nazi symbols. The prosecutor said that he just doesn't get "why kids should learn how to draw swastikas."