Greek Neo-Nazi Shown Training Children To Perform ‘Heil Hitler’ Salute
Image by getty images
A Greek newspaper has released a video apparently showing a senior Golden Dawn leader teaching two small children how to give the Nazi salute and chant “Heil Hitler.”
The video released by the Kathimerini paper on Monday was apparently shot on the cell phone of party deputy leader Christos Pappas and is part of the evidence to be brought against him in the upcoming trial against Golden Dawn leaders.
Golden Dawn has long argued that they are not Nazis but only Greek nationalists and patriots.
The video shows a small boy clad all in white wearing a Nazi swastika armband and holding a swastika pennant while being encouraged by Pappas to chant “Heil Hitler,” and give the Nazi salute. In a second scene, a young girl also repeatedly chants and salutes.
Many of Golden Dawn’s leaders are awaiting trial on charges of running a criminal organization. The party, which has 18 seats in the Greek Parliament, has been accused of being behind dozens of racist attacks on immigrants. It frequently uses Nazi imagery and its leaders have denied the existence of Nazi death camps and gas chambers.
As part of attempts to crack down on the party Greek lawmakers recently passed a law with harsher penalties for inciting racial violence and denying the Holocaust. However the law cannot be applied retroactively.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
