Heil Hitler gnomes remain on display

A Nuremberg court will allow an art gallery to display garden gnomes giving a Hitler salute. The state prosecutor announced last week that there is no cause to sue artist Ottoman Horl and gallery owner Erwin Weigl for the use of anti-constitutional symbols.

An anonymous complaint about the exhibit had launched a probe.

In “this specific case,” chief prosecutor Wolfgang Trag stressed, the raised arm was clearly part of an artistic action designed to be critical of the Nazi regime. But “the Hitler greeting remains banned in general,” he told reporters.

The story about the gnomes drew worldwide media attention. Horl said he received many new orders for the statue. — jta

Romanian mayor sorry for wearing Nazi attire

A Romanian mayor apologized for dressing up as a Nazi officer. Radu Mazare of Constana, a Black Sea port city, said in a letter released July 23 that he regretted offending people when he dressed up in a German World War II uniform and goose-stepped across the stage with his 15-year-old son during a fashion show July 19 at a Black Sea resort.

A swastika adorned the belt of the uniform.

“I want to present my apologies to all those who were upset or offended by my appearance,” Mazare said in the letter.

The letter continued, “I said then that I do not share the Nazi ideology, on the contrary I appreciate those who wanted to assassinate the mad dictator. I do not share or espouse nationalist, fascist or anti-Semitic ideas.”

Wearing a Nazi uniform is illegal in Romania, as is the display of swastikas, which is punishable by up to three years in prison, according to reports. — jta