Members of the conservative Christian Democrats' (CDU) youth wing have issued a qualified apology after they were filmed singing a Nazi-era military song on the anniversary of an infamous Nazi pogrom against Jews.
Berlin-based newspaper Der Tagesspiegel published the video after it was filmed by a Jewish artist in a Berlin bar on November 9.
Around 15 Young Union (JU) members are seen sitting around a table bellowing out the "Westerwaldlied" ("Westerwald Song").
The song, written in 1932, was sung by German soldiers during Nazi Germany's invasion of France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The German military stopped printing it in its official songbook in 2017.
The artist who made the recording, Linda Alvizuri Sommerfeld, said the group of aspiring CDU politicians had also repeatedly railed against what they called "faggots" before she started filming.
Apology, sort of
The local JU chapter the group belongs to, JU Limburg, apologized for any disturbance its members' behavior or singing may have caused in the bar.
But it dismissed any serious wrongdoing and criticized what it said was a "digital witch hunt" against its members following the revelation.
"The 'Westerwaldlied' has been an established and popular folk and hiking song among our members for decades," it said. "We regret that it is not possible in a city where smoking pot is tolerated again and again to sing a German folk and hiking song whose text is not accompanied by any political statement."
The organization did not comment on the significance of singing the song on November 9.
Read more: The Nazi-era song scandal involving German crooner Heino
Kristallnacht
On November 9, 1938, anti-Semitic mobs assaulted Jews and destroyed Jewish property throughout Germany with the implicit approval of the Nazi German government. Many Jews were killed during "Kristallnacht" or "Night of Broken Glass," as it later became known.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What happened on November 9-10, 1938?
Anti-Semitic mobs, led by SA paramilitaries, went on rampages throughout Nazi Germany. Synagogues like this one in the eastern city of Chemnitz and other Jewish-owned property were destroyed, and Jews were subject to public humiliation and arrested. According to official records, at least 91 Jews were killed — though the real death toll was likely much higher.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What's behind the name?
The street violence against German Jews is known by a variety of names. Berliners called it Kristallnacht, from which the English "Night of Broken Glass" is derived. It recalls the shards of shattered glass from the windows of synagogues, homes and Jewish-owned businesses. Nowadays, in German, it's also common to speak of the "pogrom night" or the "November pogroms."
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What was the official reason for the pogrom?
The event that provided the excuse for the violence was the murder of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew. Vom Rath was shot at close range at the German Embassy in Paris on November 7, and died days later. Grynszpan wasn't executed for the crime; no one knows whether he survived the Third Reich or died in a concentration camp.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
How did the violence start?
After vom Rath's death, Adolf Hitler gave Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels permission to launch the pogrom. Violence had already broken out in some places, and Goebbels gave a speech indicating the Nazis would not quash any "spontaneous" protests against the Jews. The SS were instructed to allow "only such measures as do not entail any danger to German lives and property."
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
Was the violence an expression of popular anger?
No — that was just the official Nazi party line, but no one believed it. Constant references to "operations" and "measures" in Nazi documents clearly indicate the violence was planned ahead of time. It's unclear what ordinary Germans thought of the mayhem. There is evidence of popular disapproval, but the fact that the couple in the left of this picture appear to be laughing also speaks volumes.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What did the Nazis hope to gain?
In line with their racist ideology, the Nazis wanted to intimidate Jews into voluntarily leaving Germany. To this end, Jews were often paraded through the streets and humiliated, as seen in this image. Their persecutors were also motivated by economic interests. Jews fleeing the Third Reich were charged extortionate "emigration levies," and their property was often confiscated.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
Did the pogrom serve the Nazis' purpose?
After the widespread violence German Jews were under no illusions about Nazi intentions, and those who could left the country. But such naked aggression played badly in the foreign press and offended many Germans' desire for order. Later, further anti-Jewish measures took more bureaucratic forms, such as the requirement that Jews wear a visible yellow Star of David stitched to their clothing.
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What was the immediate aftermath?
After the pogroms, the Nazi leadership instituted a whole raft of anti-Jewish measures, including a levy to help pay for the damage of November 9-10, 1938. The second-most powerful man in the Third Reich at the time, Hermann Göring, famously remarked: "I would not want to be a Jew in Germany."
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Looking back on the Nazis' anti-Jewish pogroms
What is Kristallnacht's place in history?
In 1938, the beginning of what became known as the Holocaust was still two years away. But there is an obvious line of continuity from the pogrom to the mass murder of European Jews, in which the Nazi leadership would continue to develop and intensify their anti-Semitic hatred. In the words of one contemporary historian, the pogrom was a "prelude to genocide."
Author: Jefferson Chase
The artist who filmed the JU members told Der Tagesspiegel that she had laid flowers to mark the 80th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom only hours before the incident in the Berlin bar.
"[November 9 is] a day of mourning for me and my family," Linda Alvizuri Sommerfeld said.
State JU chapter steps in
The state chapter associated with JU Limberg defended the singing of the Westerwaldlied but promised to investigate the incident for any wrongdoing. It acknowledged that the song's recital on November 9 in Berlin had been "unfortunate."
"It is important to the state executive committee that members and officials of the Junge Union Hessen act appropriately and responsibly at all times," it said.
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