GERMANY: ROLAND THEIN WHO TAUGHT HIS DOG ADOLF TO GIVE A NAZI SALUTE, CHARGED WITH VIOLATING ANTI-NAZI LAWS.

Record ID: 646652

  • Title: GERMANY: ROLAND THEIN WHO TAUGHT HIS DOG ADOLF TO GIVE A NAZI SALUTE, CHARGED WITH VIOLATING ANTI-NAZI LAWS.
  • Date: 15th October 2003
  • Summary: (U3) BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 15, 2003) (REUTERS) ++STILL PICTURES++ 1. STILL PICTURE OF ROLAND THEIN STANDING NEXT CU: TO HIS DOG'S KENNEL / DOG IN HIS KENNEL WITH HIS NAME 'ADOLF' WRITTEN ABOVE. 0.10 2. CU: STILL PICTURE OF THEIN WITH HIS DOG HOLDING HIS RIGHT PAW UP 0.18 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 30th October 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA3M1XATZXWOQLBST90BJ6XQXCK
  • Story Text: A German man who taught his dog Adolf to
    give a Hitler salute by raising his right paw has been charged
    with violating Germany's anti-Nazi laws.




    A German man who taught his dog Adolf to give a
    Hitler salute by raising his right paw has been charged
    with violating Germany's anti-Nazi laws for a series of
    incidents in recent years, a Berlin court said on Wednesday
    (October 15).

    Police investigated the man after members of the public
    complained they had seen Roland Thein giving the stiff-arm
    "Hitler salute" and telling his dog: "Adolf sit, give me
    the salute!," a court spokeswoman said.

    As he was questioned by police the man ordered his black
    mongrel to give them the Hitler salute as well, she
    said.

    But a Berlin justice official said later on Wednesday
    prosecutors were dropping the specific charges against the
    man related to the dog and instead focussing on other
    incidents in which the man was seen by witnesses using
    outlawed language such as "Sieg Heil" and "Heil Hitler" in
    public.

    The spokesman for Berlin's justice ministry said it
    wasn't clear whether it was a crime to order a dog to give
    a Hitler salute and that's why that was being dropped. He
    said, however, prosecutors had sufficient evidence from
    earlier incidents.

    Germany has strict laws banning the use of Nazi
    symbols, but Thein, sporting a Hitler-style moustache and
    military tunic, said he didn't understand what the fuss was
    about.

    The trial is set for Thursday (October 16). Thein is
    accused of shouting the Nazi battlecry "Sieg Heil" in front
    of Berlin police and of wearing a "Hitler" T-shirt and
    shouting "Heil Hitler" at a market in the city in separate
    incidents in 2002.



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