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Austrian jailed for selling pro-Hitler songs

An Austrian man who was selling songs with titles like 'Adolf Hitler Lives' has been convict...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.06 25 Jan 2017


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Austrian jailed for selling pr...

Austrian jailed for selling pro-Hitler songs

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.06 25 Jan 2017


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An Austrian man who was selling songs with titles like 'Adolf Hitler Lives' has been convicted of breaking his country's anti-Nazi laws.

Other numbers included 'Goebbels For All', a reference to Hitler's infamous master of propaganda and one employed the melody of a popular children's song to paint a death camp in a positive light.

He was attempting to sell these recordings on the neo-Nazi Thiazi Forum, which was ultimately shut down in 2012 following police raids in Germany and the UK. Forum administrators have subsequently been jailed in Austria and Germany.

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The 38-year-old was sentenced to 33 months in prison in the city of Steyr on Tuesday. Austria's privacy laws have prevented his name from being released.

He denied any wrongdoing and, according to AP, told the judge: "I back my nation".

He also referenced the far-right Freedom Party, which came close to winning last year's presidential election, stating:

"If the FPÖ is right, then I am also right."

A demonstration against Norbert Hofer, candidate for presidential elections of Austria's right-wing Freedom Party, FPOE, in Vienna, December 2016. The Hofburg is Austria's presidential palace. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

The man was also sentenced for bearing large tattoos of Nazi figures, which he had displayed at a local swimming pool. The country forbids the praise or dissemination of Nazi ideas.

Critical version of Mein Kampf captivates new German audience

It was recently revealed that a new version of Hitler's Mein Kampf memoir was one of Germany's best-selling nonfiction titles in 2016. A sixth run is planned for the end of the month.

Originally published in 1925, it was banned until 2015 in the country. The new dual-volume, Hitler, Mein Kampf, A Critical Edition is historically annotated and attempts to put Hitler's words in context.

Despite facing controversy over the three years it took to complete, it spent 35 weeks on Der Speigel's best-seller list and sold roughly 85,000 copies last year.

 


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