Death Camp Tattoo Could Send German to Jail

It's legal to have it, but not to display it, prosecutors say
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 2, 2015 1:52 AM CST
Death Camp Tattoo Could Send German to Jail
This Nov. 21, 2015, photo shows a man with a tattoo of what appears to be the Auschwitz death camp on his back at a public swimming pool in Oranienburg, Germany.   (Alexander Marguier via AP)

German prosecutors say they're investigating whether a man violated the country's prohibition of the public display of Nazi symbols by appearing at a swimming pool with a tattoo of what appeared to be the Auschwitz death camp on his back. A spokeswoman for prosecutors in Neuruppin says another bather took a photo of the tattoo, which also carried the slogan from the Buchenwald concentration camp's gate, "Jedem das Seine"—"to each his own"—at a pool north of Berlin on Nov. 21. She says that having such a tattoo is legal but showing it publicly could be considered incitement. The spokeswoman wouldn't confirm local media reports that the suspect is a member of the far-right National Democratic Party and sits on the county council. (More Germany stories.)

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