‘I’m no snitch’ – German politician embroiled in antisemitic flyer scandal

Deputy premier of Bavaria denies he wrote and distributed flyers satirizing the Holocaust when he was a 17-year-old high school student.

By World Israel News Staff

A German politician is under fire just ahead of a regional election, due to suspicions that he authored and distributed an antisemitic flyer as a teenager in the 1980s.

Hubert Aiwanger, deputy premier of Bavaria, is up for reelection in several months. Chairman of the center-right Free Voters party, Aiwanger previously served as minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy for Bavaria.

German-language newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, one of the country’s most widely read outlets, reported on Saturday that Aiwanger was the subject of a probe at his high school for allegedly penning flyers that satirized the Holocaust and Nazi death camps before distributing them throughout the campus.

Several anonymous classmates told the outlet that Aiwanger, then 17, was investigated by a disciplinary committee for his alleged role in the creation of the flyers, although it was unclear if he was determined to be the person responsible.

In a statement, Aiwanger denied that he had written the flyers, saying he had simply found one in the school restroom.

Notably, Aiwanger said that he was aware of the identity of the person who had produced them and was certain that individual would soon step forward to publicly accept responsibility in order to clear the politician’s name.

“Neither then nor now has it been my style to snitch on people,” Aiwanger said in the statement, which was posted to his social media accounts.

Other German politicians released statements regarding the report.

“These are serious allegations. This flier is hateful and revolting,” said Bavaria’s Minister-President Markus Soeder, a member of the conservative Christian Social Union party. “The charges have to be cleared up, and fully.”

Party heads from the left-wing Social Democrats and the Greens – political rivals of Aiwanger and his movement – said that should the allegations be found to be true, he should immediately resign from his role.