Hubert Aiwanger has been accused of writing a nasty leaflet mocking the Holocaust when he was a high school student. As it turns out, an anonymous copy of the leaflet had been archived in the KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau decades ago as an example of antisemitism in present-day Bavaria. After the scandal broke, Aiwanger’s older brother who went to the same high school soon claimed authorship of the leaflet, and Aiwanger painted himself as the victim of a smear campaign. Although it is impossible now to prove that Aiwanger rather than his brother wrote the leaflet, copies of it were found in his school bag and not his brother’s. The brothers’ version of events isn’t corroborated by anyone else. Rumours of Aiwanger making antisemitic remarks during his school days have been brushed off as youthful misdemeanour, and his party is more than willing to see it in this way.
Bavaria is currently ruled by a coalition of the CSU and the Freie Wähler. If the First Minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder (CSU), had insisted on his deputy’s resignation that would have meant the end of his government. Apparently, Söder sought advice on this from Charlotte Knobloch, the president of the Jewish community in Munich. In the end Söder decided it would be better not to force Aiwanger to resign as Aiwanger might succeed in turning himself into a martyr, and that might help him to win votes in the upcoming election. Unfortunately, this is a dangerous strategy. If accusations of overt antisemitism are brushed off like this where is the limit? The populist Freie Wähler were known to be a conservative party, but harmless in comparison to the far right AfD. Now people have begun to wonder and many are beginning to feel very uncomfortable about the turn Bavarian politics are taking. Aiwanger’s election posters in the city centre have frequently been decorated with a small black moustache. To improve his public image, Aiwanger has been advised to visit one of the Bavarian Gedenkstätten, but all of the directors, including the one in Dachau, have issued a public statement to say he isn’t welcome.
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Climate activists have been increasing their activities in the city lately. Bavarian activist Anja Windl, who was dubbed “Climate-Shakira” by the Austrian press, has returned to Germany after being threatened with deportation from her adoptive Austria. The threat of deportation clearly has not put her off and she is now happily gluing herself to the streets in Munich.
Bavarian police, always keen to stop crime before it happens, have become a little overzealous when it comes to climate activists. Apparently, no one wearing a high-vis jacket is safe now. Recently, members of the city’s building authority went to inspect one of the many building sites in the city centre and had barely arrived before the police came and questioned them about their intentions, causing much mirth in town hall.
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The Bavarian State Orchestra recently played a concert in Lucerne. Two climate activists from “Renovate Switzerland” were planning to interrupt the concert and came onto the stage during the 3rd movement of Bruckner’s symphony no. 4. Although aware of them, the conductor, Vladimir Jurowski, decided to continue until the movement was finished. Then he turned to them and said: ‘I know why you are here. I know what you want to do and I suggest the following: I will let you talk to the audience now and give you the opportunity to say what you want to say. In turn I want you to be quiet and not interrupt us when we play the last movement.’ Apparently, the young woman activist burst into tears, because activists are so used to boohs and threats of violence she never expected him to be willing to let them have their say. Some members of the audience were not quite so willing and Jurowski had to remind them of the promise he had made to the activists. He told his audience he would end the concert if the activists weren’t allowed to speak. That didn’t please quite everyone, but in the end it worked as Jurowski had planned. The activists got their say and the orchestra finished the concert uninterrupted. They received a standing ovation for their efforts.
Here's a short video of the event (at the very end of the article!).