The disclosure that the West German DGB Central Trade Union-owned company cooperative is selling the neo-Nazi weekly, “Deutsche National Zeitung” in its stores sparked angry reactions within the DGB today.
Under the headline, “Co-op and Nazis, ” the official trade union newspaper, “Welt Der Arbeit,” sharply criticized the practice and called on the union leadership to take immediate action to stop it.
The cooperative said in a statement that the company, as a business, is politically neutral and sells only written material which has not been banned.
The DGB has been particularly active for many years in combatting any signs of a resurgence of Nazism in West Germany. The trade unions initiated mass demonstrations in Bad Hersfeld a few months ago which led authorities there to ban future meetings of former SS members.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
