A court in Braunchweig has overruled a decision by the town council of Bad Harzburg to ban a reunion of veterans of a Waffen SS division scheduled to be held there May 17-20. The court upheld a motion against the ban filed by HIAG, the umbrella organization of former members of the Nazi SS and SA.
The reunion is expected to attract some 700 SS veterans and their families. The town council had ruled against it because the gathering is likely to draw mass counter-demonstrations by anti-Nazi groups and would tamish the town’s image in Germany and abroad.
There is little chance that the court’s decision can be reversed. But the local authorities may be able to prevent the meeting by refusing to rent a public hall.
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