Hiag Appeals for End of Ban on Meetings of Ss Veterans

HIAG, the umbrella organizations of veterans of the Nazi SS and SA, has asked a court to rescind a ban imposed by the town of Bad Harzburg in Hesse against the reunion meeting there of former members of the Waffen SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler division.

The ban was announced on March 7 after its approval by the town council. The SS veterans contend it is not valid because their organization is not illegal and has not been involved in violent activities.

HIAG’s lawyers filed their appeal in a Braunschweig court on the basis of the official view of the federal government, expressed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Interior Minister Friedrich Zimmerman, that HIAG is not an extremist group and poses no danger to democracy in West Germany.

Meanwhile, the municipal council of Oberaula, a Hessian resort that played host to some 400 veterans of the SS Totenkopf (Deaths Head) division three weeks ago, has rejected by a vote of 12-11 a draft resolution banning further reunions there of SS veterans.

The resolution was introduced by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) members in the town council which is dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). But it was not immediately clear whether the authorities are ready to rent a publicly owned hall to the former SS men, as they did last month. They decided to request a list from the Interior Ministry of Hesse of all groups and organizations considered by the SPD ruled state government to be a threat to democracy.

The SS reunion in Oberaula, a town of 3,500, drew some 5,000 anti-Nazi protestors who staged a peaceful march and rally.