About 13 young neo-Nazis and a handful of wartime Nazi collaborators slurred Jews and toasted “the fuhrer’s good health” at a beery reunion in a local tavern here Sunday to mark Hitler’s 101st birthday.
It is an annual event for French racists. This year, for the first time, two rival extremist groups, the National European Movement and the French Nationalist and European Party, celebrated together.
Both are outlawed in France.
The Alsatian beer hall they chose abuts the traditional Jewish “Pletzel,” the old Jewish quarter of Paris.
Although the site was supposed to be secret, dozens of police were on hand to prevent possible clashes between the racists and anti-Nazis.
No incidents occurred.
A reporter from one French newspaper, who infiltrated the party, wrote Monday that “sieg heils” and anti-Semitic remarks were part of the general conversation, but no speeches were made.
Several members of the French Nationalist and European Party were indicted last year for attacking a hostel for North African immigrant workers in southern France.
An Algerian worker was killed and two others were injured.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.