Free voter boss Aiwanger rejects allegations about the anti-Semitic leaflet. His brother speaks up – he is the author. But who is Helmut Aiwanger?
Munich – Bavaria’s Deputy Prime Minister Hubert Aiwanger is said to have written an anti-Semitic pamphlet when he was at school. That reported the Southgerman newspaper (SZ) on Friday (25 August). The Free Voters chief spoke out in a written statement on Saturday evening and rejects the allegations. “I did not author the paper in question and I find its content disgusting and inhuman,” he said.
But then who wrote the Auschwitz leaflet? Several politicians called for clarification in the case. According to Markus Söder (CSU), Aiwanger should “simply clarify things and explain things publicly.” Aiwanger is aware of the author, but “neither then nor now was it my way of ratting on other people,” says Aiwanger.
“I am the author”: Who is Aiwanger’s brother?
Now Aiwanger’s older brother Helmut has admitted to being the author of the 35-year-old letter: “I am the author of this leaflet reproduced in the press,” he said in an interview with the Media Group Bavaria with. “I distance myself from the content in every respect. I regret the consequences of the action.”
He wrote the flyer after having to repeat a grade. “I was totally furious at the time because I failed school and was torn from my circle of friends,” said Helmut Aiwanger. Loud BR Both brothers attended the eleventh grade at the Burkhart-Gymnasium in Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in Lower Bavaria in the school year 1987/88. The older Aiwanger brother emphasizes that he was still a minor at the time of writing. “That’s really all I can say about it.”
Helmut Aiwanger belongs loud Picture a gun shop and be a gunsmith by trade. He is described as “Bavarian down-to-earth. He’s not left-wing, but he’s also not right-wing or anti-Semitic.” The passionate hunter looks like a “disguised old man from 1968. He has long hair and rolls his own cigarettes.”
Anti-Semitic writing: Leaflet found in Aiwanger’s school bag
According to the report of SZ the anti-Semitic pamphlet mentions a fictitious “federal competition” for “traitors to the fatherland”. The first prize is “a free flight through the chimney in Auschwitz.” Hubert Aiwanger was held responsible for the flyer by the school’s disciplinary committee.
He describes that one or a few leaflets were found at the time. Whether he passed it on is something he “cannot remember today.”
Allegations of anti-Semitic hate speech: SPD demands consequences for Aiwanger
That’s not enough for SPD faction leader Florian von Brunn: “It doesn’t matter to me whether he wrote it or distributed it – it depends on the abominable content,” he said loudly BR. Although the matter has not yet been clarified, SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken is already demanding consequences: “If the allegations against Hubert Aiwanger are true, Markus Söder must immediately draw consequences and fire his deputy,” she said Funk media group.
“Anyone who thinks, writes down and spreads such thoughts must not bear any political responsibility in Germany,” said Esken. This also applies if Aiwanger did not write the letter himself. (hk)
#Aiwangers #brother #regrets #consequences #Auschwitz #leaflet