Bayreuth: Chief Physician spreads Nazi propaganda – Bavaria

A 58-year-old chief physician at the Bayreuth Clinic has put videos on a platform that glorify National Socialism. The films are about alleged Nazi achievements, you see Heinrich Himmler in uniform, various SS symbols and Adolf Hitler again and again. It is not difficult to see that this constitutes the offense of, as it is called in the case law, “the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations”. Although the doctor did not appear in person for his trial at the district court on Tuesday, he admitted over the phone through his defense attorney that he was guilty of the allegation made. He is sentenced to 140 daily rates, in his salary league that is more than 32,000 euros. What should weigh at least as badly: He is now considered a criminal record.

What got into the head physician – one of more than two dozen at the hospital – when he spread Nazi propaganda is not clear in this speedy process. In just one sentence, his defender touches on that point. Allegedly, the chief physician is not “in this spirit”, as it may now “possibly” appear based on the material. But what kind of spirit should someone else be who makes films available in which “the people of Poland and England as well as the Jews are incited” – as the public prosecutor describes it? You can see swastikas, Hitler salutes, Hitler pictures. The defender does not explicitly contradict the allegations. His client admits to having put the films he did not produce himself on a platform.

The future of the doctor is now being discussed in the clinic

Why this court date was necessary at all remains a mystery. A penalty order for exactly 140 daily rates had already been issued, only the objection made the process necessary. Perhaps the chief physician wanted to get rid of the additional accusation of “incitement to hatred” – which was in the penalty order. This stands on uncertain foundations, explains the criminal judge right at the beginning of the hearing. Mere historical revisionism is not one of them. Whether a film shared by the chief physician represents a “trivialization of the Holocaust” would first have to be proven on the basis of detailed evidence.

The films that can be viewed publicly on a platform for some time are up to 40 minutes long. Apparently, none of those involved in the proceedings intend to show such Nazi propaganda in the hall. So the 140 daily rates remain, only the accusation of hate speech is dropped. Prosecutor and defense accept the verdict immediately. The doctor is thus legally convicted.

The clinic of the city and district of Bayreuth had meanwhile gotten on the defensive in the Causa. In June, the clinic only declared that it would “do its utmost to promote a cosmopolitan, tolerant society”. But someone who violates certain principles “certainly has no place in the clinic”. On Tuesday, a clinic spokesman said: The content that became apparent in the court “repels us”. Discussions with the affected “clinic director, who also enjoys special protection against dismissal” as a member of the works council, have not resulted in an agreement in the past. In view of the new facts, the clinic’s supervisory board now wants to discuss how to proceed in a special meeting on Wednesday.

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