‘Hitler Wine’ at Center of Controversy Involving the Arrest of a Politician
(Photo: AP Photo/Claudia Gazzini)
A far-right politician in Germany, Daniel Halemba, who won a seat in the Bavarian parliament in Oct., was arrested on Monday. Since then, prosecutors have released new details regarding the ongoing investigation. The German politician and member of the anti-immigrant party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), is under investigation for the possession of materials connected to the Nazi party. Police found several items during a raid including a picture of fraternity members holding a “Hitler wine” themed bottle.
While the product is legal in Italy, the possession of Nazi memorabilia and other materials is illegal in Germany and Austria. It is considered a crime against the German State with a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
Prosecutors became suspicious of 22-year-old Halemba because of his connection to the rightwing fraternity Teutonia Prag. Police raided the dorms of the fraternity located in Würzburg in Sept. Halemba is said to have signed the fraternity’s guest book with the Nazi salute “Sig Heil!”, meaning hail victory. In his bedroom police found other items relating to the Nazi party, including a printout of a historic SS order signed by Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler; weaponry; and a picture of fraternity members drinking from a bottle of “Hitler Wine.”
Since 1995, Vini Lunardelli, a small wine producer based in northeast Italy, has sold a “historical line,” of dictator-themed wines that include imagery of Adolf Hitler and other dictators. The range of wines with Hitler imagery features phrases like the Nazi salute, “Sieg Heil” along with “Mein Führer” and “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer.”
The production of the wine has been a sore spot for advocates against antisemitism.
“When people buy bottles like that, they’re going home to toast what Hitler stood for and that’s outrageous,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Simon Wiesenthal Centre’s director of global action told VICE last year.
The prosecution did not indicate if Halemba owned the bottle of wine in the fraternity picture or if police had found the bottle.
“None of the items in question can be connected with my client,” said Halemba’s lawyer, Dubravko Mandic according to Financial Times.
Prosecutors are in the midst of analyzing additional evidence including Halemba’s and four other Teutonia Prag members’ phones.
The court determined that the German politician was not a flight risk and he is currently not being held. On Tuesday, Halemba attended the Bavarian State Parliament and his fellow party members maintained the allegations against him are politically motivated.
The Vini Lunardelli winery has maintained in the past that the wines are not “political.” Winemaker Andrea Lunardelli told VICE that he was “absolutely not a Nazi,” and that the Hitler wine was produced for a market that wants to “remember” history, as well as in response to demand from customers.
Reportedly, the line of wine is particularly popular with German customers whereas locals show little interest in these types of “story” telling.
“Unfortunately the most requested label [in the “historical” line] is Hitler – especially by Germans, but also by many British, Nordic, French and Russians,” Lunardelli told VICE. “But no Italian wants Hitler.”
He added that the winery would discontinue its entire line of ‘historical’ wine labels in 2023. However, the labels are still on the brand’s website and appear to be available for purchase. This incident may well be the push for the winery to stop production of the dictator-themed wines and understand the negative contentations of glorifying figures like Hitler, especially in a time of political and religious turmoil.
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