Recently, in Germany, the SS is back in the spotlight of public opinion and politics, due to two very different episodes but both linked to their memory.
The SS (Schutzstaffel) was a powerful and infamous paramilitary organization of the National Socialist Party founded by Adolf Hitler in 1925 as a security service.
Under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler, the SS perpetrated such unspeakable atrocities that it is considered one of the most criminal and heinous organizations in human history.
The status of criminal organization was sanctioned during the trials for the Nuremberg war crimes of 1945-1946.
In the television drama of “The Man in the High Castle” (available on Prime Video), Himmler is represented as the apex figure of the triumphant Greater Reich, the most powerful man and the probable successor to Hitler, even if the latter never physically appears.
In recent weeks the SS has emerged from fiction and even from the tombs of history to infest German public discourse, a country that still struggles to come to terms with the demons of Nazism.
Let's start with the first episode it concerns Maximilian Krah, the leader of the AfD (German far-right party) in the European elections.
Herr Krah
Krah, in recent days, had to interrupt his electoral campaign and resign from the party's board of directors following an interview with the "Financial Times".
During this interview, he argued, among other things, that not all of the 900.000 individuals who served in the SS should be considered criminals.
He said that many SS members were “simple farmers with no alternatives." He also highlighted that even Günter Grass, the famous German writer who won the 1999 Nobel Prize, had been a member of the Waffen-SS.
Subsequently, faced with amazement at these statements, he clarified: “This does not mean that there was not a significant percentage of criminals in these units and that overall the SS committed crimes – this is absolutely true. However, I cannot say that [someone] is automatically a criminal just because he was wearing the wrong uniform.”
His statements on the SS prompted the AfD's French ally, the National Rassemblement, to break the alliance with the German populists. The two parties, in fact, sit in the same EU parliamentary group, Identity and Democracy. “Enough is enough: the AfD is moving from one provocation to another,” said RN leader Marine Le Pen.
In mid-May, Björn Höcke, the leader of the AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia, he was found guilty and fined 13.000 euros by the Halle court for using a banned Nazi slogan during a demonstration in 2021.
The judges of the Halle court punished Höcke for having used the expression "Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany!)", knowing that this was the motto of the SA (Sturmabteilung), a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist party eliminated by Hitler in 1935 and replaced by the SS. Himmler began his career in the SA.
Let's get to the second episode.
ADIDAS' carelessness
A month and a half before the Halle court decision, ADIDAS has suspended the sale of the shirts of the German national football team specially redesigned for the European championship which is about to take place in Germany.
La German national football team is one of the main ambassadors of modern Germany and also one of the most admired and successful teams in the global football scene. He participated in eight world championship finals, winning four titles (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014). He played in six European Championship finals, winning three (1972, 2004, 2016). He won one Olympic gold (1964), three silvers and three bronzes.
To understand what the national team represents in the German imagination, just look the 2003 film “The Miracle of Bern”, directed by Sönke Wortmann. The film highlights the climate of hope and redemption that surrounded the German national team, winner - albeit an underdog - of the title in 1954, and its role as a symbol of national unity after the defeats and suffering of the Second World War.
A carelessness in the design of the new national team shirt forced ADIDAS to completely redesign the current shape of the numbers. If the no. 4 is joined by another digit 4 to form the no. 44, gives rise to an embarrassing figure.
The embarrassing 44/SS
The font used by ADIDAS for the numbers on the jerseys was effective the “44” similar to the SS emblem. The SS emblem, which resembles two lightning bolts, along with much contemporary iconography, is banned in Germany. The Federal Republic also bans symbols that could be confused with Nazi symbols due to their similarity. Public display of the SS emblem (which also includes a skull and crossbones) is punishable even by prison.
Il number 88, which is a code used by neo-Nazis to indicate the “Heil Hitler” salute — H is the eighth letter of the alphabet — cannot be used as a shirt number in official soccer matches in Germany.
In reviewing and approving the new uniform design, the German Football Association (DFB) did not take into account shirt numbers above 23, which are mandatory for major tournaments, and therefore would not have noticed the problematic combination with the number 44.
ADIDAS, however, had given the possibility to personalize the shirts purchased on its e-commerce, thus offering the opportunity to create one with the number 44 (i.e., SS) to match, for example, the name of Hitler or Himmler.
The company has therefore suspended the customization of jerseys with any number until the issue with the number 4 is resolved. “As a company we actively oppose xenophobia, anti-Semitism, violence and hatred in any form,” ADIDAS said in a statement.
More patriotic controversies
The discussion over the stylization of the numbers was not the only controversy regarding the national team's uniform. Some politically conservative fans have harshly criticized the pink color of the shirt chosen by Adidas for away matches.
The announcement made even more noise an agreement between the German Football Association and Nike which will see the American company, starting from 2027, replace Adidas as sponsor of the national team. It will be the first time in the history of post-war Germany that Adidas, a German company, will not make the national team's uniforms.
Referring to the possible disappearance of the Adidas logo from shirts, Robert Habeck, Germany's vice chancellor and economics minister, told the DPA news agency: "I can hardly imagine the Germany shirt without the three stripes [of the Adidas logo]."
Returning to the controversy sparked by the number 44, with all the German press covering it, one really wonders if there is still anyone who wants to personalize a t-shirt with a symbol that recalls the SS emblem and the writing “Hitler” or “Führer”.
It seems unlikely that anyone would still wear such a shirt. Yet, they tell me that those who deal in Nazi-Fascist memorabilia travel in a Porsche Carrera.
Sources:
Guy Chazan, Germany's far right in turmoil after its top candidate defends SS, “The Financial Times”, 22 May 2024
Guy Chazan, AfD lead candidate in EU election attacks western 'paranoia' on China, “The Financial Times”, 19 May 2024
Sam Jones, AfD leader in Thuringia convicted of deliberately using Nazi slogan, “The Financial Times”, 14 May 2024
Christopher F. Schuetze, Adidas Stops Customization of Germany Jersey for Fear of Nazi Symbolism, “The New York Times”, April 2, 2024
