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German theatre under fire for offering free tickets to those who wear a swastika armband

Peter Posniak in the role of Hitler performs during a rehearsal in Konstanz - dpa
Peter Posniak in the role of Hitler performs during a rehearsal in Konstanz - dpa

A theatre in Germany was engulfed in controversy on Friday after it offered free tickets to a play based on the life of Hitler to anyone prepared to wear a swastika armband.

Those prepared to pay for a ticket were offered the chance to wear a Star of David instead, as “a sign of solidarity with the victims of National Socialist tyranny”.

The theatre, in the south German city of Konstanz, claimed its aim was to show how easily people could be corrupted.

But the offer was criticised by local politcians and Jewish groups as “tasteless” and an “unacceptable marketing gimmick”.

There was further anger over Theatre Konstanz’s decision to stage the opening night as hundreds of neo-Nazis gathered on the other side of Germany to mark Hitler’s birthday on Friday.

A poster advertising a theatre play named after Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf - Credit:  FELIX KASTLE
A poster advertising a theatre play named after Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf. Public display of swastikas and other Nazi symbols is banned in Germany Credit: FELIX KASTLE

There were reports as many as 50 people agreed to wear swastikas in return for free tickets to Mein Kampf,  a farce which depicts Hitler as a young aspiring artist in Vienna. Tickets were available for as little as €11 (£10).

The play was written by George Tabori, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who fled to London and worked for the BBC for a time, before emigrating to the US and eventually moving to postwar Germany.

The public display of swastikas and other Nazi symbols is banned in Germany, but theatre performances and other artistic uses are exempt, and prosecutors said they were powerless to prevent the theatre’s offer.

Those who opted for free tickets were required to return the swastika armbands at the end of the performance in order to comply with the law.

“We believe that this bizarre marketing gimmick is unacceptable,” the German-Israeli Society said in a statement. “There is a third option: you can choose not to get a ticket at all.”

The theatre’s policy was also criticised by Andreas Osner, the mayor of Konstanz, who said: “I don’t even want to think about what could happen if far-Right visitors occupied the show and exploited the staging with the Nazi armbands”.

The play’s opening night came as hundreds of eno-Nazis were expected to congregate in Ostritz, a small town in eastern Germany, for a festival to mark the 129th anniversary of Hitler’s birth.

Anti-fascist groups called for counter-demonstrations, and a heavy police presence was expected.