"Oh...so he was a Nazi..." Topic

Man leaves criticism on travel website regarding pictures in an Austrian hotel – claiming they are venerating a "Nazi Grandfather"

Hotel gets courts to enact a gagging order to prevent him saying this – as Grandpa was "only in the army of the third reich".

Man does his research – finds proof of Nazi Party membership.

Court lifts gagging order, hands hotel the legal bill…

link

There must be a moral to this story somewhere….

Is the moral lesson that my uncle joined the Communist Party and enlisted in the Soviet Naval Infantry at 14 when officials arrived at the farm with guns and told him that was what he wanted to do?

My other uncle also joined the Party, but "decided" we wanted to go to school and study physics, eventually becoming a professor.

Here is my view.

Is grandpa wearing a Nazi uniform in the painting?
Was he a Nazi party official?
Did he serve at a concentration camp?
Did he serve in a unit that is known to have committed war crimes during the time that he served in it?
Did he espouse Nazi party beliefs post war?

If none of those apply then why does it matter? Let grandpa hang on the wall. Young men do stupid things especially when that is the popular thing to do at the time.

etotheipi- that's what you call no-nonsense careers advice…

Is grandpa wearing a Nazi uniform in the painting?

It says the photo shows him in a Nazi uniform.

Illegally displaying Nazi symbols such as swastikas in Germany can be punished by three years in jail. There are similar bans in Austria but they're less uncompromising (nb remember the complainant was a German).

Too soon? WW2 & Nazi aggression & atrocities may still have unpleasant memories for some.

Commercial enterprise. Owners of businesses usually try not to needlessly offend their clientele.Of course, by winning this cause celebre they may well attract more customers who lean towards National Socialism.

My opinion would be to leave Grossvater's picture in their private quarters, at least for another 25 years. Their call, however.

Nazi aggression & atrocities may still have unpleasant memories for some.

Like my surviving uncle above, mother, aunt, aunts and uncles through marriage, godfather, and so on.

Of course, by winning this cause celebre they may well attract more customers who lean towards National Socialism.

For many people, such symbology is not directly related to the reality of what happened. And, as a broad historical event, that reality was different for different people in different places at different times.

I don't think any of my relatives who lived through Nazi occupation of their homeland would file such a suit. Some of them would leave. Others (who also lived through postwar Allied betrayal and Communist occupation) would consider it no different than pictures of my uncle (or others) in his Soviet uniform.