13 October 2006
A 16-year-old high school student in the town of Parey, in eastern Germany, has been forced by fellow pupils to parade with a sign around his neck on which the Nazi slogan „Ich bin im Ort das größte Schwein, ich laß mich nur mit Juden ein" was written ("I'm the biggest pig in town I only hang around with Jews"). According to local police, the incident happened in the schoolyard, and police announced that they had identified three students aged 15 to 16 as perpetrators but added that the investigation had only just begun.
The Interior minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Holger Hövelmann, called the incident "despicable" and said: "This was the way in which the [Nazi Party] NSDAP and the [Nazi paramilitary organization] SA publicly humiliated people after they rose to power in 1933. It is harrowing to see that some adolescents in our country believe that something like this is once again permitted today." The minister promised a detailed investigation by the police and the government of Saxony-Anhalt. During the Third Reich, women who had a relationship with a Jewish man were often force to wear signs like the one forced upon the high school student.
