Neo-Nazis Fly Under Radar

[UngodlyFossil]

The fact that you could go to jail for posting a swastika is ridiculous; I'm opposed to such violations of free expression.

It actually depends how you use the swastika and it doesn't really infringe on your freedom of expression that much.

First of all, the law under which displaying the swastika falls, is a law regarding the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organisations, which includes the symbols of the former Nazi-Party, SS, SA and the like.

I am not allowed to wear a swastika, wave a swastika flag or sell swastika patches or pins or whatever.

However, as many laws, this law also has it's exceptions or gray areas.
Is the swastika used in the context of civics or historical education, defense against anti-constitutional efforts, arts, sciences, research, studies or teaching, it's legal to use and display. I may even buy WW2 medals with a swastika on it, as long as they are original historic artifacts. My grandpa's medals are legal to possess and I can sell them to collectors (or buy them, if I am a collector), as long as I inform everyone who looks at my website about paragraph 86a of our criminal code (the underlying law regarding these symbols) and that it's unlawful to use the symbols in any context but the above exceptions. And I have to blur out the swastikas to be on the safe side, so nobody can use my photos in an unlawful context or accuse me of displaying anti-constitutional symbols.

But if the context is clearly educational or historical research, then it's not a crime to display this symbol. For example, if I do this:

The Nazi-Party, whose leader was Adolf Hitler from 1921 to 1945, used a tilted Swastika as their symbol, which later also became the national symbol of the german reich. After 1945, it was deemed an anti-constitutional symbol and it's use is forbidden in germany.
It looked like this:

Image Source: Wikipedia

I could also do this:

The popular german parody-comedy series "Switch" mocks "The Office" as well as the nazi bureaucracy, by portraying Adolf Hitler as an incompetent office clerk, blundering all the time and screwing everything up.



Nobody would accuse me of a crime in germany, because I use the swastika in a historical, educational and artistic context.

But if I go around and post swastikas without any context at all, or let alone to glorify the Nazis, this could very well be different.