Golden Dawn plays Nazi anthem at food handout

Food distributed to the tune of the Horst Wessel Song

Greek version of the Nazi German Horst-Wessel-Lied (Horst Wessel Song) played on loudspeakers outside a Golden Dawn office where members handed out bags of food and clothing

Golden Dawn’s leader Nikos Michaloliakos gestures to supporters before a distributions of goods to “Greeks only”, 24 July 2013 (Reuters)

Golden Dawn played a Nazi anthem during a political rally-cum-charity event on Wednesday that authorities had attempted to ban.

A Greek version of the German Horst-Wessel-Lied (Horst Wessel Song) – known as Orthro to lavaro (The flag on high) in Greek – was played on loudspeakers outside the central Athens offices of the party, where members handed out bags of food and clothing.

A video of the event, including the sound of the song, was posted on the party’s website.

The tune of the Horst Wessel Song is audible in this Golden Dawn propaganda video from Wednesday’s food handout

The song, which was the official anthem of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party from 1930 to 1945 and co-anthem of the Nazi state from 1933 to 1945, remains banned in Germany, along with Nazi symbols. Nazi Germany invaded and occupied Greece during the second world war, committing bloody atrocities against the population.

Party members distributed the food parcels after checking recipients’ identity cards to insure that non-Greeks were excluded.

City authorities and the Greek police had banned effectively Golden Dawn on Wednesday from using a nearby square to stage the event by banning all outdoor gatherings in the wider area.

Police set up a large cordon to prevent possible protests against the decision.

But large crowds of supporters gathered outside the party building chanting, “Foreigners out of Greece.”

“The crime we committed was that we wanted to hand out food to Greeks only. If we’d handed it out to Pakistanis and blacks, there would have been no problem,” party leader Nikos Michaloliakos told supporters…

This propaganda video shows how Golden Dawn has put its own Greek lyrics to the Horst Wessel Song, the anthem of the German Nazi party and Nazi state. Warning: viewers may find this video offensive

Propaganda video containing the original Horst Wessel Song, the anthem of the German Nazi party and Nazi state, with English subtitles. Warning: viewers may find this video offensive

(Read the full the report on Eleftherotypia’s English website: http://www.enetenglish.gr/?i=news.en.home&id=1306)