"I'm ashamed of it"

Hitler salute at the health insurance fund: Tyrolean (37) narrowly avoids imprisonment

Symbol photo(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronen Zeitung)

A 37-year-old man has now had to stand trial for giving the Hitler salute and loudly chanting Nazi slogans at the Innsbruck branch of the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK). He is ashamed of the incident.

"That's not my attitude, I have nothing to do with it at all," the 37-year-old accused of Nazi reactivation emphasized several times at the Innsbruck regional court.

However, he said that when he drinks a lot of alcohol, he talks nonsense. This was also the case last November: "I consumed wine and schnapps all night and slept for an hour at most."

I'm ashamed of myself.

Der Angeklagte vor Gericht

Drunk out of my mind at 9 o'clock
The Innsbruck man turned up at his ÖGK appointment at 9 o'clock in the morning, drunk as a skunk and with almost three per mille. The man flew into a rage, raised his right arm in a Hitler salute, chanted "Heil Hitler" and loudly proclaimed that "all foreigners should be gassed". He could no longer remember the incident. "But I'm ashamed of it."

Narrowly missed imprisonment
Non-final judgment: four months' conditional imprisonment and a fine of 720 euros. He was also ordered to undergo alcohol detoxification treatment and psychotherapy.