Uncontrolled right wing extremism? Recent court rulings on the public use of insignia (Kennzeichen) employed by National Socialist Organisations during the NS-Regime

In 1960, the penal code of 1871 was amended to include Article 86 a, which, in the legislature of 1994, prohibits public use, production, stockpiling, circulation and distribution within and outside of Germany of insignia (Ke nnzeichen) declared unconstitutional, in particular those formerly employed by National Socialist organisations during the NS-regime. Put under this b an are original insignia and the exact copies thereof. To prevent circumven ting the law, Kennzeichen bearing slight differences or irregularities, tha t technically are not exact copies, but bear close resemblance to the origi nal, are also prohibited. In the past few years, cases have been brought to court because young people with extreme right wing leanings have worn tria ngular armbands similar to those worn by the Hitler Youth and the BDM durin g the NS-regime. Court rulings in all instances have been contradictory, bu t in the main, there have been more acquittals than condemnations. The reas oning justifying these decisions is triangular armbands do not bear specifi c National Socialist symbols and, therefore, would not appear to be Nationa l Socialist in content to the impartial observer. The author, a fellow at t he Institut fur Zeitgeschichte and certified expert in court trials, analys es some of these acquittals and comes to the conclusion that as a result of these court rulings the entire range of National Socialist Kennzeichen hav e become freely accessible for public use. The swastika, the SS-Sig-Rune an d specific forms of greeting, (such as "Heil Hitler") are the only Kennzeic hen considered a criminal offense. In the author's opinion, the functions a nd powers of judges have diverged greatly from the intention of lawmakers. A review of the power judges hold, or a decree by the Bundestag clearly def ining which Kennzeichen are against the law is strongly recommended by the author.