The trigger is a photo montage in which Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin are compared with similar political promises. According to Fleischhauer, who spoke to Zitelmann on the phone, the problem lies not in the comparison itself, but in a detail of the historical photo.

“He had overlooked the fact that the picture on his arm, a historical picture of the Führer, was a small swastika. Who would have thought that? Adolf Hitler wore a swastika. Crazy. That’s not possible. We have to intervene.”

Cases against butchers dropped

While Zitelmann is still under investigation, Fleischhauer’s own case is now over. The Munich public prosecutor’s office explained this on Monday evening.

The proceedings were triggered by a complaint from Berlin. “A concerned citizen filed a criminal complaint. It was then sent to the state security here in Munich,” reports Fleischhauer in the podcast.

After examining the files, it emerged that the person making the complaint was apparently the chairman of an archery club.

Danger to historical memory

For Fleischhauer, the case shows a fundamental problem. If historical accounts trigger criminal investigations, it becomes increasingly difficult to provide information about the Nazi era.

“In the end, that means that National Socialism will disappear from memory.” If historical images are hardly allowed to be shown anymore, there is a risk of a paradoxical effect: “This is also a form of coming to terms with the past by simply erasing the past. So that means we are doing exactly the opposite of why these paragraphs are in the criminal code. This is gaga justice.”