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Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann steps down over Hitler photograph Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann steps down over Hitler photograph
(about 2 hours later)
The founder of Germany’s controversial but fast-growing Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamification of the West (Pegida) movement has stepped down, after a photo of him dressed as Hitler sparked international outrage. Thousands of supporters and opponents of Germany’s growing anti-Islam movement Pegida have held rival mass protests in Leipzig after the threat of a terrorist attack forced police to ban all demonstrations in the nearby city of Dresden. The rally came after the xenophobic group’s self styled-leader was forced to resign after posing as Adolf Hitler on a Facebook site.
On Wednesday, German daily newspaper Bild published a Facebook photo of Lutz Bachmann, 41, wearing his hair and moustache in the style of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, under the caption "He's back!". Bild and the Dresdner Morgenpost also reported that Bachmann had called aslyum-seekers “animals” and “scumbags” via Facebook. The authorities in Leipzig said more than 4,000 police from throughout Germany had been drafted into the city, where thousands of pro- and anti-Pegida demonstrators took to the city’s streets. Pegida, which stands for “Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of the West”, was launched in the east German city of Dresden in October. A mere 150 supporters attended its first rally, but early this month 25,000 supporters took part in one of the movement’s so-called “Monday stroll” demonstrations.
Bild's front page showing Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann 'posing as Hitler' In an interview last week, Bachmann played down a ribald comment made in 2013, seized on by the media, that “eco-terrorist” Greens, first and foremost former party leader Claudia Roth, should be “summarily executed”. Pegida protesters brandishing German national flags and placards criticising Chancellor Angela Merkel for failing to cut immigration, gathered en masse in front of the east German city’s opera house. They were separated from a large crowd of anti-Pegida protesters chanting “Nazis out” by the riot police.
“I am an impulsive person...I regret I didn't resist my impulsiveness," he said. Pegida’s supporters who arrived from neighbouring east German town such as Dresden and Chemnitz included neo-Nazis and football hooligans but also pensioners and businessmen. Many claimed that Germany was being “overrun” by Muslim immigrants.
Bachmann dismissed a backlash against the Hitler image and his comments on asylum seekers, by claiming he was merely joking. Members of the movement have also stressed that Bachmann is not stepping down because of the shocking image. “Angela Merkel is too left wing and has gone soft on immigration,” a 50-year-old Pegida supporter called Karl told The Independent. He said he was an estate agent and hoped for a new conservative party to the right of Ms Merkel’s ruling conservatives. Other Pegida supporters demanded the withdrawal of US troops from German soil and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Pegida co-founder, Kathrin Oertel, told Reuters that Bachmann's resignation had nothing to do with the Hitler photo, but was linked to comments posted on the internet. Bild's front page showing Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann 'posing as Hitler' Fearing terrorist attacks in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo murders, Dresden police banned Pegida from staging its usual demonstration in the city last Monday. Pegida responded by holding tonight’s mass rally in Leipzig. Pegida has taken Germany’s main parties aback: its supporters include known neo-Nazis and far-right football hooligans but also many middle to lower middle class Germans who say they are worried about being “swamped” by immigrants.
“Yes, I can confirm that Lutz Bachmann has offered his resignation and it was accepted,” said Oertel, adding: “Pegida will go on.” Today, the German government revealed that immigration had topped 470,000 in 2014 – the highest figure since 1992. However, the majority of new arrivals had no Islamic background and came from Romania and Poland. Pegida has sought to dismiss allegations that it is a racist organisation. But today Germany’s mass circulation Bild newspaper published a Facebook photograph of Pegida’s leader Lutz Bachmann wearing a toothbrush moustache and side parting and posing as the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. An accompanying caption read: “He’s back.”
Bachmann then told Bild: “Yes, I am also resigning as chairman [of Pegida]”, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The Facebook page was also said to contain virulently racist remarks, allegedly made by Mr Bachmann. These described foreign immigrants and asylum seekers as “cattle”, “riff raff, “a pack of dirt” and concluded: “There is no such thing as real war refugees.” The outrage at the remarks grew and tonight, as the thousands were preparing to march in Leipzig, he had resigned. “Pegida will go on,” said Kathrin Oertel, a fellow founder of the Pegida movement.
The resignation came after police launched a criminal investigation against Bachmann for inciting racial hatred following the Bild report, although he denies he is racist.  Dresden state prosecutors said they were investigating Mr Bachmann, 41, on suspicion of inciting racial hatred. Mr Bachmann removed the Hitler photo of himself from Facebook and claimed it was meant as a “joke”. On Monday he dropped his previous aversion to the media and gave his first press conference in Dresden where he insisted that his anti-Islam organisation had nothing against foreigners.
Despite the reports, Pegida sympathisers were due to stage a march in the east German city of Leipzig.
Pegida has forced itself onto the political agenda with its anti-immigrant slogans that have attracted tens of thousands to regular rallies in Dresden. Its Leipzig sister movement, Legida, was due to march on Wednesday evening after police banned a Pegida march in Dresden on Monday due to a threat of an attack.
Deputy Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, the Social Democrat leader, said the real face of Pegida had been exposed: “Anyone who puts on a Hitler disguise is either an idiot or a Nazi.”
Additional reporting by Reuters