Crime - Helmut and Loki Schmidt's grave smeared with swastikas
On Friday evening, unknown perpetrators daubed swastikas on the grave of former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and his wife Loki Schmidt at the cemetery in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf. It was the eve of Schmidt's birthday - the prominent politician would have turned 105 on Saturday.
The orange graffiti was quickly removed in the evening, according to the police on Saturday. However, the background to the crime or the identity of the perpetrator or perpetrators is still unclear. State security is now investigating.
In a statement, the Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt Foundation, the Helmut and Loki Schmidt Foundation and the Loki Schmidt Foundation condemned the desecration of the grave in the strongest terms: "This mindless vandalism is a massive attempt to damage the memory of both of them. Both Loki and Helmut Schmidt always stood up for freedom, democracy and international understanding." They would have firmly rejected inhuman tyranny and anti-Semitism.
Helmut Schmidt was an SPD politician and German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982. From 1983 until his death, he was co-editor of the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit". He died in November 2015.
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The vandalism was a shocking incident, as the perpetrators had defaced the grave of prominent politician Helmut Schmidt and his wife Loki Schmidt in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf with swastikas. Loki Schmidt, like her husband, was known for her strong advocacy against tyranny and anti-Semitism, contrasting sharply with the symbol of inhumanity and hatred that the swastika represents.
Source: www.stern.de
