The public prosecutor had accused them of playing down the crimes of National Socialism. They received a conditional prison sentence of 15 months and a probationary period of three years, the verdict is not final.
One of the accused, a 34-year-old man from Vienna, had made the stars himself in advance using his daughter’s felt. At the demonstration, he handed the second to his 50-year-old former colleague who lives in Burgenland. The latter had initially stated to the police that he felt “like the Jews back then in the Second World War” because he had not been vaccinated. The Vienna public prosecutor also concluded that the accused had publicly displayed their view that the situation of the unvaccinated was comparable to the situation of the Jews under National Socialism.
It’s not about Covid measures and the right to demonstrate against them, said public prosecutor Martin Ortner at the beginning. The Jewish star was introduced by a police decree in 1941 and was a sign of the will to exterminate the Jews. He insisted that the defendants were adults who knew they were comparing Jews under National Socialism to those who were unvaccinated. He did not want to allow “infantilizing explanations” such as ignorance on the part of the accused.
The prohibition law opposes a gross trivialization of National Socialism. Defense attorneys questioned whether the adjective broadly applied to their clients’ conduct. The 34-year-old and the 50-year-old pleaded not guilty, but said they were “extremely” sorry for their behavior today and would never do it again.
The presiding judge Ulrich Nachtlberger confronted the accused, who had made the Stars of David, with various comparisons between the Nazi era and the present. He asked the 34-year-old whether there were laws prohibiting marriage between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated and whether unvaccinated people had to adopt an additional first name.
He said he hadn’t thought about it. He wanted to show that he felt oppressed. Because the introduction of 2G in the workplace was under discussion, he feared for his job. In contrast to Jews in the Third Reich, however, he could have changed his situation by getting vaccinated, he admitted when asked by the judge.
Prosecutor Ortner recommended the eight jurors a light sentence. They decided unanimously that the accused were guilty. With a possible one to ten years in prison, they finally decided on 15 months conditionally.
Source: Nachrichten
