Kickl criticized for earlier SS statement

In an ATV discussion, the then FPÖ general secretary rejected a collective condemnation of the members of the Waffen-SS as “nonsense” to the then president of the Israelite Religious Community (IKG), Ariel Muzicant, as “Profil” initially reported on Friday.

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“We will not be able to agree that an organization as such or a unit such as the Waffen-SS should be found collectively guilty,” said Kickl during the debate 14 years ago. Guilt is something individual, just as innocence is something individual, argued Kickl. In response to Muzicant’s objection that the Waffen-SS was classified as a criminal organization in the Nuremberg trials, Kickl replied that it was “just as nonsense” if a “collective presumption of innocence” applied to the Wehrmacht.

“Trivializing the horrors of National Socialism”

The statements that were spread sparked criticism from all other parties on Friday. It was not surprising that the FPÖ voted against excluding the AfD from the joint right-wing faction ID in the EU Parliament: “No, Kickl himself trivialized the Waffen-SS,” the SPÖ explained on the short message service X. “These statements by Herbert Kickl trivialize the horrors of National Socialism and reveal Kickl’s worldview,” criticized ÖVP General Secretary Christian Stocker. “Anyone who does politics with such a mentality has no place in a democratic party spectrum,” said Stocker. It is to be hoped “that the moderate forces within the Freedom Party come to their senses and put an end to Kickl’s activities.”

The NEOS demanded an immediate clarification from FPÖ EU top candidate Harald Vilimsky and accused him of hypocrisy because he had described Krah’s statement as unacceptable, but had not criticized Kickl’s statement. There was no difference in content, both statements trivialized the cold-blooded murder of the SS in an unbearable way, both were unacceptable, said NEOS General Secretary Douglas Hoyos in a statement. “Whether AfD-Krah or FPÖ-Kickl, trivializing the SS is intolerable,” criticized Green Party General Secretary Olga Voglauer. Such historical revisionism shows “whose brainchild Herbert Kickl and his right-wing extremist FPÖ are.”

The FPÖ did not want to comment on this on Friday. The day before, the German AfD was excluded from the right-wing ID parliamentary group, which, in addition to the FPÖ, also includes the French Rassemblement National party and the Italian Lega. Before this, AfD MP and top candidate Krah had caused sharp criticism within the parliamentary group with, among other things, the statement that not every SS man was a criminal. The FPÖ voted on Thursday to exclude Krah, but did not support that of the entire AfD delegation.