ATHENS, Greece (JTA) — A Greek newspaper released a video apparently showing a senior Golden Dawn leader teaching two children how to give the Nazi salute and chant “Heil Hitler.”
The video released by the Kathimerini paper on Monday apparently was shot on the cell phone of party deputy leader Christos Pappas and is part of the evidence to be brought against him in the upcoming trial against Golden Dawn leaders.
Golden Dawn has long argued that they are not neo-Nazis but only Greek nationalists and patriots.
The video shows a small boy clad all in white wearing a Nazi swastika armband and holding a swastika pennant while being encouraged by Pappas to chant “Heil Hitler” and give the Nazi salute. In a second scene, a young girl also repeatedly chants and salutes.
Many of Golden Dawn’s leaders are awaiting trial on charges of running a criminal organization. The party, which has 18 seats in the Greek Parliament, has been accused of being behind dozens of racist attacks on immigrants. It frequently uses Nazi imagery, and its leaders have denied the existence of Nazi death camps and gas chambers.
As part of attempts to crack down on the party, Greek lawmakers recently passed a law with harsher penalties for inciting racial violence and denying the Holocaust. However, the law cannot be applied retroactively.
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