Police investigate after family seemingly dress as Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun and Jewish children at Orange Order affiliated fancy dress party in Scotland
The Herald Scotland has brought to light that a man and women seemingly dressed as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun won a fancy dress competition at a Hallowe’en party organised by a flute band at the Airdrie and District Orange Hall and Social Club in Scotland in 2013. Two children at the party allegedly wore clothes branded with the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. A shocking group photo has emerged of the man giving the Nazi salute, standing with the woman and children.
Police Scotland confirmed to the Herald Scotland that “it was investigating the incident to determine whether a hate crime had been committed.”
Highly-offensive photos from the annual Halloween parties held in the Airdrie and District Orange Hall and Social Club in 2010 and 2013 were reportedly reposted on a public Facebook page designed to promote the activities of the Orange Order. The Herald Scotland published some of these photos which have since been deleted from Facebook.
The Herald Scotland reported that “the Orange Order has ignored calls to condemn a flute band behind a fancy dress party.” In a statement, however, the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland said that it “does not seek immunity from media criticism” but newspapers have a responsibility to be “impartial or even-handed.” It continued: “We understand that the press has a role to play, but there is a difference between holding to account and pursuing a baseless agenda to attack and demonise our Protestant culture and heritage.”
Ephraim Borowski, Director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, ScoJeC, told the paper that “The meticulously-planned industrialised murder of six million people solely on the grounds of their ethnicity is not a joke, and neither is anything that glorifies those who planned it. Racism, including racism against Jewish people — antisemitism — must always be condemned in the strongest terms, and we would urge the Orange Order to do so.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism is monitoring developments closely and we are pleased that Police Scottish are taking this matter seriously.
