An English rock star who’s been on the international stage for more than half a century is being criticized after wearing a Nazi-style uniform during a performance in Berlin.
Roger Waters — a founding member of the band Pink Floyd — appeared to resemble a member of the Nazi SS organization during the May 17 show.
Wow, this is @rogerwaters imitating a Nazi, while at a concert in … Berlin. This is just unhinged Jew hatred and Holocaust distortion. The man is vile beyond words. pic.twitter.com/zn1EvudSXc
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) May 25, 2023
Waters, 79, claimed the anti-fascist imagery has been part of his live shows since the release of the Pink Floyd album “The Wall” in 1980. Waters wrote the screenplay for a movie based on the album that was released in 1982.
The film features a rock star who imagines himself to be a fascist dictator.
In a Twitter post after the show, the musician claimed the performance was a “statement in opposition to fascism, injustice and bigotry in all its forms.”
“My recent performance in Berlin has attracted bad faith attacks from those who want to smear and silence me because they disagree with my political views and moral principles,” he wrote.
— Roger Waters ✊ (@rogerwaters) May 26, 2023
However, Waters’ has a long history of supposedly anti-Semitic statements and behavior. And German authorities are questioning the artistic aspect of the performance.
“We are investigating on suspicion of incitement to public hatred because the clothing worn on stage could be used to glorify or justify Nazi rule, thereby disturbing the public peace,” Berlin police spokesman Martin Halweg said of the display, according to a New York Post report last week.
“The clothing resembles the clothing of an SS officer.”
Even an official Twitter account of the state of Israel criticized Waters for the performance.
Good morning to every one but Roger Waters who spent the evening in Berlin (Yes Berlin) desecrating the memory of Anne Frank and the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/4tcrV6f8mt
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) May 24, 2023
German law is ambiguous on the topic of Nazi regalia — such as swastikas and the paired lightning bolts known as SS “sig runes,” according to a 2018 report by the German public radio and television channel Deutsche Welle.
“Displaying them publicly or selling goods that sport them is illegal. The Nazi salute and statements such as ‘Heil Hitler’ are also banned in public,” the article reported.
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However, the country’s criminal code does allow the display of swastikas and other banned symbols if they are used for “civic education, countering anti-constitutional activities, art and science, research and education, the coverage of historic and current events, or similar purposes,” the article states.
Longtime Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour has likened Waters to an anti-Semite and an apologist for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Every word demonstrably true https://t.co/KWk4I3bMTN
— David Gilmour (@davidgilmour) February 6, 2023
Waters, however, denies anti-Semitism.
“When I was a child after the war, the name of Anne Frank was often spoken in our house, she became a permanent reminder of what happens when fascism is left unchecked,” he wrote in Friday’s Twitter post. “My parents fought the Nazis in World War II, with my father paying the ultimate price.”
