The federal court of justice has overturned the conviction of a man who was fined 4,200 euros for possessing and transporting 100 t-shirts which were to be sold with the words ‘Blood and Honour’ printed on the front.
‘Blood and Honour’ is a translation of the German ‘Blut und Ehre’ which was a Hitler Youth slogan.
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organisation of the Nazi party, which existed from 1922 until 1945. Young boys were recruited both voluntarily and under duress and trained to be soldiers and ‘true believers’. By the Second World War the Hitler Youth had over eight million members.
In the latter years of the Second World War the Hitler Youth held a large recruitment drive calling up boys as young as ten years old which meant that most young males in Germany became members. As part of their uniform the young boys aged 10 – 18 wore daggers which had the swastika symbol on the handle and early examples had the words ‘Blut und Ehre’ inscribed on the blade. ‘Blut und Ehre’ or in English ‘Blood and Honour had become their motto.
Today the display of Nazi symbols or slogans is forbidden in Germany, but the court ruled that the ban only applied to slogans or text written in German. The court said the context of the original phrase had been sufficiently distorted to render its usage legal. It also said, “By translating it into another language, the Nazi slogan, which is characterized not just by its meaning but also by the German language, is fundamentally transformed.”
The defendant however has not been released. He may now be charged with supplying goods with Nazi imagery on and there is a possibility he could still be convicted of using the English phrase “Blood & Honour” because it was also the name of a far-right organization that is banned in Germany, the original verdict had not taken this into account. The man has not been named at this time.
Surely that is the slogan no matter what language it is in. It has been printed for maximum effect, to offend and upset others.
anyone person that gets upset over this slogan has no understanding of honor or loyalty
I’m trying to trace the origin of a knife that I have. It was made in Germany, for export (stamped “Germany” on the blade), but has “Blut und Ehre!” etched on the blade. The handle has a Fleur-de-lis in a diamond shape. The knife also has the Kissing Crane logo, and the name “Robert Klaas”. Was this imported to the U.S. for the American Bund 1933 – 1938? The motto “Blut und Ehre!” was dropped from production of even the Nazi Hitler Jugend knives after 1938, and if made/exported post-1945 then it was done illegally! Does anyone have info on this knife?