The bizarre excuse a cyclist gave for wearing a Nazi swastika armband after being confronted by the grandson of Holocaust survivor in a city park
- The grandson of a Holocaust survivor confronted a man wearing a Nazi swastika
- David, 53, noticed the Nazi armband in Melbourne’s Karkarook Park on Friday
- The man offered a bizarre excuse and said it was ‘a flag of the German people’
The grandson of a Holocaust survivor was left shocked when he spotted a cyclist wearing a Nazi swastika armband in a city park.
David, 53, was walking through Karkarook Park, in south-east Melbourne, around 5pm on Friday when he noticed the man ride past wearing the Nazi symbol.
David ran to catch up with the man and confronted him about the swastika armband.
The man offered a bizarre explanation as to why he was wearing the Nazi symbol.
‘He said ”it’s a flag of the German people’ and I explained it wasn’t,’ David said.
‘Having grown up as the grandson of Holocaust survivors, it’s an emotive issue,’ he told the Herald Sun.
David, 53, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, confronted a man for wearing a Nazi swastika armband at Karkarook Park (pictured), in south-east Melbourne, on Friday evening
The man then started explaining conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic rhetoric which caused David to walk away.
David said the man was not aggressive and was ‘just trying to just try to push his agenda’.
A bystander called Victoria Police and they arrived as David was leaving the park.
David said the police told him the man was already known to them.
Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they were aware of the incident and attended the park.
The man offered a bizarre excuse that he was wearing the swastika armband (file image pictured) as it was ‘a flag of the German people’
The chairman of Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich, said displays of the swastika symbol were traumatic for relatives of Holocaust survivors.
Mr Abramovich said in a statement: ‘Imagine how distressed a Holocaust survivor, walking those streets would be, when confronted with this potent symbol of genocide and evil.’
The Commission called on the State Government to ban public displays of the swastika and prosecute offenders.
Mr Abramovich said: ‘The Hitler worshippers and ‘Final Solutionists’, who dream of turning Australia into Nazi Germany, are out in force again, spreading their poison of hate.
‘There is something very troubling happening in our city, with a dramatic surge of white-supremacist graffiti and activities.’
The chairman of Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission, Dvir Abramovich (pictured) said such displays of the swastika symbol were traumatic for relatives of Holocaust survivors