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Australian state to review 'Seig Heil' bus sign after complaints from Jewish leader
Norman Shueler said 'any revival or glorification of Nazism is repulsive'
July 6, 2023 16:24
Norman Shueler said 'any revival or glorification of Nazism is repulsive'
July 6, 2023 16:24An Australian state is considering replacing their bus stop signs because they resemble a Nazi salute following a complaint from a local Jewish leader.
Adelaide businessman Norman Shueler claims a stylised depiction of a man hailing a bus looks a little too similar to a Hitler supporter performing a Seig Heil salute.
The yellow signs, which adorn bus stops around South Australia, show a black-and-white image of a would-be passenger raising his arm.
“Any revival or glorification of Nazism is repulsive and tasteless, to say the least,” Shueler told The Advertiser.
“We have some survivors in Adelaide, and if they saw these reincarnations, I can imagine what they might think.”
South Australia's Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the signs had been in use for three years, and until now had generated no complaints.
But, he added, he would ensure the matter was looked into nonetheless.
Koutsantonis said: “Mr Schueler is a distinguished member of South Australia’s Jewish community and I am naturally concerned by the suggestion he has raised, and I will ask my department to review it.”
The Seig Heil was used as a greeting gesture and sign of allegiance to Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
Officially adopted by the party in 1926, it was reportedly based on a Roman tradition - though no artwork from that era appears to depict it.
The gesture is now illegal to perform in Germany.