Chilean Newspaper Condemned for Tribute to Gestapo Founder Hermann Göring
by Benjamin Kerstein
The right-wing Chilean newspaper El Mercurio has been harshly criticized after it published a lavish article on the life of Gestapo founder and close confidant of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, that many described as pro-Nazi.
Göring, who was once powerful enough in the Nazi regime to be considered a possible successor to Hitler, was convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes after World War II and sentenced to death, but succeeded in killing himself before his execution.
Published Sunday, the El Mercurio “Society” section feature discussed the Nazi official’s youth and military career, and included quotations of his praise of Hitler.
The Comunidad Judía de Chile commented on Twitter that it “rejects and condemns the publication by El Mercurio on 10/24/21 making an apology for Nazism by publishing on its pages a tribute to the creator of the Gestapo 75 years after his death.”
“In Europe this publication would be a crime,” the group said. “Unacceptable.”
Comunidad Judía de Chile rechaza y condena la publicación de El Mercurio del 24/10/21 haciendo una apología del nazismo al publicar en sus páginas un homenaje al creador de la Gestapo a 75 años de su muerte. En Europa esta publicación sería un delito. Inaceptable @ElMercurio_cl pic.twitter.com/DZG3tNi2R8
— Comunidad Judía de Chile (@comjudiachile) October 24, 2021
The ADL stated that they were “in solidarity” with Chile’s Jewish communal organization “in denouncing the article published on the 75th anniversary of Hermann Göring’s death. We’re concerned the article can be interpreted as glorification of Nazism as it serves as an affront to those who perished in the Holocaust.”
El Mercurio has since said it “deeply regretted” that the piece had been interpreted as pro-Nazi, the Guardian reported.
The German embassy in Chile also condemned the article, saying, “We want to make something very clear: this man committed human rights crimes and was one of the pillars of the Nazi regime.”
“There is no room to justify or minimize, morally or politically, his horrific role during the Nazi regime or the Holocaust,” the embassy said.