'DIE FAHNE HOCH!'

 

NS Anthem withdrawn from ad

 

Nazi Anthem Pulled From Alberta Lottery Ad
The Ottawa Citizen  Saturday, 22 January 2005

By HANNEKE BROOYMANS

EDMONTON—A Nazi party anthem that was accidentally selected as background music for a Royal Canadian Legion lottery advertisement caused so many complaints it was pulled the day it first aired on Alberta-wide radio stations.

"It should never have happened, that's why it was taken off," said Harvey Shevalier, first vice-president of the Alberta and Northwest Territories command for the Legion.

"It sounds good, but it's not the appropriate kind of music," he added. "(Members) are very disgruntled or disappointed that it would even get out there without somebody knowing what it was. And rightfully so."

The anthem, called the Horst Wessel Lied,* features the deep drums and energetic brass typical of marching songs and calls for a sprinkling of Hitler salutes throughout the song.

Mr. Shevalier, a veteran of peacekeeping missions, said a military historian, called the Legion to alert them to the musical mistake on Monday.

The music was judged suitable by the Calgary marketing and lottery management company Stride Management, and the Legion lottery committee, said Laurel Harris, a media director for the company. The music was selected from a random tape of marching music that did not have song titles on it, she said.

"We felt the music was completely suitable, but obviously we were unaware," she said.

Wessel was a Nazi party member until his murder in 1930. His song became part of the German national anthem in 1933, according to a paper by George Broderick published in International Folklore Review.

A regulation attached to a printed version of the song in 1934 made it clear the right arm had to be raised in a Hitler salute whenever the first and fourth verses were sung.

After Hitler came to power, the song formed the second part to the national anthem after the Deutschland Lied* and remained as such until the demise of the Third Reich in May 1945.

* Available along with many other blood-stirring titles on tape and CD from:

NS Publications PO Box 188 Wayndotte MI 48192.
Please ask for complete audio listings, including price.