Overview

• The Higher Administrative Court of Thuringia on Aug 20 rejected a woman’s bid to enter the memorial wearing a keffiyeh to make a political statement.
• The ruling held that the memorial’s mandate to preserve its commemorative purpose outweighs the applicant’s freedom of expression in this case.
• The applicant had been turned away at an April ceremony marking the camp’s 80th liberation anniversary after arriving with the scarf.
• Memorial director Jens-Christian Wagner says the keffiyeh is not categorically banned, though staff may act when it is used to politicize or relativize Nazi crimes.
• A leaked internal memo that labeled the keffiyeh as tied to efforts to destroy Israel drew criticism, and the director later called that language mistaken as Germany reassesses its stance on Israel, including new limits on Gaza-related arms exports.