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A video published on X by Bavaria’s interior ministry has drawn comparisons to Nazi-era propaganda for its depiction of an ethnic minority.
The cartoon video, which purports to warn against the Islamic Salafi movement, shows a Muslim woman watching an explainer video about whether Muslim women are allowed to wear make-up.
She eventually falling into the mouths of a maniacally laughing man, who is shown wearing a skullcap — headgear worn by some Muslims — in an apparent metaphor for her falling victim to radicalization.
“What unbelievable racist garbage,” former member of the German Bundestag Niema Movassat said of the clip, that depicts the radicalization of a Muslim woman in a manner some X users have described as reminiscent of anti-Jewish propaganda from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.
“Der Stürmer is back and runs the propaganda department of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior,” wrote Movassat — who now works as a lawyer — adding that he will examine whether pressing charges is possible. “Muslims are demonized in the clip,” he said.
“Der Stürmer” was a notorious antisemitic newspaper published in Germany from 1923 to 1945, known for its virulent propaganda against Jews and its role in promoting Nazi ideology.
The ministry’s official X account ran the video — which has been viewed over 900,000 times — shortly after midnight, just a few hours after results of two eastern German state elections confirmed the far right’s biggest success since World War II.
Ferat Koçak, a member of the Berlin house of representatives, took to X to decry the “hatred” apparent in the video, saying that anyone who is still wondering why the far-right is on the rise should see the video.
“The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior (!) is agitating against Muslims with caricatures that are reminiscent of the times of Nazi propaganda against Jews,” he wrote.
Left legislator Nicole Gohlke decried the clip as “pathetic.”
“Instead of exclusion and agitation, we need to take a stand against anti-Muslim racism, especially in these times, ” she wrote.
Approximately 5.5 million Muslims live in Germany, the majority of whom are German citizens. In 2023, an independent report commissioned by the government to research anti-Muslim racism, found that half of the population holds hostile views against Islam and perceives it as a danger to German society. A third called for the restriction of exercising the Islamic faith, thus voting against the fundamental right to freedom of religion.
The Bavarian Interior Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
