The former bodyguard of a senior German Jewish leader was demoted from police detective to officer after it was discovered that he had been posting pro-Nazi and antisemitic messages to a police WhatsApp group, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Charlotte Knobloch, 90, the president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and the ex-chair of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, was provided with two bodyguards when attending events due to mounting antisemitic threats in the country.
However, it recently came to light that one of her bodyguards, a Munich police detective whose name was given only as Michael R, due to privacy laws, had written antisemitic and pro-Nazi messages in a WhatsApp group described as an “internal police group” that included seven other police officers.
The Munich Administrative Court demoted him from detective to officer last week. However, Munich Police Headquarters announced that it planned to fire the officer with “trust irrevocably destroyed.”
During his tenure as Knobloch’s bodyguard, Michael R, 43, ended his messages to the group with “Seig Heil!” and also wrote that he would like to meet her at Dachau, according to the report.
He also wrote that because of the pandemic, “we could open up a concentration camp again.”
The court also heard that in several voice messages he did an impression of Hitler.
Michael R’s lawyer said that the messages had been a “verbal outlet” away from work and insisted he was not antisemitic.
Knobloch said in a statement: “I was horrified to learn of the accusations against a former bodyguard who apparently made antisemitic and hateful remarks in conversations with co-workers as well as giving dubious testimony about his time in my security detail while in court.”
Even though this particular assignment happened some time ago, news of his transgression has affected me on a very personal level, as it pertains not only to my own safety, but to my relationship with the police as a whole.”
She applauded the Munich police for “its decisive response to the misconduct displayed by the officer in question.”
She added: “I remain hopeful that the police’s internal control mechanisms will continue to prove effective in the future. Only by securing these high standards can police effectively preserve trust – instead of destroying it.”