German politician charged over Auschwitz death-camp tattoo

German prosecutors have charged a far-right politician with incitement after he appeared at a swimming pool with a tattoo of what appeared to be the Auschwitz death camp on his back.

Neuruppin prosecutors’ spokeswoman Lolita Lodenkaemper said that Marcel Zech is accused of violating the country’s prohibition on the public display of Nazi symbols.

Another bather took a photo of the tattoo, which also carried the slogan from the Buchenwald concentration camp’s gate – “Jedem das Seine” or “To each his own” – at a pool in Oranienburg, north of Berlin, on November 21 and passed it on to authorities.

The 27-year-old member of the far-right National Democratic Party, who sits on the county council in an area outside Berlin, faces up to five years in prison if convicted.