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Roger Waters with armband (at a performance in 2013): Disturbing the public peace?

Photo: Walter Bieri / picture alliance / dpa

The Berlin police have launched investigations against Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters after his appearance in the capital. "We are investigating on suspicion of incitement to hatred," a police spokesman confirmed on Friday in response to a request from SPIEGEL. The 79-year-old had worn a long black leather coat and a red armband at his concert last week – clothing that, according to the spokesman, resembles that of an SS officer.

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Waters at the performance in Munich on May 21: Outrage in Israel

Photo: Stefan M. Prager / IMAGO

The clothes were suitable for »glorifying the rule of the National Socialist regime«. This could also disturb the public peace. According to the spokesman, the proceedings will be handed over to the public prosecutor's office after the investigation has been completed, which will then have to decide whether a criminal offence exists.

The piece for which Waters wears the uniform jacket is called »In the Flesh«. It comes from the album »The Wall« and is the song in which the main character imagines himself into the role of a dictator in the »The Wall« world. In the film version, where Bob Geldof plays the character Pink, he wears a similar uniform, it is part of the hero's traumatization.

The Berlin police spokesman emphasized that "all incriminating and exculpatory evidence will be collected and will be included in the proceedings."

Waters had previously attracted attention several times through anti-Semitic statements. He is also accused of being close to the so-called BDS campaign, an anti-Israel boycott initiative. The city of Frankfurt am Main wanted to cancel a concert by the musician on May 28, but the local administrative court granted an urgent application by Waters against the cancellation.

Memory of Anne Frank »tarnished«

The city of Munich also allowed a concert – Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) called the decision "intolerable", but saw no other legal option. A demonstration took place in front of the concert hall in Munich. "The incitement against Jews obviously has a place in this country. Today, this square is the Olympic Hall," said Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.

In Israel, the concerts of the controversial Pink Floyd co-founder in Berlin have caused outrage. The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused Waters on Wednesday of having "defiled the memory of Anne Frank and the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust" in Berlin, of all places, last week. Numerous Israeli media also reported on the topic.

The reason for the outrage was that during the concert, the names of those killed were displayed in huge red letters: in addition to the name of Anne Frank, who was murdered during the Nazi era, the name of the Palestinian Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Akle was also displayed. The reporter was killed in 2022 during an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. However, it was also pointed out on social media that the two names at the concert are in a longer list of victims of state violence.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, wrote on Twitter: "Waters wants to compare Israel to the Nazis." Waters is "one of the biggest Jew-haters of our time."

At previous concerts, Waters released pig-shaped balloons with a Star of David on them. At his previous concerts in Germany, the pig was still there – but without the Star of David.

feb/AFP/dpa