The town of Ork in the Netherlands reacted with shock yesterday after a group of young people, locals, posted a series of photos in which they appear in SS uniforms, carrying Nazi symbols and demonstrating the execution of a "Jewish prisoner" using fake weapons.
A local newspaper reported that the youths apologized for the act after the heads of the local authority and the police confronted them and threatened them with legal action.
The strange apology letter issued by the young members, eighteen members, read: "This was not his intention to bring back bad memories from World War II. We want to make it clear that we are not anti-Semitic in any way, we have nothing against the Jews and we do not support the German regime."
I am ashamed of those people who think they are funny in Nazi uniforms in The Netherlands village Urk, a "Christian" community.
pic.twitter.com/JAjjqxlFgo
- Berend van der Weide (@VanBerend) September 13, 2021
In the letter, the young people did not clarify why they committed the acts, but the city authorities estimated that it was a protest against the corona regulations in the country.
"We understand that these young people wanted to make everyone aware of the impact of the corona measures taken. However, we do not accept the way they did it," Keys van den Boss, the mayor of Orc, told state media.
The district civil prosecutor announced that the police are investigating whether there is room to file criminal charges against the youths and whether they have indeed broken the law in a manner that requires taking action against them.
This is not the first unusual event that vaccine opponents have held in the town, one of the most conservative strongholds in the Netherlands where a large part of the population refuses to be vaccinated.
In January, a vaccination center in the city was set on fire and anti-vaccine graffiti was spray-painted nearby.