Roger Waters Defends Nazi Uniform Controversy During Frankfurt Concert

The former Pink Floyd star is being investigated by German police for wearing a Nazi-like uniform on stage in Germany. The artist responded in a somewhat unusual way from the stage in Frankfurt.

Roger Waters is no stranger to controversy, which has picked up sharply in recent years.

The 79-year-old has had to cancel concerts in Poland after he has more than hinted that it is Ukraine that is itself to blame for the fact that they were invaded and attacked by neighboring Russia.

Earlier this year, he spoke at the UN Security Council on behalf of Russia.

Several Jewish groups have also accused Waters of antisemitism antisemitismThe word “anti-Semitism” is usually used as a term for hostile attitudes and actions aimed at Jews because they are Jews. Source: SNL.no, and several demonstrated outside the Festhalle in Frankfurt where Waters’ was to hold a concert. In the same place, 3,000 Jews were gathered, beaten and mistreated before being sent to concentration camps in 1938.

– His words and images spread Jew-hatred, and are part of a trend: To normalize hatred of Israel under the guise of freedom of expression and art, says Elio Adler of the group WerteInitiative.

Earlier this week, German police began investigating Waters after he fired a fake machine gun during the show while wearing a long black coat and red armband, reminiscent of a Nazi uniform.

However, this kind of uniform has been used by Waters for many years during the performance of songs from the Pink Floyd classic The Wall from 1979. Waters plays the character Pink from “The Wall”, which was also made into a film in 1982 with Bob Geldof in the lead role.

In April, Waters played in Telenor Arena:

During the concert in Frankfurt, Waters did something unusual. He sat down with the microphone on stage and gave a more than six-minute long defense speech in which, among other things, he denies that he is anti-Semitic.

To be blackened in the way I have been, on the basis of flat-out lies. It has developed over a few years after I visited Palestine and saw what is happening there.

He then explains why he has nevertheless decided to drop the leather coat with the red armband this particular evening in Frankfurt.

– We are in the Festhalle, and I know it well KristallnachtKristallnachtThe November pogrom, long referred to as Kristallnacht, is the term for a nationwide violent persecution of Jews (pogrom) in Germany on the night between 9 and 10 November 1938, when Jews and Jewish property became the target group for systematic acts of violence and attacks. Source: SNL.no. So I feel for those who are afraid that we are desecrating this place. That is why I am making this gesture. I know the story, and that’s why we changed the show, says Waters.

The hall erupts into applause and cheers, and then it becomes too overwhelming for the 79-year-old. He sits down and covers his face and tears up at the reception he gets from the fans who cheer even more.

He is given paper to wipe himself off by one of the crew members before gathering himself.