Updated | German tourist shocked at finding Hitler memorabilia on Malta bus

In a formal written complaint to the ATP,  where she provided the bus’s registration number, the tourist explained how she boarded the public transport vehicle, only to be faced by memorabilia glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

In her complaint, the tourist wrote that the bus was decorated with “an Adolf Hitler picture, an Adolf Hitler Pin, and a golden ring with a Nazi swastika.”

She informed the authority that she also plans to report the bus driver to the police, as well as to the media.

“First I saw the pin depicting Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Swastika - around 3cm large - on his money bag and couldn’t believe it,” the tourists recounted when contacted by Maltatoday.

“I sat close to the driver to be sure, and then I saw a big golden ring on his right hand bearing the Nazi swastika symbol,” she said. It was then that she also noticed a black and white post card/picture of the Nazi leader – placed where other drivers usually put up religious pictures.

Asked if she considered drawing the driver’s attention to the issue, the tourists said that she was afraid she wouldn’t get any back up from the other passengers. “I heard violent stories about bus drivers before. I didn’t want to risk it,” she said.

Asked also if she followed through with her intention to report the driver, the tourist said that, upon reporting the issue to the Police Station in Gzira, she was told that such pictures or notices are not forbidden in Malta.

“The police officer said if it were a naked woman, it would have been different,” the tourists said, adding that the police informed her that they would be contacting relevant authorities in Valletta to have the memorabilia removed.

Contacted by Malta today, ATP committee member Felix Fenech said the matter is already being dealt with. “I called him up and requested that the bus driver in question remove the items immediately.” He added that the driver was very cooperative, and agreed to remove the items.

“It is not acceptable such pictures or items to be hung in a public bus,” Fenech said, pointing out that public transport buses are not private vehicles, but public places “that anyone should be able to make use of.”

Adding that a written warning would be sent to the driver in question informing him of this breach, and of further disciplinary procedures that might be incurred, Fenech also confirmed that the ATP would be “checking up” to ensure that the driver complies.

Also contacted by Maltatoday, a spokesperson for Transport Malta’s Customer Care department said that case would be referred to the Enforcement Unit and the bus in question “will be checked.”

While not illegal under Maltese Law, post-war German law codes prohibit the display of a swastika in any form or fashion, even if used satirically or as part of an anti-Nazi political statement.

This law is generally applied to the specific five-by-five grid swastika design used during the Nazi era, however.

Adolf Hitler is a figure of considerable controversy. At the head of a movement responsible for the Second World War (the National Socialist German Workers' Party, aka the Nazi Party) and the Holocaust - a genocide that exterminated roughly six million European Jews – images and memorabilia bearing his likeness or paying homage to the Nazi party still tap into emotional undercurrents that persist to this day.