Roger Waters Slammed For Wearing Nazi Outfit, Displaying Anne Frank at Berlin Concert

Roger Waters sparked outrage with a recent concert in Berlin where he wore an outfit symbolizing the Nazis on stage and also invoked the name of Anne Frank.

The former Pink Floyd bassist, known for his political activism and outspoken opinions, held a show at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin last week — which began with an on-screen statement saying “On a matter of public interest: a court in Frankfurt has ruled that I am not an antisemite. Just to be clear, I condemn antisemitism unreservedly.”

An assortment of political imagery was displayed throughout the show, including red banners reminiscent of the Nazi regime, with crossed hammers in place of the swastika. After the intermission, Waters came back on stage wearing an SS officer’s outfit and proceeded to fire a prop rifle.

For the uninitiated, the hammer imagery is a reference to Pink Floyd’s rock opera “The Wall,” which tells a story of a troubled young man who embraces fascism after mentally disconnecting himself from his emotions, along with his humanity. The hammers were prominently featured in animated segments from the 1982 film adaptation of the album.

At a separate point in the concert, Waters displayed Anne Frank’s name on the big screen, which was accompanied by the names of George Floyd, Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and others. Fox News noted that display seemed to be a condemnation of people who were infamously murdered at the hands of the state.

Akleh was shot and killed last year while she covered a raid by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on a Palestinian refugee camp. Between Akleh’s juxtaposition with Frank and Watter’s Nazi costume in Berlin, the show was condemned by Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.