Austrian paper sorry for Nazi obituary

Kleine Zeitung editor calls publication of death notice with man’s SS rank, other Nazi references a ‘horrible mistake’

VIENNA — A major Austrian newspaper has apologized for printing a death notice that carried the Nazi elite troop rank of the deceased.

The announcement of the death of Lois Plock in the Kleine Zeitung noted that he was an “Untersturmfuehrer” — a paramilitary rank of Hitler’s special SS forces. SS members served as Hitler’s bodyguard and formed elite units that carried out many of the era’s Holocaust crimes and other atrocities.

The announcement also listed a Nazi-era decoration of the deceased and carried a verse associated with the oath of loyalty sworn by Nazi troops to the German dictator.

Glorifying the Nazi past is a crime in Austria. Chief Editor Hubert Patterer apologized for printing the notice on Sunday, one day after it appeared. He called it a “horrible mistake.”