Thuringia’s Supreme Court rules that Holocaust remembrance outweighs political expression, upholding a ban on wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh at the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial.
The Supreme Court of Thuringia, Germany, has rejected the appeal of a woman barred from entering the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, cementing a precedent that political symbols can be prohibited at Holocaust remembrance sites.
The court declared that the memorial’s mission to preserve the memory of the Holocaust overrides freedom of expression in such contexts. Judges ruled that wearing the keffiyeh at Buchenwald could “endanger the sense of security of many Jews.”
The woman, who had sought to attend the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, was denied entry due to the garment. Her subsequent petition to attend another ceremony was also rejected. The ruling is final and not subject to appeal.
In its decision, the court emphasized that the keffiyeh represented a “clear political message” in violation of site regulations, which mandate attire appropriate for commemoration.
Between 1937 and 1945, Buchenwald imprisoned about 280,000 people, with 56,000 murdered before its liberation by American forces. The court’s ruling underscores the tension between political expression and the sanctity of Holocaust remembrance.
