German Islamophobes make Hitler copycat Bachmann their Fuehrer again

The image of Lutz Bachmann styled as Adolf Hitler was published by the Dresden Morgenpost after a reader spotted it on Facebook

From daily The Guardian in Britain:

Pegida head Lutz Bachmann reinstated after furore over Hitler moustache photo

The leader of Germany’s anti-Islamisation movement resigned in January after the image – which he now says was doctored – went viral

Lutz Bachmann has been reinstated as the head of Germany’s anti-Islamisation movement Pegida, a month after resigning over a photo showing him posing with a Hitler moustache.

The group confirmed on its Facebook page that the 42-year-old had been re-elected as chairman on Sunday by the six other members of the organisation’s leadership committee.

The Sächsische Zeitung reported last week that the Hitler moustache on the now infamous photo had been added after the photo was taken – though Bachmann did not mention this when the photo went viral. …

The picture of Bachmann went viral after it was published by a local newspaper, the Dresden Morgenpost. A Morgenpost reader discovered the photograph, along with what appeared to be a closed Facebook conversation between Bachmann and one of his Facebook contacts, in which he described immigrants as cattle, scumbags and trash. …

The controversy over the Hitler photo and Bachmann’s Facebook comments was seen as particularly damaging.

Bachmann’s resignation in January was followed by an exodus of leading members, apparently in an attempt to distance themselves from openly racist supporters. …

Bachmann, who carries convictions for drug possession, assault and burglary, has continued to speak at Pegida demos in Dresden. At last week’s event he imitated the 16th century church reformer Martin Luther and nailed 10 “theses” to the door of Dresden’s Kreuzkirche church. …

In the same Facebook post announcing Bachmann’s reinstatement, Pegida also welcomed its latest member – Tatjana Festerling, a former member of the eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party who attracted criticism last year for praising the Hooligans Against Salafists demo in Cologne. Bachmann said Festerling would almost certainly be the group’s new spokeswoman.

Pegida has attracted close to 160,000 likes on its Facebook page, which remains its only official web presence, but numbers at recent demos in Dresden have dwindled from a highpoint of 17,000 in January to around 2,000 in the last two weeks.