Nazi

Was German politician Björn Höcke fined in May 2024 for simply using a patriotic phrase in a speech three years earlier? No, that's not true: His conviction and fine were related to a phrase deemed to violate German laws regarding Nazi propaganda and slogans. The German Criminal Code is particularly strict about language that could be interpreted as promoting Nazi…

Was Walt Disney a founder of NASA? No, that's not true: Disney founded an animation, television and movie studio as well as a theme park empire. He produced a television series about space travel in 1955 with a NASA rocket designer. This was three years before President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, which…

Did White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre field a question on the topic of alleged Ukrainian manifestations of Nazism from a reporter during a press briefing? No, that's not true on both counts: The reporter did not ask this question, and Jean-Pierre did not respond to such a question. An AI-generated voiceover has been added to authentic video footage from…

Did a photographer capture a scene showing a group of people gathered to march who were carrying Nazi, Confederate and Israeli flags? No, that's not true: This photo has been edited to add the flag of Israel. The original photo was taken at the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and there is no Israeli flag in the…

Does footage on social media show Palestinians celebrating at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after they heard news of Iran's mid-April 2024 aerial attack on Israel? No, that's not true: The video was shot days before Iran launched drones and missiles against Israel. The video was recorded during the last Friday of Ramadan, according to a BBC reporter. Lead Stories…

Did remarks by Maine state Rep. Laurel Libby in early April 2024 show support for the views of a local neo-Nazi group? No, that's not true: Libby's comments were taken out of context. The Republican lawmaker was referencing 2023 neo-Nazi protests in Maine when she said on the floor of the Maine Legislature, "I would like to know what they…

Is Angela Merkel the daughter of Adolf Hitler? No, that's not true: Merkel, the former German chancellor, was born in 1954 in Hamburg, West Germany. Hitler died on April 30, 1945, almost a decade before Merkel was born. Merkel's parents were Horst and Herlind Kasner, as her biography on Britannica states. Hitler had no children and only married Eva Braun…

Were the Nazis involved with the abortion pill RU-486 as claimed by an anti-abortion activist? No, that's not true: The French company that created the pill did so in the 1980s, but the activist made the connection by claiming the company is owned by a German company that created the poisonous gas that was used in Nazi death camps during…

Does a viral video portray Ukrainian soldiers in 2023 wearing "WW2 era German helmets"? No, that's not true: The footage shows a traditional reenactment event in Belgium. Nothing in the video links the men wearing historic uniforms to Ukraine. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on Instagram on December 27, 2023. It opened: Ukrainian soldiers on the…

Did German-born rocket engineer Wernher von Braun found the National Aeronautics and Space Administration? No, that's not true: The National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 29, 1958, led to the formation of NASA. It was not the work of a single person or of von Braun, who did not work for…