- EDMONTON - A Nazi party anthem
that was accidentally selected as background music for a Royal Canadian
Legion lottery advertisement caused so many complaints it was pulled the
day it first aired on Alberta-wide radio stations.
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- "It should never have happened, that's why it was
taken off," said Harvey Shevalier, first vice-president of the Alberta
and Northwest Territories command for the Legion.
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- "It sounds good, but it's not the appropriate kind
of music," he added. "(Members) are very disgruntled or disappointed
that it would even get out there without somebody knowing what it was.
And rightfully so."
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- The anthem, called the Horst Wessel Lied, features the
deep drums and energetic brass typical of marching songs and calls for
a sprinkling of Hitler salutes throughout the song.
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- Mr. Shevalier, a veteran of peacekeeping missions, said
a military historian, called the Legion to alert them to the musical mistake
on Monday.
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- The music was judged suitable by the Calgary marketing
and lottery management company Stride Management, and the Legion lottery
committee, said Laurel Harris, a media director for the company.
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- The music was selected from a random tape of marching
music that did not have song titles on it, she said.
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- "We felt the music was completely suitable, but
obviously we were unaware," she said.
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- Wessel was a Nazi party member until his murder in 1930.
His song became part of the German national anthem in 1933, according to
a paper by George Broderick published in International Folklore Review.
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- A regulation attached to a printed version of the song
in 1934 made it clear the right arm had to be raised in a Hitler salute
whenever the first and fourth verses were sung.
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- After Hitler came to power, the song formed the second
part to the national anthem after the Deutschland lied and remained as
such until the demise of the Third Reich in May 1945.
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- © The Ottawa Citizen 2005
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