That is true and in Austria too but I would use the same example to argue a totally different point. They banned all those symbols and outward support but it has not prevented those ideas and they are still a problem. The thing is banning such speech does not solve the issues. Furthermore those bans are troubling as they can be used as justification for further bans against speech that is not liked and target innocent people at the same time.
Also, for what it's worth, Germany has now started relaxing and removing those bans and many Germans do not think they should be there. They are also going about things in better ways than banning things. For example, last year, Germany published Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, for the first time since WWII. But with it is a lot of commentary on what happened, showing the consequences and pointing out where there are factual inaccuracies in the book. That is the appropriate way to address these things - with more, and better, speech - not by forbidding expressions of certain views. To quote a paragraph from the news article directly:
“I think one shouldn’t pretend the book doesn’t exist,” Education Minister Johanna Wanka told Germany's N-TV website. “Such taboos can sometimes be counterproductive. It’s important that people who want to debunk this book have the appropriate material.”
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
That is true and in Austria too but I would use the same example to argue a totally different point. They banned all those symbols and outward support but it has not prevented those ideas and they are still a problem. The thing is banning such speech does not solve the issues. Furthermore those bans are troubling as they can be used as justification for further bans against speech that is not liked and target innocent people at the same time.
Also, for what it's worth, Germany has now started relaxing and removing those bans and many Germans do not think they should be there. They are also going about things in better ways than banning things. For example, last year, Germany published Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, for the first time since WWII. But with it is a lot of commentary on what happened, showing the consequences and pointing out where there are factual inaccuracies in the book. That is the appropriate way to address these things - with more, and better, speech - not by forbidding expressions of certain views. To quote a paragraph from the news article directly:
“I think one shouldn’t pretend the book doesn’t exist,” Education Minister Johanna Wanka told Germany's N-TV website. “Such taboos can sometimes be counterproductive. It’s important that people who want to debunk this book have the appropriate material.”
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~