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Czech tabloid asks singers about photo of them giving the Nazi salute

03 December 2012
2 minute read

The Sunday edition of the Blesk tabloid in the Czech Republic reports that it has managed to acquire photographs of the stars who hosted this year’s "Český slavík" (Czech Nightingale) awards ceremony, Lucie Bílá (46) and Daniel Landa (44), giving the Nazi salute. The snapshot is said to be an unaltered original and can be seen at http://www.blesk.cz/clanek/celebrity/186516/lucie-bila-a-daniel-landa-proc-jsme-hajlovali.html

The photograph was taken at a private party backstage at the musical "Dracula" in 1995. "Yes, that’s me," Bílá unwillingly admitted when asked whether the person in the photograph was her double. "That’s a rehearsal with Daniel Landa. In the theater you act everything, even monstrous things like that."

What was the name of the play concerned? "It’s not important what the play was, because nothing like it ever made it onstage. My political ideas and social sensibilities are clear and stronger than anything else," Bílá explained. "I don’t understand the motivation of the person who gave you that photo. We are living in a strange time."

Daniel Landa, however, gave a bit of a different explanation. "That photo is from a time when I was lobbying against the fascists, I was a member of the Calixtines and a member of the Patriotic League," he told Blesk’s Sunday edition.

"The Patriotic League clearly declared its anti-fascist position. This is a provocation, we were messing around because someone asked us to. It’s just a drunken party, having fun at Dracula," Landa recalled.

Some observers have called Landa a follower of neo-Nazism. In the lyrics he authored for the band Orlík, ideas bordering on racism appeared frequently. Today Landa sharply distances himself from that discourse.

The Sunday edition of Blesk closes its article with a section entitled "What is fascism?" The answer: "A wrong-headed totalitarian idea stemming from nationalism and in some cases racism. The most famous representatives of fascism are Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Today fascism often overlaps with neo-Nazism."

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