Story perspectives

Samoa PM Apologizes for 2007 Nazi-Salute Video

By Drooid · Oct 5, 2026, 8:13 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Samoa Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt apologized Monday for a 2007 Nazi-salute video.
The seven-second clip, filmed at a July 2008 family reunion on Savai‘i, shows Schmidt and relatives chanting “Heil Hitler.”
Schmidt called the gesture inappropriate, offensive, and not reflective of his beliefs, reaffirming rejection of Nazism and racism.
The apology arrives while his government maintains a ban on the Samoa Observer from press conferences.

History

Historical Context

Germany’s 1994 addition of §86a to the criminal code banned public Nazi symbols, a measure championed by Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office that sparked numerous prosecutions after the Cold War. Samoa’s 2024 apology by Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt for a 2008 Nazi-salute video mirrors that German precedent, highlighting persistent sensitivities to extremist imagery.

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Story summary

Samoa Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt apologized Monday for a 2007 Nazi-salute video.
The seven-second clip, filmed at a July 2008 family reunion on Savai‘i, shows Schmidt and relatives chanting “Heil Hitler.”
Schmidt called the gesture inappropriate, offensive, and not reflective of his beliefs, reaffirming rejection of Nazism and racism.
The apology arrives while his government maintains a ban on the Samoa Observer from press conferences.

1 / 2