There is no good co-leader of the German Parliament’s most far-right party, the first of its kind to take power since the Nazis. But at least we, and the rest of the internet, can enjoy this picture of one walking home, naked and ashamed, after his clothes were stolen as he was taking a dip in a lake outside of Berlin.
Alexander Gauland, the pale man pictured here gazing down at the road, wet swim trunks attached to his buttocks, is a leader of the nationalist and virulently anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany. His list of accomplishments include recently downplaying the crimes of, uh, Nazi Germany, saying that “Hitler and the National Socialists are just bird shit in 1,000 years of successful German history.”
Gauland has also pushed for Germany’s very own Muslim ban, asserted that “not everyone who holds a German passport is German,” and called for a political rival to be “dumped” in Turkey where her ancestors were from. In his 2002 book, Anleitung zum Konservativsein (Instruction on Being Conservative), he complained about the waning importance of “German dominant culture” and the explosion of “fun society” in his home country.
The fun society has apparently come for Gauland, however. According to the sad naked man himself, the clothing thief and hero yelled, “Nazis need no bathing fun!” at him while stealing his clothes, a statement that is both potent and historically accurate.
Gauland also claimed that his keys were in the pocket of his pants and lamented that “the whole locking system of the house had to be changed.” Must be tough! As the German press debates whether it’s appropriate to share the photo of Gauland’s unexpected walk of shame, the person who stole his trunks is still very much at large.