Nazi flag flown in Hamtramck sparks outrage

Hamtramck — A flag with a Nazi symbol on it was flown outside of a Hamtramck home Friday, sparking outrage online and drawing condemnation from the city.

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib told The News on Saturday that while the city does not approve of such hateful behavior or acts it could not take action because the flag was on private property. The city also responded with a post on Facebook.

"While we recognize Constitutionally protected speech, we can not condone words and symbols intended to divide. Hamtramck is a tight-knit community full of diverse people from various cultures, backgrounds, and lived experiences," the post read.

"It is our hope that we come together as a city that appreciates diversity and rejects hate that makes that diversity unsustainable. In doing this, we can all make Hamtramck a better place to live."

Hamtramck officials did not identify the owner of the house on Doremus Street where the flag was flown. Attempts by the News to reach them were unsuccessful.

The flag featured a black swastika inside a white circle against a red backdrop with a cross. Similar to the flag of Nazi Germany that was adopted in the 1930s, the flag has been associated with antisemitism, the Holocaust and Adolf Hitler.

Nazi symbolism, including flags, is restricted in several countries, excluding the United States where displaying the flag is protected by the First Amendment.

Former Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski shared a photo of the flag on her Facebook page Friday morning and said people in the community were outraged. She said the flag was taken down by Friday evening.

"A flag like this flies in the face of everything that Hamtramck is supposed to stand for," Majewski said. "The Polish community here, of course, has its own unique historical experience with fascism and Nazism."

Hamtramck has been home to a Polish population since the early 1900s when immigrants began settling there. The Nazis defeated Poland in 1939 and began an occupation of the country during which many Polish citizens were forced into concentration camps, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

"Whether or not we're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, you know, no religion, that doesn't matter. That flag symbolizes the kind of, not just intolerance, but actual genocide that should shock anybody in any community," Majewski said.

A mostly Polish city throughout the 20th century, Hamtramck has since become home to many Middle Eastern and South Asian immigrants.

Majewski said the outrage and backlash from the community were heartening and she doesn't think a second incident is likely.

"It's kind of brought our attention, I think everyone's attention to the fact that this exists in our community," Majewski said. "If somebody owns a flag like that, they didn't pick it up at the dollar store. They went out of their way to get that flag and put it up and that's suggests to me that they were also expecting and prepared for a backlash."

hmackay@detroitnews.com