A Brazilian history teacher has been forced to cover up the huge swastika on the bottom of his swimming pool after prosecutors started an investigation.
Wandercy Pugliesi’s admiration for the Nazis was first exposed back in 2014 when police carried out a search as part of a kidnapping case using a helicopter.
During the aerial search, officers spotted the symbol at the bottom of Pugliesi’s outdoor swimming pool in Pomerode, Brazil.
The snapshot shows how the pool, together with its surroundings, resembles the flag of Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich, which was in use from 1935 to 1945.
Pomerode, where the property is located, has been dubbed the “most German city in Brazil,” since the majority of its residents are of German descent. An estimated 90 percent are fluent in German or East Pomeranian, which is a Low German dialect.
At the time, the police decided not to take any action, as the swastika was on private land and the owner could not be accused of promoting Nazism.
However, the Brazilian Israelite Confederation complained about the lack of action and denounced Pugliesi, prompting the state’s public prosecutor to order him to either remove or alter the swastika, or face legal action.
The public prosecution has since confirmed it has closed the case after Pugliesi provided evidence that he altered the design, painting the gaps between its arms. It now resembles a square with a cross in the middle.
However, photos still show tiles around the swimming area depicting a row of swastikas, which Pugliesi presumably did not have to change, since they are joined together.
According to reports, Pugliesi had once put himself forward as a candidate for Pomerode’s council. However, the center-right Liberal Party, for which he was running, expelled him because of his Nazi swimming pool and his admiration for the Third Reich.
It was also revealed that Pugliesi’s admiration went beyond the symbol in his swimming pool. He also owned Nazi-themed photographs, paintings, books and T-shirts that were confiscated from his home in the 1990s.
He fought a legal battle to get them back, claiming he was not a Nazi apologist — despite naming his son Adolf — and that they were merely for study. The court subsequently dismissed that explanation.
