Norfolk man has row with fellow Nazi re-enactors | UK News

A man in the photo giving the Hitler salute says he has “severed all ties” with a World War II reenactment group he once led.

Jim Keeling, 54, caused controversy last year when he dressed up as a Waffen SS officer at a 1940s festival in Sheringham, Norfolk.

Photos also surfaced of him giving the Hitler salute in front of Hitler’s former home in Bavaria, Germany.

He denies being a Nazi sympathiser and says he is now shunned by members of the Eastern Front Living History Society (EFLHS), also known as the 5 Wiking (Viking) SS Division re-enactment group, because of “different views”.

The group has said it does not endorse Nazi ideology and will not tolerate “any form of political or religious persecution.”

The 1940s festival has also banned the wearing of Axis power uniforms following last year’s controversy.

Jim, from Bradwell, Norfolk, said: ‘I’ve had arguments with a lot of old friends from the group who have beliefs that I don’t agree with.

“I will not be attending the event and I cannot speak on behalf of the rest of the group as I no longer move in those circles.”

Last September, on the weekend of the 40s in Sheringham, the EFLHS were faced with angry local residents.

They caused a stir and outrage among bystanders, who said they walked in single file down the main street and fired salutes.

Jim also shared an anti-Semitic cartoon on his Instagram, showing a stereotypical Jewish figure wearing a yarmulke as a skullcap, stuffing Africa into a funnel with the EU logo and then squeezing it into Europe.

He claimed at the time that he was ridiculing the Nazi dictator by greeting him and that he did not share his views.

His interest in the Third Reich has alienated him from some of his family.

His eldest son, Jeremy, described the actions during the re-enactment as “disturbing” and called on organisers to ensure the scenes did not happen again this year.

The Eastern Front Living History Group has been contacted for comment.

The group previously claimed their performance at the Sheringham 1940s weekend had been misunderstood.

It was said that no controversy had arisen at previous events and that no form of political or religious persecution was tolerated.

It was said that it wanted to teach people more about history and that its presence was appreciated by many people in the city.

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