Hitler speech, Nazi slogans played on Austrian train's loudspeaker, two charged

Passengers on an Austrian train travelling from Bregenz to Vienna were surprised to hear a tape of an Adolf Hitler speechplayed over the railway's loudspeaker system onSunday (May 14).

Several passengers on the train reported hearing Nazi chants such as "Heil Hitler" and "Sieg heil" over the train's intercom.

Vienna Rabbi Schlomo Hofmeister, who was aboard the train, tweeted that he was "shocked" after hearing Hitler's speech and the locomotive's inability to come to a complete stop.

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“DISTURBING I felt above all, when some passengers began to laugh, when the voice of Hitler & the words “Sieg Heil!” boomed from the loudspeakers and the train didn’t provide any explanation or reassurance, but all this was ignored!,” Hofmeister wrote.

About 25 minutes before arriving in Vienna, in the town of St. Pölten, Hofmeister claimed it all started with "strange music, snippets of conversation, and laughter, which suddenly turned into a Hitler speech played louder and louder," the Rabbi told CNN on Monday.

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He initially believed it was a mistake, then a poor joke, and "suddenly he felt queasy" since it was unclear whether simply the public speaker system had been hijacked or the entire train. He said that some of the other passengers panicked, while others laughed at his discomfort.

“Someone has illegally opened the intercom with a duplicate key and played a Hitler speech over a loudspeaker,” a spokesperson for the rail operator ÖBB told CNN on Monday.

The incident has been reported to Austrian police, who are investigating, according to the spokeswoman.

The train's video surveillance revealed two persons who were reportedly engaged in the attack.

“It is absolutely clear that any abuse should be punished, especially the illegal use of Nazi symbols is absolutely unacceptable,” the spokesperson added.

Following the airing of Hitler's speech, Austrian upper house member David Stögmüller posted a video of himself expressing his surprise.

Stögmüller captured the final moments of Hitler's speech, with the Nazi shout "Sieg heil" audible in the background.

He said that a train attendant felt "completely helpless" after hearing "Sieg Heil" multiple times. He demanded "a report and quick clarification."

Journalist Colette Schmidt, who was also on the train, asked for an explanation in a tweet on Sunday. “Could you please enlighten us as to why an entire train” heard Hitler’s speech, she asked. “Including fervent Sieg Heil shouts? Have they been hacked? What’s going on?” she wrote.

“Quite apart from the fact that I and other Austrians were completely shocked: what does a guest from abroad think when Hitler speeches are played over loudspeakers in our trains? Supposedly it came from “the technology.”What?!,” Schmidt said in the tweet.

Schmidt told CNN that Hitler's speech was roughly 20 seconds long, followed by Nazi chants, and that the audiowas played on repeat.

The journalist described herself as "frightened" after hearing Hitler's speechon the train.

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