Transit driver’s greeting to riders: ‘Sieg Heil’

Published 9:40 am Tuesday, October 28, 2008

VIENNA, Austria — Vienna’s public transit agency says it has suspended a tram driver after passengers complained that he gave them a Nazi-era greeting.

Wiener Linien, which operates the Austrian capital’s subway, bus and tram system, says it is investigating claims that the conductor greeted customers with a “Sieg Heil!” last weekend.

The agency said today it took action after a Jewish newspaper reported the alleged remarks.

Officials say the unidentified conductor reportedly used the Nazi-era greeting over the tram’s public address system.

Invoking Nazi symbols is a crime in Austria, which Adolf Hitler annexed before World War II.