JERUSALEM - A German musician, playing with a Berlin opera company on a tour of Israel, was sent home yesterday in disgrace and then sacked, after having signed his Tel Aviv hotel bar bill "Adolf Hitler", writes David Horovitz.
The double bass player, Mr Gerd Reinke (54), who has played with the German Opera Berlin for 20 years, apologised for his actions, saying he'd had too much to drink. He had drunk two beers and bought drinks for his fellow musicians at their hotel on Friday night, then signed the tab with the name of the former German dictator.
When the horrified barman asked him why he'd signed in that way, Mr Reinke told him it was "just a joke".
David Horovitz is managing editor of the Jerusalem Report