Swastikas in pools, Holocaust deniers in schools: Brazil’s Nazis

On their way back from resolving a hostage situation after an attempted bank robbery in the early hours of December 2, 2014, police officers from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina spotted something that caught their attention while flying over the small town of Pomerode. In the backyard of a local mansion, they noticed a swimming pool decorated with a large swastika. Taken aback, the co-pilot took a picture of the odd piece of landscaping with his phone, photographs which went viral around the country.

But, for part of the 30,000 inhabitants of Pomerode, “the most German city in Brazil,” this was not news.

Many, in fact, didn’t see a problem in the swimming pool decoration, despite advocating for Nazism being a crime in Brazilian law. The owner of the swimming pool was a well-known figure in the region, history professor and Holocaust denier Wandercy Pugliesi, who was notorious for exalting Brazil’s military dictatorship and praising the legacy of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany. And in November, Mr. Pugliesi will be running for city council.

Surprisingly, Mr. Pugliesi’s bid for council is not the only link between Nazism and Santa Catarina politics making the news this week.

Parachuted in as interim state governor while incumbent Carlos Moisés faces an impeachment process, Daniela Reinehr met the press for the first time in her new role this week. While expecting some perfunctory lowball questions, potentially about Mr. Moisés, the stand-in governor was taken aback by a question about her father.

“In your introduction, you thanked your family. Your father, while working as a history teacher, preached Holocaust denial in classrooms, using books from a...