Samoa’s Prime Minister apologises after a 2007 video shows him giving a Nazi salute and shouting “Heil Hitler”.
In a seven‑second clip recorded in July 2007, Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt led a dozen family members in a Nazi salute while shouting, “Raise your right hand, Heil Hitler!” The footage was taken at a private family reunion and was not intended for public broadcast.
In a post to Facebook, Schmidt said the words and gesture were inappropriate and “capable of causing offence and hurt.” He emphasised that the clip was private, rejected Nazism, antisemitism, racism and all forms of political extremism, and offered a formal apology.
The video first appeared in a Sunday story by the Samoa Observer, which noted that Schmidt, then deputy speaker of Parliament, was the master of ceremonies at the 2007 family reunion. The piece added that the video reflected his mixed Samoan and German heritage.
Samoa, a small island nation with roughly 221,000 residents, lies midway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It was a German colony in the early twentieth century until its control ended shortly after World War One.
Schmidt rose to politics as Samoa’s eighth prime minister in September 2025. During his swearing‑in, he wore a Jewish prayer shawl and publicly declared his support for Israel, stating that Samoa “stood with Israel” and that the country’s faith aligns with the “God of Israel.”
