Members of a conservative student group sing and dance to the Nazi song “Erika”

A conservative student group had to apologize after its members sang and danced to a Nazi song at an evening event.

Members of the Warwick University Conservative Association were seen dancing to ‘Erika’, a song composed in 1938 by Herms Niel, who served in the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, after a fundraiser for the charity Help for Heroes.

In leaked footage obtained by The Sunday Times, students can be seen dancing to music after the group’s annual “chairman’s dinner” at Wroxall Abbey, near Leamington Spa.

The song, which is associated with the far right because it was used as a marching song by the Nazis, was requested by a student at the event, the newspaper reported.

In the recordings of the dancers, someone can be heard saying: “Don’t film.”

The Sunday Times also claimed that some members later allegedly shouted “Kill the Hughs,” replacing the word “Jews” with the first name of the recently retired club chairman, Hugh Herring, and yelled, “Hail to the chairman.”

In a statement, the group said it “strongly condemns the behavior shown in this video and apologizes for any offense it may have caused.”

It continued: “We are committed to ensuring that anyone else who knowingly came into contact with the song is no longer welcome at events.”

The song “Erika” was used by white racists such as Thomas Sewell, the founder of the National Socialist Network.

“Reprehensible behavior”

A spokesman for Warwick University described the video as “disturbing.”

They added: “Such behavior is reprehensible and we are disappointed that our students are involved.”

The Union of Jewish Students and the Warwick Jewish Society told the Sunday Times: “The blatant and unchallenged support for Nazism at the Warwick Conservative Association’s ‘chairman’s dinner’ is absolutely abhorrent.

“The glorification of National Socialism has no place in our society and especially on campus.

“This is in no way acceptable and must be condemned across the board.

“We expect swift and decisive action from the University of Warwick and the Conservative Party. Actions must have consequences.”

At the beginning of the year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned of a rise in anti-Semitism and the “dark methods of neo-Nazis” in a speech commemorating the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp 79 years ago.

Scholz warned that although there were new reports about neo-Nazis, right-wing populists were also on the rise.