The chief executive and co-owner of media company Axel Springer apologized Sunday for making crude remarks about “East Germans” in text messages leaked to a rival newspaper.
German weekly Die Zeit quoted Mathias Doepfner as saying that “the Ossis (a derogatory term for East Germans) are either communists or fascists.” The comments prompted sharp rebukes from officials in the east and calls for Doepfner to resign.
