NY GOP House candidate honored Nazi grandfather in bizarre Veterans Day post: ‘I salute all who served’

An upstate New York congressional candidate honored his grandfather, who served in Nazi Germany’s military under Adolf Hitler, in a bizarre resurfaced Veterans Day post.

Republican State Sen. Peter Oberacker shared an image of his grandfather, Ludwig Oberacker, clad in a Nazi military uniform, including a German eagle clutching a swastika wreath in its talons and another swastika badge, in a Nov. 11, 2015, Facebook post that was first reported by Politico.

“I debated on whether to post this picture, my Grandfather [sic] Ludwig Oberacker who gave his life for his country, I salute all who served,” he captioned in the since-deleted post.

New York State Sen. Peter Oberacker once celebrated his Nazi grandfather. The New York State Senate

Oberacker, who served on the state Senate’s Republican antisemitism working group, told the outlet he posted the old photo to acknowledge “there were veterans of all conflicts.”

“Look, war sucks. Plain and simple, it really does. And to have my dad grow up without his father is just, you know, it really changed him,” the lawmaker, who is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. Josh Riley in the state’s 19th Congressional District, explained.

He looks at the picture differently now in light of mounting antisemitism, he said.

“Looking at it through the prism of today, totally different story. Having been on the antisemitism task force for the Senate Republicans, I would look at it a little bit differently now,” he admitted to the outlet.

Oberacker wrote: “I salute all who served” beneath a picture of his Nazi grandfather. Peter Orbacker

The local pol proposed legislation expanding the definition of harassment to include Nazi symbols in March 2024 after the Republican antisemitism working group unveiled a report.

But the photograph is not the first antisemitism controversy to touch Oberacker.

Bobby Walker, who was set to become Oberacker’s campaign manager, was exposed by Politico when Young Republicans leaders took part in group chat that praised Hitler, joked about rape and featured racial slurs.

Oberacker sacked Walker following the October 2025 bombshell report.

The House candidate said his grandfather was a grunt who was killed during the Battle of the Bulge and defended his military record.

“[He] didn’t have a choice, you got drafted and you served your country, and that was really basically it,” he said.

Oberacker did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.