Posting a photo of himself on social media looking like Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler was a bad joke that bombed on Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of the Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA).

Kathrin Oetel, spokeswoman of PEGIDA, clarified that the Hitler photo, showing him with a mustache and hair combed like the dictator, was a satire, while Bachmann, in his Facebook post, said, "One has to be able sometimes to make fun of oneself."

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German tabloid BILD also used the Hitler photo as its cover on Wednesday. The image, taken at a salon, was used for the satire audiobook "He's Back," was released in 2012 and became a bestseller with more than 75,000 copies sold as of January 2013.

However, what really prompted him to step down from his post was his use of derogatory language to describe refugees. Lutz said sorry for the use of terms like "cattle" and "filthy" to describe refugees.

While he made the derogatory remarks one month before the protest march of the group, Bachmann admits, "They were ill-considered comments that I wouldn't make in this way today," quotes Business Standard.

Oetel admits, though, that Bachmann's racist remarks didn't contribute to the credibility of PEGIDA.

Besides Hitler's image, Bachmann also posted the photo of a man in a Ku Klux Klan robe, accompanied by the caption, "Three K's a day keeps the minorities away," reports CNN.

Bachmann, who quit as chairman of PEGIDA following the public furor over his Fuhrer photo, had closed his Facebook account. However, that image as well as the Ku Klux Klan was saved by some social media users and continue to be shared this day.

With the aggression shown by extremist Islamic movement such as the al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris, PEGIDA held weekly anti-Islam demonstrations in Dresden City drawing big crowds.

Last week, about 25,000 people joined the rally. But PEGIDA cancelled the one scheduled on Monday after ISIS issued a fatwa against the group's organizers, and the police didn't issue them permit because they couldn't guarantee the security and safety of rally participants.

However, LEGIDA, an offshoot of PEGIDA, is organizing another anti-Islam rally in Leipzig expected to attract 30,000 to 60,000 people. The city's police will deploy up to 4,000 cops for that event.

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