21 December, 2006

Hitler: Now More Than Ever

Posted by alex in Hitler at 7:59 am | Permanent Link

LETTER FROM KHARGHAR

Hitler the trendy tyrant

German dictator no pariah to some in India, the Tribune’s Kim Barker reportsBy Kim Barker
Tribune’s South Asia correspondent
Published December 21, 2006

KHARGHAR, India — When an Adolf Hitler-themed restaurant opened its doors in a suburb of cosmopolitan Mumbai in August, many were horrified. The restaurant, Hitlers’ Cross, changed its name a week later to Cross Cafe, but it is hardly the only example of how some Indians view Hitler and his legacy.

Hindu fundamentalist groups praise Hitler’s leadership skills. A college poll a few years ago showed he was perceived as an ideal leader. Books and videos of him are top sellers. Most patrons prefer to call Cross Cafe by its previous name. Plates and cups still bear the Hitlers’ Cross logo, with a Nazi swastika in place of the “O.”

“We call it `Hitler’ only,” said Ashish Anant, 18, an aeronautics college student who likes to come to the cafe with friends. “We say, `Let’s go to Hitler.’ It’s a trendy name. It’s different.”

It’s not clear why Hitler is popular in some circles. Some experts say it’s because of a belief that Indians were the original Aryan race. Others say it’s because Hitler used the traditional Hindu good-luck symbol of the swastika, rotating it slightly. Those who believe strongly in the caste system of India also may like Hitler’s eugenics and race beliefs.

Any praise for Hitler is not reflected in national policy. India has strong ties with Israel and views it as an ally in the war on terror. And Jewish and non-Jewish Indians were horrified by Hitlers’ Cross. Daniel Zohar Zonshine, the Israel consul general in Mumbai, looked visibly upset when talking about the portrayal of Hitler in India, especially Hitlers’ Cross. He said he thinks the owners wanted the free publicity that comes with such controversy.

Educating the public

The consulate has tried to educate Indians about Hitler, sending a Holocaust photograph exhibit and education materials last year to the western state of Gujarat, where government textbooks have praised Hitler. The Israeli Consulate will bring a Holocaust survivor and artist to Mumbai to talk to Indian audiences next month.

“It’s not an Israeli issue,” said Zonshine, adding that World War II was not ingrained in the DNA of India as it was in that of Europe or Israel. “It’s not a Jewish issue. It’s a humanitarian issue.”

Joshua Reuben, 29, who belongs to India’s small Jewish community, said he was offended by the restaurant but did not blame the owners.

“They probably haven’t thought about hurting anybody’s feelings,” he said.

Interviews with many young Indians indicated that they had little idea of what Hitler actually did and that it did not really matter. They described Hitler as “cool” or “trendy.” They did not know details of the Holocaust.

“I don’t know much,” admitted Puneet Sabhlok, 22, one of the co-founders of Hitlers’ Cross, which serves only one marginally German item, German chocolate cake.

“He was a dictator,” added co-founder Shakir Siddiqui, 27. “Gas chambers and all.”

Hitler is glorified in other ways. A poll of 400 students from the country’s most prestigious colleges by a leading Indian newspaper in 2002 found that Hitler was their third most requested ideal leader of India, behind independence leader Mahatma Gandhi and the country’s then-Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

A pizza and cake chain in New Delhi, A Slice of Italy, sells a cake called “one for the Hitler,” featuring Hitler’s face. Last year the cake was sold with a swastika on the cap and was described as a children’s cake over the phone. Last month there was no swastika.

“It’s not common, but it’s exciting, madam,” a worker at the pizza chain told one woman who asked about the cake in November. “Order it.”

`Hitler, the Supremo’

In Gujarat, textbooks have praised Hitler’s leadership abilities, fascism and the Nazi movement. Until recently, state social studies textbooks have featured chapters on “Hitler, the Supremo” and “Internal Achievements of Nazism.” The textbooks have been changed slightly this year but still barely mention the Holocaust.

This is the same state where Hindu-led riots led to the deaths of more than 1,000 Muslims in the spring of 2002. Several investigations blamed the state government, led by a Hindu-right political party, for permitting the riots.

Bal Thackeray, the founder of Shiv Sena, a Hindu fundamentalist party based in Mumbai, has openly praised Hitler and said he was willing to wipe out troublemaking Muslims. Shiv Sena’s secretary, Anil Desai, said Thackeray liked Hitler’s leadership abilities, not his attempts to exterminate the Jews.

Thackeray likes “the way Hitler pushed the things in his time,” Desai said.

Hitler’s autobiography, “Mein Kampf,” flies off the shelves of many bookstores. The Bandra branch of Crossword, a major bookstore chain in the Mumbai area, sells 35 copies a week.

At the Rhythm House in downtown Mumbai, one of the city’s oldest and most popular video stores, the documentary “Hitler a Career” is sold in the video section for children.

“Why are people buying it? Because they like him,” store clerk Maqbool Sayed said. “If it was up to me, I would hide these. I wouldn’t put them out at all.”

———-

[email protected]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612210073dec21,1,5005952.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed


  • 6 Responses to “Hitler: Now More Than Ever”

    1. Der Fuehrer Says:

      The “film” mentioned at the end “Hitler: A Career” is unmitigated trash by the sick mind of the producers and Joachim Fest. It makes me want to puke just thinking about it. They should contact some of the folks over here who offer much better material.

      And btw, isn’t it funny how we have to hear what the kikes (probably less than 3% in India too) have to say about the subject? Fuck the kikes and their holohoax lies.

      My guess is the real reason why they’re interested in Hitler is they’ve heard of Subhas Chandra Bose, which most AmeriKwans and I’m sure Indians haven’t either. http://ihr.org/jhr/v03/v03p407_Borra.html

    2. Jim Says:

      Subhas Chandra Bose, a man who was destined to lead India until his untimely death in an aviation ” accident ” while returning from a meeting with Hitler as I recall. I have good relations with some Indians I do business with and they love to talk about the Azad Hind and their youthful experiences in colonial India.

    3. jimbo Says:

      Der Führer ponders: “My guess is the real reason why they’re interested in Hitler is they’ve heard of Subhas Chandra Bose…..”

      one wonders if they’ve also heard of ‘Svatri Devi’: any-one reading her works couldn’t help but retain a favourable impression of Hitler!

      *wonder wot the ‘HollowHoax Denial’ laws are in India?*

      ….wotz NOT MENTIONED, of course, if that most of those viewing Hitler favourably are fairly young…..certainly: under 40, if not under 30: as such: they are un-doubtedly ‘computer literate’….thus: one also wonders how much, if any, ‘revisionist material’ they have accessed on the ‘web’
      (I think many Indians speak/read English too….some-one correct me on that IF i am wrong!) and, if so, whether or not they know that the ‘Holocaust’ is a damn-able lie AND that Hitler was a genuine ‘man of the people’….perhaps: comparable to ‘Gandhi’?…..AND: the most popular political leader of modern times IF NOT the most popular political leader of ALL TIME!

    4. March of the Titans Says:

      Kill The Jew!!!

      All jews Must Be Destroyed!!

      Hitler Was Right.

      :)

    5. Beast Says:

      Only a jew controlled media and all its Hitler bashing could keep him from being loved and adored as a hero to white people.

      India’s media is owned by Indians and they don’t give a damn what the people think of Hitler, or the damn jews who lie about him.

    6. AMERICAN NAZI PARTY Says:

      To read Hitler’s Mein Kampf as a FREE DOWNLOAD – please review the front page of our website http://www.americannaziparty.com