Hitler Themed Restaurant Opens in India

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Hitler Themed Restaurant Opens in India

Postby thurnandtaxis » Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:42 pm

<!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/2653/42002710hitlerscross203bdc5.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6434/42002704hitlerposter220breutersyy1.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>A nausea inducing news item illustrating how commercial capitalism turns history into pop culture, eating itself without irony or indigestion.<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DHWXWVNMNOPWYCRBAEKSFEY?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=13246340">go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=DHWXWVNMNOPWYCRBAEKSFEY?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=13246340</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><br><br>It's Like If "The Producers" Opened An Eatery<br>Mon Aug 21, 2006 08:43 AM <br>By Krittivas Mukherjee<br><br>MUMBAI (Reuters) - A new restaurant in India's financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country's small Jewish community.<br><br>'Hitler's Cross', which opened last week, serves up a wide range of continental fare and a big helping of controversy, thanks to a name the owners say they chose to stand out among hundreds of Mumbai eateries.<br><br>"We wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in people's minds," owner Punit Shablok told Reuters.<br><br>"We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different."<br><br>But India's remaining Jews -- most migrated to Israel and the West over the years -- say they are outraged by the gimmick.<br><br>"This signifies a severe lack of awareness of the agony of millions of Jews caused by one man," said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, the community's umbrella organization.<br><br>"We are going to stop this deification of Hitler," he said without elaborating.<br><br>The small restaurant, its interior done out in the Nazi colors of red, white and black, also has a lounge for smoking the exotic Indian water pipe or "hookah."<br><br>Posters line the road leading up to it, featuring a red swastika carved in the name of the eatery. One slogan reads: "From Small Bites to Mega Joys."<br><br>A huge portrait of a stern-looking Fuehrer greets visitors at the door. The cross in the restaurant's name refers to the swastika that symbolized the Nazi regime.<br><br>"This place is not about wars or crimes, but where people come to relax and enjoy a meal," said restaurant manager Fatima Kabani, adding that they were planning to turn the eatery's name into a brand with more branches in Mumbai.<br><br>The swastika has its roots in ancient Indian Hindu tradition and remains a sacred symbol for Hindus. Nazi theorists appropriated it to bolster their central hypothesis of the Aryan origins of the German people. <br><br><br><!--EZCODE HR START--><hr /><!--EZCODE HR END--><br><br>"We are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different."<br><br>WTF does that mean?!? <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Hitler Themed Restaurant Opens in India

Postby orz » Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:00 pm

Haha incredible!!<br><br>I remember reading a William Gibson novel in which a 'California Reich' cafe is described in Tokyo... suprised this hasn't happened there first... after all Japan is probably the only country where you could walk around dressed as hitler and noone would bat an eyelid. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Gee, maybe it was a bad idea...

Postby thurnandtaxis » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:17 pm

'Hitler' Restaurant to Change Name<br>Thu Aug 24, 9:54 AM ET<br><br>BOMBAY, India - The owner of a restaurant named after Adolf Hitler said Thursday he will change its name because it angered so many people.<br><br><br>Puneet Sablok said he would remove Hitler's name and the Nazi swastika from billboards and the menu. He had said the restaurant's name — "Hitler's Cross" — and symbols were only meant to attract attention.<br><br>Sablok made the decision after meeting with members of Bombay's small Jewish community.<br><br>"Once they told me how upset they were with the name, I decided to change it," he said. "I don't want to do business by hurting people."<br><br>Sablok said he had not yet decided on a new name.<br><br>Hitler's Cross opened five days ago and serves pizza, salad and pastries in Navi Mumbai, a suburb of Bombay, also known as Mumbai.<br><br>On Thursday, Bombay's Jewish community welcomed Sablok's decision to rename his restaurant.<br><br>"He realized he made a mistake and listened to reason," said Elijah Jacob, a community leader. "Some people have wrong conceptions of history and he realized it was not appropriate."<br><br>Bombay's Jews had called the theme of the restaurant offensive and demanded a name change. There are about 5,500 Jews in India, with about 4,500 of them living in Bombay.<br><br>"I never wanted to hurt people's feelings," said Sablok.<br><br>Some Indians regard Hitler as just another historical figure and have little knowledge about the Holocaust, in which 6 million European Jews were systematically killed during World War II.<br><br>The swastika symbol, which was appropriated by the Nazis, was originally an ancient Hindu symbol and it is displayed all over India to bring luck.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060824/ap_on_fe_st/hitler_eatery">news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060...ler_eatery</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Gee, maybe it was a bad idea...

Postby Ike Broflovski » Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:27 pm

Very strange.<br><br>Has there been an uptick in Nazi symbols in Asia? This is the second anecdote like this I've heard in recent months.<br><br>Some friends went to Thailand earlier this summer. They saw Hitler trinkets in the market and a truck driving around professionally painted in red and black with swastikas, etc. I'm not sure if it was advertising or what. I was in Thailand two years ago and saw no sign of Nazi symbols.<br><br>Has anyone else noticed anything like this? Is this a trend? <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Gee, maybe it was a bad idea...

Postby orz » Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:50 pm

No idea about thailand but certainly in Japan hillariously inappropriate use of nazi stuff is fairly common... I saw a perfectly normal looking young lady in a post office there, whose handbag sported a pattern of swastikas, SS logos, anarchy 'A' signs and cartoon bombs! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :eek --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif ALT=":eek"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>I guess between having been on their side in WWII, having a seperate tradition of swasticas in religion, and being a very isolated nation with a lot of right wing types still holding some power, the symbol just isn't that shocking there. <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Gee, maybe it was a bad idea...

Postby Sepka » Fri Aug 25, 2006 12:38 am

If the guy had any real idea who Hitler was or what he stood for, then he's obviously an asshole to have named a restaurant after him. At the same time, I wish people would get over Hitler. The man's been worm food for sixty years. He's not going to jump back up out of the grave because someone spoke the Dread Name. It's ironic that the very people who hate Hitler worst have built this supernatural aura around him that keeps his memory and ideas alive and powerful.<br> <p>-Sepka the Space Weasel</p><i></i>
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