HITLER THEMED RESTAURANT OPENS IN INDIA
Reuters, Aug. 21:
MUMBAI, India – A new restaurant in Indiaâs financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the countryâs small Jewish community.
Hitlerâs 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.
âWe wanted to be different. This is one name that will stay in peopleâs minds,â? owner Punit Shablok told Reuters. âWe are not promoting Hitler. But we want to tell people we are different in the way he was different.â?
But Indiaâs remaining Jews â most migrated to Israel and the West over the years â say they are outraged by the gimmick.
âThis signifies a severe lack of awareness of the agony of millions of Jews caused by one man,â? said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, the communityâs umbrella organization.
âWe are going to stop this deification of Hitler,â? he said without elaborating.
The small restaurant, its interior done out in the Nazi colors of red, white and black, also has a lounge for smoking the Indian water pipe or âhookah.â?
Posters line the road leading up to it, featuring a red swastika carved in the name of the eatery. One slogan reads: âFrom Small Bites to Mega Joys.â?
A huge portrait of a stern-looking Füehrer greets visitors at the door. The cross in the restaurantâs name refers to the swastika that symbolized the Nazi regime.
âThis place is not about wars or crimes, but where people come to relax and enjoy a meal,â? said restaurant manager Fatima Kabani, adding that they were planning to turn the eateryâs name into a brand with more branches in Mumbai.
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.
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