[DEWBZ]

Originally Posted by Nutbutter ↗

An Indian clothing shop owner is pleading innocence this week after his store, called "Hitler," outraged residents and drew strong criticism from the area's Jewish community in Vastrapur.

The storefront bears the name Hitler, in large letters, with a swastika dotting the 'i' in "Hitler."

According to AFP, the outlet, which opened 10 days ago in the western state of Gujarat, sells Western men's wear.

Proprietor Rajesh Shah told The Times of India that he had no idea the moniker would be controversial. "Hitler was a nickname given to my business partner Manish Chandani's grandfather because of his strict nature," Shah said. "Frankly, till the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man.

Shah claimed he only found out the truth recently, after Googling the dictator's name.

Many in the community are not buying Shah's story, however. A Jewish shopper interviewed by The Times said, "The proprietors knew what the name meant and what Hitler stood for. They had researched well, right from the dress the dictator wore to his cufflinks. We had suggested a separate design, but the proprietors claimed that the name brings good business since its launch a week back."

A small group from a nearby synagogue also visited the shop in an attempt to convince the owner to change the name. Menasseh Solomon, secretary of the Magen Abraham Synagogue, told The Indian Express that the meeting was "friendly," but not necessarily fruitful.


"He (Rajesh) said his concept was never to hurt the community, and he feigned ignorance about Hitler... But after we left, we began to believe that he may have been aware about all this and was just pretending to be ignorant,” he added.

The Jewish population in India is small, but the Israeli delegation is taking the issue seriously, with Mumbai Consul General Orna Sagiv telling the AFP that the embassy would be looking to address the matter "in the strongest possible way."

Shah, who claims he spent 150,000 rupees ($2,700), on Hitler-themed advertising, said he would consider changing the name only if he is compensated for the money spent.

India has an interesting and complicated cultural relationship with the Hitler legacy. The Nazi Swastika symbol takes inspiration from a Hindu symbol commonly regarded as a sign of good luck. But this does not necessarily explain why, for example, Hitler's anti-Semitic manifesto "Mein Kampf" remains a bestseller in India, according to The Telegraph. Business students in particular are "happy to cite it as an inspiration," according to the paper, regarding it as model of management strategy and self-improvement.

Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly described the placement of the swastika in the sign. It dots the "i' in the word "Hitler," not in the word "dictator."

haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! "heritage, not hate"

[RangaRang]

Hahaha. There was a guy in India, a politician or representative, who was named something like Rajiv Adolfhitler Shankarsarma or something. Indians and their obsession with white skin.

[pyromancer555]

LoL Awesome.

[Vedderman]

People are whining fucking maggots. We have businesses named after all sorts of dictators, tyrants, killers, and warmongers from history. Nobody gives a shit. But as soon as the goddam Nazis get brought into it, heads asplode.

Imperial fucking Rome slaughtered, displaced, enslaved, tortured, and crucified FAR more people than Hitler could have dreamed of (including most of the Sweboz tribes who, 2300 years later, would go on to try and re-claim their ancestral homeland as the Third Reich) and you don't see people making a big fuss over eating at Little Caesar's. In fact, it is one of the top four pizza chains in the entire US.

Godfather's Pizza capitalizes on hundreds of years of brutal, violent crime for its marketing gimmick. Half the BBQ joints in the midwest use various western outlaws (or renegade lawmen) in their names or marketing. I've seen businesses named after variations on Ghengis Khan, Napoleon, the Tudors, the Kaiser, Attila the Hun, Queen Victoria, and plenty of others with ample bodycounts. But everyone is perfectly happy to ignore centuries of atrocity until someone mentions Hitler and then all bets are off. It really is annoyingly fucking predictable.

[Pyramid_Head]

This guy is seriously retarded to begin with. But to actually expect people to buy such a lame story.

[pyromancer555]

Its a massive double standard. It makes me sick really.

[dean mclean]

This seems looks like it could be some hipster outlet store in the US

[Faline]

The owner of a clothing shop in western India called "Hitler" has agreed to drop the Nazi dictator's name after protests from the Jewish community and the government.

The shop, which sells Western menswear, opened in Ahmadabad in western Gujarat last month with "Hitler" spelled out in large white letters, complete with a swastika as the dot on the "i".

Members of the tiny Jewish community in the city condemned the name, while a senior Israeli official raised the matter with the state government.

Co-owner Rajesh Shah said on Tuesday he had chosen the name in memory of his grandfather - a strict disciplinarian referred to by the family as "Hitler".

Mr Shah said he had received dozens of calls asking for him to rename the shop.

Israel's consul general in Mumbai also asked state officials to intervene.

Manish Chandani, another co-owner of the store, said: "I plan to change the store's name very soon.

"There is tremendous pressure from the government and the Jewish community to drop the name.

"I was not aware of Hitler being responsible for the killings of six million people before the shop's inauguration."

A Mumbai restaurant owner sparked outrage in 2006 after calling his cafe "Hitler's Cross" and using a swastika on the hoarding, claiming it was a "catchy" name.

He eventually agreed to change it after protests by the Israeli embassy, Germany and the US Anti-Defamation League.

[banana dick]

[Viking64]

I once opened a men's clothing store called "Charles Manson's". I don't see what the big deal is.