BOMBAY, India -- When Hitler's Cross restaurant opened four days ago in a Bombay suburb, local politicians and movie industry types were on hand to celebrate beneath the posters of the Nazi leader and swastikas.
The owner insisted then -- and still does -- that the name and theme of his new eatery is only meant to attract attention, even if it has outraged Bombay's Jewish community.
"It's really made people very upset that a person responsible for the massacre of 6 million Jews can be glorified," Elijah Jacob, one of the community's leaders, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
But owner Puneet Sablok has refused to back down, and apart from Bombay's 4,500 Jews, there's been little controversy in India, where Holocaust awareness is limited, Hitler is regarded as just another historical figure and swastikas are an ancient Hindu symbol, displayed all over to bring luck.
There are just 5,500 Jews in all of India.
"It's just to attract people. There is no intention to hurt anyone," said Sablok about his spacious restaurant, which serves pastries, pizza and salad in Navi Mumbai, a northern suburb of Bombay, which is also known as Mumbai.
Those objecting to the restaurant plan to ask the local government to force a name change, said Daniel Zonshine, Israel's consul general in Bombay.
"Instead of Hitler's name being an example of extreme evil, this is like giving legitimacy to Hitler. It's not right to advertise his name in public," Zonshine said.
But while India is ordinarily sensitive to causing religious offense -- recently taking action to bar "The Da Vinci Code" movie and cartoon drawings of the prophet Muhammad -- at least one local leader said the name Hitler didn't bother him.
"People are unnecessarily making this into an issue," said Sudhir Jadhav, a local ruling party leader. "We have no plans to protest outside the restaurant or ask him to change the name."
Diners were also quite happy eating in Hitler's Cross.
"Hitler was a bad man, but what's wrong with having food here?" said Ashwini Phadnis, 22, a microbiology student as she tucked away a piece of chocolate cake.
Engineering student Anand Dhillon sat with friends, sipping soft drinks. "I think the name is quite interesting. Tomorrow if someone keeps a name like Saddam Mutton Shop or George Bush Footwear, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?" he shrugged.
What the fuck could possibly go wrong in this restaurant?
- When you order a hamburger, they ask if you want that cooked Gypsy, Homo or Jewish.
- Mel Gibson has a regular table... within sight of the ovens.
- There is a sign over the entrance to the kitchen that says "Arbeit macht frei!"
- Parking Lots I and II are surrounded by double walls of electrified barb wire fencing.
- Trust me... you do not want to see the cooler.
- The restrooms are marked "Jüdische Jungen Scheiße!" (boys) and "Jüdische Mädchen Pipi!" (girls)
- "The Soup Nazi" takes on a whole new meaning in this place.
- They don't have a floor manager. They have a Gruppe Führer.
- Parties of 8 or more people have to take a shower together before being seated.
- The bar serves specialty shots called "Zyklon-B" that steam like dry ice when served and taste just a little bit sour.
- When you decide to leave, you have to tunnel out.
- Looking for the function room? Follow the train tracks.
16 comments:
WWJE?
IDK... I think I understand the owner's point of view,but honestly... I would predict something like this would've happen.
People are just fucked up and will do anything for fortune and glory.
Wow
good post, captain
this guy gets a big F
I posted a link to this a few days ago, perhaps our Indian contributers would like to shed some light on this? Auto C? YPG?
Also there are two ovens in the resturant, one says "pizza" the other "jews". Seriously though, this is like opening a slavery themed resturant in the US.
OMG they called that to the oven? eh eh is hilarious, I believe it could be humorous...
Remarkably tasteless.
For the record, I'm not Jewish. But I don't buy the "Holocaust awareness is limited in India" bullshit either. Despite the high level of poverty, India is a first-world nation with a generally high level of education (correct me if I'm wrong, AutoC and YPG). Certainly the owner of the establishment was aware of who Hitler was and what he means to history. I'll say it again: tasteless.
And the swastika may indeed be a familiar symbol in India and mean something totally different, as it is and does among Native American cultures here in the U.S. But that defense tends to be hollow, seeing how the swastika in question is being paired with Hitler's fucking NAME. Hard to hide behind differing cultural symbolism there.
It's one thing to laugh off Mel Gibson's stupidity. Hell, after the story hit I even called a Jewish friend of mine and jokingly asked her "what's up with you being responsible for all the wars in the world?" Her response was to laugh and basically call Mel Gibson an ignorant asshole. But Mel Gibson's stupid comments go away. This is a business establishment that's meant to stick around, and worse, attract customers.
Where is the shame here?
Obviously this guy is a complete idiot. Why else would he set himself up for such criticism. I have no respect for people who use others' misfortune, pain, or whatever for selfish personal gain. He's banking on some other freak to draw yet more attention to his ignorance and stupidity. At least Mel can now use the excuse that he was drunk to get out of his stupid mishaps.
What's there to shed light on?
It's completely obvious.
He's a sick bastard with a cheap sense of humour.
sorry for the late post, I had trouble remembering my pass ^_^;
Oh yeah, one more thing.
The 'local leaders' are mostly school drop outs who probably flunked 5th grade 20 times and have no respect for other cultures apart from their own. It really doesn't matter what they say. No one gives a damn about it except a bunch of derranged religious leaders and lepers who been given false promises.
Though some of the best brains in the world are from India, we DON'T have a high level of education.
About 75% of men are educated and only a petty 53-54% of women are educated.Oh yeah we are a third world country with the worlds 2nd largest population (1 billion+...i think)
You know what that means?
Yes, loads and loads of poor and uneducated people.
xP
Know what? I just read my comment again, and I think I was caught up in such an anti-Anti-Semitic rage that I didn't think about what I was saying.
As YPG pointed out, it's tough to be considered a first-world country when you have a poverty level as high as India's. But India is now a nuclear power, and I suppose I assumed that to be such a country would require a high level of education. I hate when I make dumbass assumptions in haste to make a point, so thanks for correcting me (seriously).
I still don't buy the Holocaust ignorance excuse, though, for all the reasons mentioned in my above comment. The guy's a douchebag.
I believe is worth to say that even if India is a 3rd world country, 75% men and 56% women study is not a bad thing at all.
In CA and SA the porcentage of education is about 45-50% and women have the 30% of those numbers, but the level of education for those are very high and surpasses US standards, to be 3rd world countries is not bad at all.
I am happy to report that the owner of this restaurant has decided to change the name adn sign after a meeting with the Jewish community.
oh yeah eh eh, sign or the Heaven's door will never open for you
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