Bombay restaurateur to rename 'Hitler's Cross'

[sabra]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525938792&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Bombay restaurateur to rename 'Hitler's Cross'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

A restaurant named after Adolf Hitler that enraged Bombay's Jewish community will soon have a new monicker, its owner promised Thursday.

Puneet Sablok said he would remove Hitler's name and the Nazi swastika from billboards and the eatery's menu since it had angered so many people. He had previously said the name and symbols were only meant to attract attention.

"Yes, I have decided to change the name. I never wanted to hurt people's feelings," said Sablok, who made the decision after meeting with members from Bombay's small Jewish community. He did not say what the new name would be.

Hitler's Cross opened five days ago and serves pizza, salad and pastries in Navi Mumbai, a suburb of Bombay, also known as Mumbai.

[marmar]

1. Why would anyone EVER have thought that was OK?

Hitler is a universal symbol of hate. I don't think he would have been a big fan of Indian people either. Geez.

[LisaM]

2. I think it was a publicity stunt in the first place

I am sure they did not intend to keep the name. But they just got their new restaurant a ton of press.

It would have been better if people were horrified by the name, stayed away in droves, and the restaurant either closed up or re-named itself with no fuss and bother.

[Ian David]

8. Hitler said that Aryans and Indians both came from Atlantis.

That made Indians official Aryan Brothers to the Nazis.

Shit ya not!

[marmar]

9. "That made Indians official Aryan Brothers"

The mind of a psychopath.

[IntravenousDemilo]

12. I read somewhere that Gandhi was iffy on the subject of Hitler...

...not that he was a huge fan or anything, but he said some contradictory things to say about the "final solution".

Such as, “Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs… It would have aroused the world and the people of Germany… As it is they succumbed anyway in their millions.”

[MADem]

3. Well, the SWASTIKA predates Hitler by EONS...but unfortunately,

Hitler coopted it, and other cultures will never get it back. The name of the restaurant, though, makes the intent with regard to the symbol's meaning rather clear.

Interesting article on the swastika, here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4183467.stm

It has been around for thousands of years, particularly as a Hindu symbol in the holy texts, to mean luck, Brahma or samsara (rebirth). It can be clockwise or anti-clockwise and the way it points in all four directions suggests stability. Sometimes it features a dot between each arm.

Nowadays it is commonly seen in Indian artwork and current and ancient Hindu architecture, and in the ruins of the ancient city of Troy. It has also been used in Buddhism and Jainism, plus other Asian, European and Native American cultures.
The British author Rudyard Kipling, who was strongly influenced by Indian culture, had a swastika on the dust jackets of all his books until the rise of Nazism made this inappropriate. It was also a symbol used by the scouts in Britain, although it was taken off Robert Baden-Powell's 1922 Medal of Merit after complaints in the 1930s.

The Finnish Air Force also used it as its official symbol in World War II, and it still appears on medals, but it had no connection with the Nazi use.

It is rarely seen on its own in Western architecture, but a design of interlocking swastikas is part of the design of the floor of the cathedral of Amiens, France. ....

[htuttle]

4. New name: "Stalin's Moustache"

No good?

[AlCzervik]

6. "Pol Pot's pizza palace"?

[Turbineguy]

15. Bush's Brain

[PittPoliSci]

18. hahaha

:toast:

[Anakin Skywalker]

20. LOL! Funny.

[Ian David]

5. Now I won't open Nathuram Godse's Hindu Mahasabha Kosher Delicatessen

See:

Let's just open The Nathuram Godse's Hindu Mahasabha Kosher Delicatessen
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1969266&mesg_id=1969638

[Crankie Avalon]

7. Q: So what are you changing it to, Mr. Sablock? A: Hitler's Intersection.

[AndyA]

10. NO ONE in their right mind would EVER think naming a restaurant

in this manner wouldn't be offensive to many people. And not just to Jewish people, but also offensive to gay people, and those of us who have Jewish and gay friends that we love very much.

I think the owner was being partially honest, I do agree that he named it in this manner to attract attention, but I do not buy the statement that he never wanted to hurt people's feelings. Only a real moron would not realize this would be offensive and hurtful to many.

I'm glad to hear he's changing the name, and I hope he does well with the new name. I would never eat at a restaurant named after a man who did so much to harm humanity.

[Xeric]

11. Adolf Lu Hitler Marak

I think the problem might be that many Indians don't exactly know who Hitler was:

>From Wikipedia,

Adolf Lu Hitler Marak
Adolf Lu Hitler R. Marak (born April 20, 1948) is a politician in the state of Meghalaya, India.

A member of the Nationalist Congress Party, he was forest and environment minister in the government of E.K. Mawlong and then cooperation minister under F.A. Khonglam.

He lost his seat in the state assembly in the February 2003 elections.

On June 27, 2003, he was arrested on charges of maintaining links with the banned militant group Achik National Volunteers' Council <1>. He was released on bail about a month later.

It may be noted that his name is not particularly curious within Meghalaya, where other local politicians are named Lenin R. Marak, Stalin L. Nangmin, Frankenstein W. Momin, or Tony Curtis Lyngdoh. Hitler Marak told the Hindustan Times: "Maybe my parents liked the name and hence christened me Hitler ... I am happy with my name, although I don't have any dictatorial tendencies."

[MrPrax]

13. Probably right...

Hitler is a feature of western history...it's not like westerners take a lot of time to note the 'butchers' over on their side...

The name 'Ghandi' is not nearly as revered by Indians (Sikhs, Dalits, Muslims) as it is among western white liberals and some Hindu nationalists...same nonsense with the reverence of the cow; It was enforced to annoy Muslims who eat and process beef.

We tend to view the world as a big supermarket...we pick things from the shelves that WE like to eat and ignore everything else...so tempest in a teapot.

[orwell]

14. Sounds like...

...the White House dining room...

[davidinalameda]

16. pizza?

[OregonDem]

17. But where will republicans who visit India go to eat?

n/t

[quiet.american]

19. Why can't he just name it "Puneet's Pizza" and be done with it.

Sheesh. If the food's any good, he'll have good business. What a way to try to "attract attention."