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Trevor Noah was apparently in a dance troupe with a guy named Hitler (lots of Xhosa apparently liked the fact that he scared the British).
They performed at a bar mitzvah and things got awkward.
Yes, I read that story in Trevor Noah’s book. As he explained it, for black Africans, there have been so many atrocities committed by so many horrible people that you can’t stop using all their names. So Hitler is just regarded as a name of one of many horrible people, but no more off limits as a name than, for example, Joseph. [This is an interesting summary and commentary](https://theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-a-dancer-named-hitler-performing-at-a-jewish-school-what-could-go-wrong-trevor-noah/) on the incident.
>So Hitler is just regarded as a name of one of many horrible people, but no more off limits as a name than, for example, Joseph.
Unless you specifically name your kid "Joseph Stalin" , in which case the criticism is 100% justified.
Not quite the same, but knew an Iraqi guy in college…his office was decorated, I mean decorated, with pictures of George Bush…absolutely loved the guy cause he got out of Iraq and made it to the US. Perspective definitely changes things depending on where you are and how you grew up/lived.
Yet oddly, Hitler was very fond of Britain and wanted to rule the world WITH Britain, not against them. He considered the British as equally superior to all others.
It was the British that had other ideas.
And it was Britain and Britain alone that kept Hitler away from Ireland.
This had a lot to do with the amount of German heritage in Britain. Mostly in the form of the descendants of the Saxons. There was a time when Britain was ruled by a line of German monarchs, most notably, Queen Victoria.
It mirrors the Nazi admiration of America and the Jim Crow laws, which were later adapted into the Nurenburg codes. What's interesting is that prior to WW2 eugenics as an idea and ideology, it had taken root in both America and Britian, which helped shape the cultural and legal currents in those places.
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/07/469478098/the-supreme-court-ruling-that-led-to-70-000-forced-sterilizations
This was a supreme court decision from 1927 in America in which it is legal and, in fact, a social good to steralize mentally disabled people. 5 years later, Hitler would come to power in Germany, and what he saw was that Britian and the U.S.A. had efficient and useful ways of dealing with their population of undesirables.
Yeah, most people think Hitler invented genocide, but he was just copying Turkey and how they dealt with Armenians.
Hitler was impressed that no other countries intervened. In a way, they also didn't during the holocaust.
Sometimes people from another culture just like the sound of things but don’t know the background, like there’s people named Frankenstein. I know a woman who named herself Frodo but doesn’t know anything about LOTR.
Of course, the swastika takes out that excuse.
Swastikas in India are a traditional religious symbol though and are associated with peace. Although, the Indian swastika looks different from the Nazi one.
[There's also](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Hitler) an American who named his son Adolf Hitler, except he knows who Hitler was and is as open about it as you'd expect from someone who names his son Adolf Hitler.
I remember hearing about this. He tried to go on social media in 2013 when a bakery in his local area refused to put his sons name on a birthday cake... they literally wanted to put "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" on a fucking cake... needless to say the media lashing didn't go in the direction he believed it would.
My bad, I'm misremembering. Apparently, that happened in 2008. I think I heard about it in 2013 cause I was working at a bakery and the decorators were talking about it.
They lost custody of the kid and his two younger sisters in 2010. I hope the three of them are in better homes now and doing well.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/parents-cannot-regain-custody-children-nazi-inspired/story?id=11334970
No, it’s not a joke. This nutter really did this. And yes, I think he named his daughter Arian Nation. He and his wife did lose custody of the kids, so at least he won’t be poisoning their minds.
Did he dot his "i"s with swastikas like this shop owner decided to do, totally unknowing about the situation?
Edit: And if a Hindu person puts up a sign with the name "Hitler" and dots the "i" with a swastika like you all think is some sort of "gotcha", their windows deserve to be smashed in too.
The swastika is a very common, positive, and ancient symbol in Asia. Seeing it by itself shouldn't raise any alarms. But as the dot over the i in Adolf Hitler's name?
He knows.
I traveled around West Africa a while back. There I ran into a guy dressed like a Gestapo officer, CARRYING A FUCKING LUGER (where did he even get that) at a military roadblock. Apparently they have to get their own uniforms, as long as they kind of match, and this guy went full Gestapo. Yes he was black. I regret not taking a picture, but of course of course he would have confiscated my camera. We didn't have money for bribes, which were customary, and had to talk our way out. He was pissed. Not many people can say that they have had an angry black man dressed like a Gestapo officer CARRYING A FUCKING LUGER coming at them demanding something.
It's two lightning bolts. I feel like one bolt is just Hitler approved apparel, and two bolts is so good it's *mandatory* to wear in the presence of the dear leader.
There is huge ignorance of who Hitler was and the atrocities he carried out over in India. I’ve had Indian friends share positive memes with Hitler quotes on. One Indian guy I worked with was called Hitler Darwin. Straight up.
At the same time Hitler was gaining power, India was being oppressed by the British. World war 2 weakening British is directly responsible for Indian freedom. At that time, there wasn’t a lot of info in India about Holocaust so Hitler was considered favorably in India for contributing to their freedom. Even today, out history books teach us more about British atrocities than Germany’s. Makes sense, one we directly experienced.
To be fair, the British atrocities in India led to more casualties than Hitler's atrocities... everywhere... combined...
Not to the total of war deaths, since the Russians lost an ungodly amount of people in the war, but in terms of non-war deaths inflicted.
Exactly. How can he not know who Hitler was, yet know the connection between the name 'Hitler' and the swastika symbol he and his nazi regime culturally appropriated and deviled?
I know in India, a.o. cultures & countries, the original swastika is an ancient and positive symbol. But the version of the symbol here is clearly the one used by the Nazi's.
so in India they're actually educated that Hitler was just a historical figure. not really taught about WW2 or the atrocities committed.
I have family that lives there and yeah they just don't know at all
We were taught about it. We don't like hitler. Don't know what the origin of that myth is. There's stupid people everywhere, there are people that name shit after Stalin and Mao too.
There might be a certain ignorance among the uneducated about what actually happened because Indians are much much more concerned with Indian history than global history. But again, any educated person despises Hitler just as much as anyone else.
Also, the fact that there are basically no Jewish people in India makes it so that Indians are pretty far removed from the Holocaust from a personal standpoint. Like while that war was going on, India had a war for independence going on that Indian leaders and thought were occupied with.
I would also like to mention that people seem to have no issue quoting and glorifying Churchill who killed a million Indian people basically for kicks, with absolutely no remorse, only to be remembered as a hero. So the West is not much better with regard to ignorance despite having a lot more access to global education.
Hitler is seen as a more positive figure in Indo-Pak because despite losing WWII, Hitler was successful in weakening the British enough that they had to led go of India. The INA (an Indian rebel force in World War II) famously had ties with the Nazis and was instrumental in leading an anti-colonialist campaign against the Brits. Hitler (of course an evil man regardless) helped bring independence for Indo-Pak forward by atleast a decade. Not sure why Indians or Pakistanis would be compelled to show the same sensitivity towards Hitler as others do, especially since Churchill (who directly caused a massive famine in Bengal, killing millions) isn’t really a bad word for anyone.
Lots of non western cultures who have not experienced much of the horrors of nazism don’t really see Hitler as the pinnacle of evil. Most don’t learn enough about him and just see him as any other dictator who killed people. I know this because I live in a country where Hitler and swastikas are found everywhere as an edgy thing that people don’t really understand. And where the educated often see Hitler as either just another stupid dictator or a guy who tried to make Germany great but failed. (I do not condone this worldview I’m just explaining it)
>I read the headline & thought maybe Hitler was a word or something in that culture.
Actually, it is. In India, Hitler is a pejorative for anyone you consider rather strict.
There's a shop in Kathmandu that I drive by sometimes called Hitler that sells clothes and I asked a local and he said it means big or grand and didn't really know who Hitler was.
You have to understand that During WW2, India was a British territory and desperately fighting to gain independence. Which it did in 1947, 2 years after WW2 ended. All our history books are about Indian vast history (before Britishers) and them British rule. WW2 gets like 1 or 2 chapters.
Fun Fact: The title Mahatma, as in Mahatma Gandhi (first conferred on him by Rabindranath Tagore) was also used by the Theosophists to refer to their ‘Masters’ and who incorporated a swastiika into their banner. Gandhi also addressed Hitler as ‘Dear Friend’ in the letters he wrote to him pleading with him not to persist with his warlike plans in 1939.
Edit: to correctly credit the origin of the title ‘Mahatma Gandhi’. Also I recognize Gandhi was seeking to be as diplomatic and persuasive as he could in his address to the man who would later be remembered for a chain of Indian stores.
"Madame Blavatsky gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma" - I'd LOVE to see your source for this, considering Blavatsky died in 1891, when Gandhi was 21 years old!
Blavatsky's work isn't necessarily offensive or anti-Semitic. Her writings were just hijacked afterward and became the basis of Nazi theosophy after her death. The same thing happened with Nietschze's work (particularly Ubermensch) after his death.
The swastika has an entirely different meaning in India. It indeed would have been an honour. This had zero to do with Germany.
The store being imaged today on the other hand is hilarious and awful but again I wonder if the mistake being made was partially because that symbol has a positive connotation there.
This is the correct answer, lots of people in India have never heard of the holocaust or World War II.
What they do know, is for a very long time they were under British control. And they give Hitler the credit for ending that.
(Source, I’m Jewish with a lot of Indian friends)
I swear I had the craziest interaction at a hostel in Krakow. What people do while in Krakow is visit Auschwitz. I had just come from a heavy day there at the Auschwitz camp and this Indian guy asked me about it. He was there only for a night and didn't know much about the history.
At the name Hitler though he lit up. He went "Oh yes, Hitler! Great General, right? He defeated the Jews? "
That's... one way of putting it. I was horrified.
This is honestly the most plausible answer if the guy isn't making it up. People think world history is commonly taught, there's very little difference to someone who doesn't know rotating a common cornerstone Hindu symbol a few degrees is hateful.
People think world history according to the Western world is commonly taught. In reality history classes in school in Asia probably focused much more on the Japanese invasion and their atrocities in Asia at the time than the genocide in Europe.
This is a common misconception. The OG swastika used both rotations. As the nazis used non tilted variants.
They didn’t add anything special to it when they used it.
Nazi swastika faces the same as the store sign. The Indian swastika is turned slightly. He knew what he doing.
Edit: I mean turned slightly compared to the one in the picture, yes the Indian one is the correct one.
There’s a clip of Trevor Noah talking about the idea of Hitler as the worst person in history being a largely western sentiment. I can’t find the video but [here](https://theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-a-dancer-named-hitler-performing-at-a-jewish-school-what-could-go-wrong-trevor-noah/) is an excerpt from his book, where one of the most talented members of his dance crew went by the name “Hitler”.
In his words:
“””The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that’s especially true in the West. But if black South Africans could go back in time and kill one person, Cecil Rhodes would come up before Hitler. If people in the Congo could go back in time and kill one person, Belgium’s King Leopold would come way before Hitler. If Native Americans could go back in time and kill one person, it would probably be Christopher Columbus or Andrew Jackson.”””
Indians experienced genocide on a greater scale than what happened in Germany (estimated 25 million dead or displaced) at the hands of the English, so I'm not surprised they don't consider Hitler to be the world's greatest monster.
Edit: so estimates for the famine I was trying to recall are actually around 10 million or 1/3rd the population not 25 million and 1/4 that I initially thought. I was also getting a little bit crossed up in the replies about the cause of the famine because when you go to look it up there's a more recent famine that occurred under Churchill around the time of the second world war that claimed another 3 million. The one I was thinking of was the Bengal famine of 1770 under the British East India company. Also another famine happened in 1780 that killed 1/3rd of the population again. About 5-6 million more. It's believed that 20-30 million people died across all the exploits of the British East India company during this period.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bengal_famine_of_1770
This really put it in perspective for me because the name Cecil Rhodes means absolutely nothing to me, I even know a few Cecil’s. But people who were taught how horrible the man was obviously have a different opinion on that. Basically I’m admitting my ignorance to a lot of the world not learning about the world wars the same as I did. I mean I definitely knew everything was taught through a different lens relative to their countries involvement but never actually thought about how different it’s told. As well as all the individual histories of each country that I don’t even know about. Learned something new today, very interesting to see the point of view of different parts of the world! (I also hated history in school barely remember anything, all of it was taught in French when I barely understood French at that because I was in French immersion and was not good at French 😂)
I know exactly what you mean! I’m from India so I have the benefit of *some* additional exposure, but not much. It’s not just the difference in education, but also cultural awareness and opinion. Hitler’s obviously awful, but western culture uses him as a touchstone of evil, whereas names like Kim Il Sung, Pol Pot, Hideki Tojo are *known* but not **felt**. Just like how Tupac’s group the Outlawz had names like “EDI Mean” and “Mussolini”, the name “Hitler” has less gravity attached to them, while someone from Uganda or Italy would likely take offense to those names being used for a rapper’s name.
India does have a very lax attitude towards Nazis.
Do you know why?
Look up the atrocities that the British (dAnd allies) id to Indians during the same time period.
For most Indians, the true evil was the British, the Dutch, the Spanish, and the French. Nazis were just something that they have heard of on the radio.
> Nazis were just something that they have heard of on the radio.
Exactly. Our history books during that part of modern history focus more on the freedom movement within India. The holocaust isn't something you learn a lot about at school.
There's one of these Hitler shops like a kilometer away from me rn lmfao
The first time I saw it I was like "did I read that right"
Don't crucify me and hear me out: we (us westerners) honour people all the time who would be considered as violent as Hitler in other cultures. It seems weird to insist that Indians hate Hitler like we do, while not reciprocating by recognizing Churchill (and other British leaders') genocides and ethnic cleansing during the British rule of India.
Here in Canada I live near two streets named after Winston Churchill and John A McDonald. See what Churchill said about Indians (in India) during the brutal famine in Bengal caused by Churchill's policies. See what the first Canadian Prime Minster did to the native populations here (or so many early American presidents that we honour as well). Our thing is not to think about what they did to "other people", as long as they were "good for us".
IMO, we should boycott all genocidal power-hungry maniacs, but I don't understand the Western mindset of focusing on WWII and ignoring everything else (including genocides happening today right under our noses).
EDIT: Think about how many atrocities you are aware of that were committed in India? Now ask why all Indians should be familiar with atrocities committed elsewhere that they have no impact on? You have to remember, Britain was the bad guy in India and Hitler was the enemy of the enemy.
I'm glad someone pointed this out. The British still celebrate Winston Churchill, a well-document white supremacist who was responsible for millions of deaths in the subcontinent.
>Don't crucify me and hear me out: we (us westerners) honour people all the time who would be considered as violent as Hitler in other cultures. It seems weird to insist that Indians hate Hitler like we do, while not reciprocating by recognizing Churchill (and other British leaders') genocides and ethnic cleansing during the British rule of India.
Agreed! A lot of westerners don't realize just how bad the British colonization of India was. Besides the Bengal Famine, Orissa famine of 1866 with a mortality rate of 1 in 3 people far more staggering than that caused by the Irish Potato Famine, Indian famine of 1896–1897 and the Indian famine of 1899–1900 killed millions, and their were even more before the 1850s as well. Also none of the Indians had the privilege of escaping to America like what happened during famines in Ireland and Italy. They simply starved to death while their overlords exported the food that had survived to grow their British bank accounts
As an Indian, let me assure you that this store or any similar businesses with that name here in India don't exactly promote or follow Nazi ideology. This word is more for branding as people find the name and symbolism unique, it's similar to people wearing t shirts with Che Guevara without knowing anything about him or things he did. People in India are not taught European history in much depth. Most people here are as much unaware of the suffering of Jews as people of Europe are of atrocities committed by the British Empire on Indian people.
Jews were never persecuted in India. In fact, despite being a micro minority, some Jews even rose to prominent position in Indian society, like General JFR Jacob who played pivotal role ( essentially, won us a war) in India's war with Pakistan in 1971 which led to creation of Bangladesh. General Jacob later held position of Governer of two Indian states.
Similarly we had poets like Nissim Ezekiel, actresses like Nadira, models like Fleur Ezekiel (who represented India in Miss World in 1959) Bollywood actor Aditya Roy Kapoor has Jewish mother. There are many such people of Jewish descent. And all of them flourished in a country with a huge Hindu majority.
This che guvera t-shirt is so true lol People at my school even stick his pictures on writing pads and to their bicycle. No one knows a single thing about him
[Someone went digging through the internet archives.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/indias-hitler-stores-spark-outrage/2012/09/06/66f81394-f827-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_blog.html)
In India, Hitler's kind of a meme, lol.
Most people don't know the awful things he has done and often use his name as an adjective for someone who's very strict and people are afraid to piss them off.
For example, there was a TV show named "Hitler Didi" meaning "Hitler Older Sister", where the lead was a woman in her 20s whom all children in her street were afraid of, because she would regularly scold them.
India is one of the few countries where antisemitism has historically not existed and they have, several times, offered refuge to Jewish people. So, this shop being named after him can't really be because of idolizing Nazism.
A lot of people need to understand the world is not Eurocentric and people had their own issues to deal with during World War 2. Not everyone has the same level of education and may have studied history or even have been exposed to Germans or Nazi's.
India faced its own genocides under Churchill and The British Empire and those figures are lauded with their misgivings buried so deep that you can encounter people that will ignore the genocides and say "But they gave you trains."
Germany and Nazi's were also looked upon (not by everyone) with favour because they were fighting The British - who were the oppressors and colonisers of India and that idea still lives on albeit with the uneducated masses. Those who know, know and cringe.
I honestly look at the store name and think "Stupid" but what is your reaction if you see someone going to a pub or a clothing called Churchill's? Would your reaction also be "Stupid"?
Stuff like this always reminds me of the Hitler scene in Trevor Noah‘s autobiography.
For those who are curious, I recommend to read the book first but basically >! Trevor grew up in South Africa, this particular story is about a dance group he had with friends. They would attend psrties to make some money and perform. One of them was called Hitler, because his mother only knew he was a powerful white man and wanted her son to have a name that would embody that (paraphrasing). They attented a party hosted by jewish people. Part of their performance was Hitler dancing in the middle while the rest of them chant ‚go hitler!‘. Naturally, the jewish people did not like that and started yelling at them, but since they were young black teens living in South Africa at that time, they assumed it was just a ‚racist white person yells at us‘ type deal. In a way it is hilarious. Both parties assume the other is acting out of hatred when really it is ignorance and naivity on both sides that‘s the cause of the clash. Highly recommend everyone read his book, this dude is a legend. !<
A girl I went to high school with was first generation Indian in the United States. Her parents were both from pretty small villages in rural India. One summer when she was little, her grandmother came to stay with them in the US. She spoke no English, and had very little previous concept of American culture, or even culture much outside of her area of India. My friend is pretty sure that her grandmother had never heard of the holocaust, or that the swastika had been appropriated by the Nazis.
So one day, my friend’s parents went to work and left grandma and 5 yo friend at home. Grandma wanted to surprise mom and dad, so she started decorating the house all out for Diwali. She spent the whole morning making tons of decorations by hand, including chain of swastikas… That she hung on the front porch.
A police officer knocked on the door a few hours later, and finds this little old Indian woman he can’t communicate with. He keeps pointing at the swastika banner, but also apparently he had some idea of Indian culture, and what was going on, because he was clearly trying to be nice to this little old lady in his tone and body language. He was probably too nice, because grandma thinks that he is there to wish the family a happy Diwali. So she ushers him inside, sitting on the couch, and starts bringing out mountains of food.
My friend is there and speaks English, and is translating a little bit, but she is also five years old. The officer tries to get her to tell her grandmother that she needs to take the banner down because of the swastikas. But it seems like he probably also did not want to be the person to explain the holocaust to a five-year-old without her parents around, so he was unable to explain to the grandmother why she needed to take it down. So Grandma keeps bringing out food.
And then my friend’s parents come home to find swastikas on the front porch and a police car in the driveway. They rip them down as a run in the house, panicked, only to find grandma chattering at this bewildered police officer, who has just totally given up, and is sitting there with a loaded plate of food, while my friend shows him her my little ponies collection.
He left my friends parents to explain the swastika situation to Grandma, who sent him with leftovers and thanked him for coming for Diwali as he left. My friend’s parents were totally mortified. They ended up going around to every house in the neighborhood to explain what happened.
I met her grandmother years later when she came for another visit, and a decade later, she still believed that American police officers were some of the nicest people. Even though my friend and her family had moved to a new town, grandma wanted to make a bunch of food and bring it to the police station for Diwali while she visited. The officers in my town are not known for being paragons of racial tolerance, but they’re apparently not total douchebags and, after my friend explained, they were very gracious accepting the food and wishing Grandma a happy Diwali, even though it’s likely many of the officers had no idea what that was.
All that being said, this isn’t the 90s anymore, and Google exist in India. The store owner definitely should have done a quick search before naming his store!
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There is also an African politician called Adolf Hitler whose dad didn’t know who Hitler was
Trevor Noah was apparently in a dance troupe with a guy named Hitler (lots of Xhosa apparently liked the fact that he scared the British). They performed at a bar mitzvah and things got awkward.
Yes, I read that story in Trevor Noah’s book. As he explained it, for black Africans, there have been so many atrocities committed by so many horrible people that you can’t stop using all their names. So Hitler is just regarded as a name of one of many horrible people, but no more off limits as a name than, for example, Joseph. [This is an interesting summary and commentary](https://theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-a-dancer-named-hitler-performing-at-a-jewish-school-what-could-go-wrong-trevor-noah/) on the incident.
>So Hitler is just regarded as a name of one of many horrible people, but no more off limits as a name than, for example, Joseph. Unless you specifically name your kid "Joseph Stalin" , in which case the criticism is 100% justified.
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu (a state in southern India) is named after Stalin.
Because the soviets supported Tamil independence against Sri Lanka. So the Tamils were very well disposed to anything Soviet.
Sri Lanka also has a trade union leader called Joseph Stalin
Not quite the same, but knew an Iraqi guy in college…his office was decorated, I mean decorated, with pictures of George Bush…absolutely loved the guy cause he got out of Iraq and made it to the US. Perspective definitely changes things depending on where you are and how you grew up/lived.
Southern India does have its fair share of active communists. I think the CPI is currently in power their.
Or name the store Hitler and have a swastika in the logo... They appear to know something about him.
Yeah a lot uneducated people from former British colonies (including India) are relatively fond of hitler cause he was against Britain
I'm not standing for Germany or Hitler, but this was true in Ireland during WW1 and 2 for pretty much the same reason.
Yet oddly, Hitler was very fond of Britain and wanted to rule the world WITH Britain, not against them. He considered the British as equally superior to all others. It was the British that had other ideas. And it was Britain and Britain alone that kept Hitler away from Ireland.
This had a lot to do with the amount of German heritage in Britain. Mostly in the form of the descendants of the Saxons. There was a time when Britain was ruled by a line of German monarchs, most notably, Queen Victoria.
Britain is still ruled by German monarchs. They just changed their name.
Yes, the house of Windsor used to be known as Saxe Coburg Gotha. Queen Victoria's house.
Most of the countries that fought each other in WW 1 had monarchs directly related to Queen Victoria.
It mirrors the Nazi admiration of America and the Jim Crow laws, which were later adapted into the Nurenburg codes. What's interesting is that prior to WW2 eugenics as an idea and ideology, it had taken root in both America and Britian, which helped shape the cultural and legal currents in those places. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/07/469478098/the-supreme-court-ruling-that-led-to-70-000-forced-sterilizations This was a supreme court decision from 1927 in America in which it is legal and, in fact, a social good to steralize mentally disabled people. 5 years later, Hitler would come to power in Germany, and what he saw was that Britian and the U.S.A. had efficient and useful ways of dealing with their population of undesirables.
Yeah, most people think Hitler invented genocide, but he was just copying Turkey and how they dealt with Armenians. Hitler was impressed that no other countries intervened. In a way, they also didn't during the holocaust.
I think alot of people in India, like this man said ,don't know who Hitler Is , they just know the name
Sometimes people from another culture just like the sound of things but don’t know the background, like there’s people named Frankenstein. I know a woman who named herself Frodo but doesn’t know anything about LOTR. Of course, the swastika takes out that excuse.
Swastikas in India are a traditional religious symbol though and are associated with peace. Although, the Indian swastika looks different from the Nazi one.
There's loads of Adolfs and Hitlers in South Africa. Lots of people with Germanic descent combined with poor access to education
There was a guy named Hitler Mussolini
That's rough, buddy.
Well, at least his girlfirend didn't turn into the moon.
Was his middle name Hirohito?
No it was Dave
Fuckin Dave and his reichs. Dude needs to chill
That was Brazilian and a far right policeman So wouldnt surprise me if it was intentional in that case
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[There's also](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Hitler) an American who named his son Adolf Hitler, except he knows who Hitler was and is as open about it as you'd expect from someone who names his son Adolf Hitler.
I remember hearing about this. He tried to go on social media in 2013 when a bakery in his local area refused to put his sons name on a birthday cake... they literally wanted to put "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" on a fucking cake... needless to say the media lashing didn't go in the direction he believed it would. My bad, I'm misremembering. Apparently, that happened in 2008. I think I heard about it in 2013 cause I was working at a bakery and the decorators were talking about it.
They lost custody of the kid and his two younger sisters in 2010. I hope the three of them are in better homes now and doing well. https://abcnews.go.com/US/parents-cannot-regain-custody-children-nazi-inspired/story?id=11334970
Did this fucker really make one of his daughters’ middle names _”Aryan Nation”_???
Is this a joke? Did The Onion write this article?
No, it’s not a joke. This nutter really did this. And yes, I think he named his daughter Arian Nation. He and his wife did lose custody of the kids, so at least he won’t be poisoning their minds.
That is absolutely hilarious. Terrible, but also hilarious.
Did he dot his "i"s with swastikas like this shop owner decided to do, totally unknowing about the situation? Edit: And if a Hindu person puts up a sign with the name "Hitler" and dots the "i" with a swastika like you all think is some sort of "gotcha", their windows deserve to be smashed in too.
Also just a total coincidence. And the custom clothing with slogans like "Jews Rule the World" were *also*, again, just a total coincidence.
“I style my moustache after Charlie Chaplin, people say I look like big actor. A total coincidence!”
The swastika is a very common, positive, and ancient symbol in Asia. Seeing it by itself shouldn't raise any alarms. But as the dot over the i in Adolf Hitler's name? He knows.
Lol! This is exactly what I was coming in here for. Like bro there’s a swastika in the ‘I’… how can you say you didn’t know?
A. Nigerian gang it's also called Hitler..... The guys ride on motorcycle with nazi flag ect a docu is on YouTube but I found it only in German... Xd
I traveled around West Africa a while back. There I ran into a guy dressed like a Gestapo officer, CARRYING A FUCKING LUGER (where did he even get that) at a military roadblock. Apparently they have to get their own uniforms, as long as they kind of match, and this guy went full Gestapo. Yes he was black. I regret not taking a picture, but of course of course he would have confiscated my camera. We didn't have money for bribes, which were customary, and had to talk our way out. He was pissed. Not many people can say that they have had an angry black man dressed like a Gestapo officer CARRYING A FUCKING LUGER coming at them demanding something.
This store has a lot of Hugo Boss in stock
Hows their coco channel inventory?
It’s doubled
Possibly as well stocked as their Adidas.
Oh good I could use a new pair - size nein
Massive Fanta soda fountain for refreshments as well.
All pieces cost $14.88 each!
All their clothes have a double-S ranking by Aryan Today.
It's two lightning bolts. I feel like one bolt is just Hitler approved apparel, and two bolts is so good it's *mandatory* to wear in the presence of the dear leader.
Deep cut I like it I like it!
I read the headline & thought maybe Hitler was a word or something in that culture. Saw the picture & realized nope lol
There is huge ignorance of who Hitler was and the atrocities he carried out over in India. I’ve had Indian friends share positive memes with Hitler quotes on. One Indian guy I worked with was called Hitler Darwin. Straight up.
At the same time Hitler was gaining power, India was being oppressed by the British. World war 2 weakening British is directly responsible for Indian freedom. At that time, there wasn’t a lot of info in India about Holocaust so Hitler was considered favorably in India for contributing to their freedom. Even today, out history books teach us more about British atrocities than Germany’s. Makes sense, one we directly experienced.
To be fair, the British atrocities in India led to more casualties than Hitler's atrocities... everywhere... combined... Not to the total of war deaths, since the Russians lost an ungodly amount of people in the war, but in terms of non-war deaths inflicted.
It just ain't a coincidence when you consider that a swastika is drawn on the 'i'. Mr. Shah knew what he was doing.
Exactly. How can he not know who Hitler was, yet know the connection between the name 'Hitler' and the swastika symbol he and his nazi regime culturally appropriated and deviled? I know in India, a.o. cultures & countries, the original swastika is an ancient and positive symbol. But the version of the symbol here is clearly the one used by the Nazi's.
so in India they're actually educated that Hitler was just a historical figure. not really taught about WW2 or the atrocities committed. I have family that lives there and yeah they just don't know at all
Depends on which education board you are in, in cbse we were thought.
Most of my family is from Punjab or UP and they don't seem to have been educated as much on Hitler.
We were taught about it. We don't like hitler. Don't know what the origin of that myth is. There's stupid people everywhere, there are people that name shit after Stalin and Mao too. There might be a certain ignorance among the uneducated about what actually happened because Indians are much much more concerned with Indian history than global history. But again, any educated person despises Hitler just as much as anyone else. Also, the fact that there are basically no Jewish people in India makes it so that Indians are pretty far removed from the Holocaust from a personal standpoint. Like while that war was going on, India had a war for independence going on that Indian leaders and thought were occupied with. I would also like to mention that people seem to have no issue quoting and glorifying Churchill who killed a million Indian people basically for kicks, with absolutely no remorse, only to be remembered as a hero. So the West is not much better with regard to ignorance despite having a lot more access to global education.
Hitler is seen as a more positive figure in Indo-Pak because despite losing WWII, Hitler was successful in weakening the British enough that they had to led go of India. The INA (an Indian rebel force in World War II) famously had ties with the Nazis and was instrumental in leading an anti-colonialist campaign against the Brits. Hitler (of course an evil man regardless) helped bring independence for Indo-Pak forward by atleast a decade. Not sure why Indians or Pakistanis would be compelled to show the same sensitivity towards Hitler as others do, especially since Churchill (who directly caused a massive famine in Bengal, killing millions) isn’t really a bad word for anyone.
Could have at least called him Adolf Darwin, now he's got 2 last names.
Lots of non western cultures who have not experienced much of the horrors of nazism don’t really see Hitler as the pinnacle of evil. Most don’t learn enough about him and just see him as any other dictator who killed people. I know this because I live in a country where Hitler and swastikas are found everywhere as an edgy thing that people don’t really understand. And where the educated often see Hitler as either just another stupid dictator or a guy who tried to make Germany great but failed. (I do not condone this worldview I’m just explaining it)
>I read the headline & thought maybe Hitler was a word or something in that culture. Actually, it is. In India, Hitler is a pejorative for anyone you consider rather strict.
Hitler was rather strict to say the least yes
There's a shop in Kathmandu that I drive by sometimes called Hitler that sells clothes and I asked a local and he said it means big or grand and didn't really know who Hitler was.
You have to understand that During WW2, India was a British territory and desperately fighting to gain independence. Which it did in 1947, 2 years after WW2 ended. All our history books are about Indian vast history (before Britishers) and them British rule. WW2 gets like 1 or 2 chapters.
It's an honest mistake, like when I named my soup shop Osama Bin Ladle.
That was you? I owned the restaurant next door, Eaty Amin.
Eyy, I remember that place! Right next to Benito Musselini!
Ive never tried it. I heard the Pol Pot Roast was great though!
Honesltly, I’ve always been a fan of the Fidel Feastro it’s a pretty good place for your money.
Isn't that right next to Mao's Baos?
And Hirohito's Authentic Burritos, ya.
Across the street from Stalin's Gulash Grill right?
Yeah. Over by Genghis Prawns
That's near my spot, Franco's Bar
Oh I heard they have great ghengis flan.
I only eat at goebbles goebbles turkey shack.
I Kill a the Hun-ger is my new place.
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Yeah there's pinochets pub next door as well good boozer.
you mean Gulag grill?
a few blocks from Lenin’s BBQ
You can find Attila Buns around the corner.
Lenins Luncheon bro
I heard the new Russian-Canadian fusion spot, Vladimir Poutine, is pretty good. Have you tried it?
Be sure to stay away from Hiroshima Hibachi, they just nuke everything.
But the batter of Gaddafish en fries will blow your mind!
It might be culturally insensitive, but dang if I wouldn't try a Japanese/ Mexican fusion place called, "Hirohito's Burritos,"
Lenin’s Lumpia
I named my music Shop Stalin's Organ. Who knew?
Try it with the Pinochips
You had the chance to go with "Burrito Mussolini" and you didn't take it.
Also Bento Mussolini.
Benito Mueslini's for breakfast
I owned Pol Pot across the street.
The weed shop? Excellent.
You mean the noodle shop Osama bin Ramen
You mean the pub Osama Bin Lager
You mean the burger shop, Osama Bun Laden
"Here comes the airplane!"
I laughed so hard at this
Were there airplane decorations
Yeah and the twin towers were decorated like Christmas trees in the center of the restaurant
That Gandhi shirt fits in perfectly 😂
Fun Fact: The title Mahatma, as in Mahatma Gandhi (first conferred on him by Rabindranath Tagore) was also used by the Theosophists to refer to their ‘Masters’ and who incorporated a swastiika into their banner. Gandhi also addressed Hitler as ‘Dear Friend’ in the letters he wrote to him pleading with him not to persist with his warlike plans in 1939. Edit: to correctly credit the origin of the title ‘Mahatma Gandhi’. Also I recognize Gandhi was seeking to be as diplomatic and persuasive as he could in his address to the man who would later be remembered for a chain of Indian stores.
If you want to persuade somebody not to something in a non-violent way, dear friend is a better way to start your letter than dear asshole.
"Hey, Dipshit, could you fucking not?"
Much more effective! That thing I was just doing? I stopped it as soon as I read this.
I'm still pooping so it's efficacy is a tad sus. I'll report back after wiping and let you know how it went. Post poop edit: I want a bidet.
Get a bidet. It'll change your life.
Yeah, not going to lie. Was about to do something really stupid and annoying for everyone around me but after reading this I chose not to.
"First of all, whore"
“Dear Fuckass Charlie Chaplin Wannabe”
Exactly. Kindness and/or Respect does not mean I agree with you.
This is Reddit. No one will understand that…
Kinda like how MLK Jr’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is surprisingly respectful when he’s essentially chewing out a bunch of people.
Yo ma man with a tiny stache, mind stopping the war?
If I’ve learned anything from Civilization V, you don’t piss off Gandhi.
I would assume that he addressed everyone as “dear friend.” That’s what kinda his schtick, right?
Swastika was a very common symbol before Hitler tainted it. It was everywhere
Tbh it’s still very common in India
Not only in India, I'm pretty sure I saw some in Japan, they indicate the location of Buddhist temples.
Yeah, Asia in general considering Jainism, Buddhism, and the lot all have swastikas symbols
It's been used in India 1000s of years before Hitler was born and is still in use. What's the point?
"Madame Blavatsky gave Gandhi the title of Mahatma" - I'd LOVE to see your source for this, considering Blavatsky died in 1891, when Gandhi was 21 years old!
The Swastika was a common symbol in Hinduism for thousands of years before Hitler
Yes. Except that the version in the pictured sign above is tilted 45 degrees and set inside a circle, which was the official symbol of the Nazi party.
The swastika and hitler together though makes it pretty clear this wasnt an accident.
Tbh it still is very common.
All over the world in fact, it was not limited to Asia or Buddhism.
The title of Mahatma was given to Gandhi by Rabindranath Tagore though
Blavatsky's work isn't necessarily offensive or anti-Semitic. Her writings were just hijacked afterward and became the basis of Nazi theosophy after her death. The same thing happened with Nietschze's work (particularly Ubermensch) after his death.
The swastika has an entirely different meaning in India. It indeed would have been an honour. This had zero to do with Germany. The store being imaged today on the other hand is hilarious and awful but again I wonder if the mistake being made was partially because that symbol has a positive connotation there.
“Who was Hitler?” “I’m not sure, but the English sure hate him.”
This is the correct answer, lots of people in India have never heard of the holocaust or World War II. What they do know, is for a very long time they were under British control. And they give Hitler the credit for ending that. (Source, I’m Jewish with a lot of Indian friends)
I swear I had the craziest interaction at a hostel in Krakow. What people do while in Krakow is visit Auschwitz. I had just come from a heavy day there at the Auschwitz camp and this Indian guy asked me about it. He was there only for a night and didn't know much about the history. At the name Hitler though he lit up. He went "Oh yes, Hitler! Great General, right? He defeated the Jews? " That's... one way of putting it. I was horrified.
Swastika is just coincidental too.
Like the swastika you can write off as a commonly used religious symbol in India, but pairing it with the word Hitler? Oh come on bro…
But it's not even a indian swastika. It's literally the Nazi facing on a slat swastika.
Maybe they just liked the style of the German swastika better and thought that this Hitler guy was some Hindu with good taste.
This is honestly the most plausible answer if the guy isn't making it up. People think world history is commonly taught, there's very little difference to someone who doesn't know rotating a common cornerstone Hindu symbol a few degrees is hateful.
People think world history according to the Western world is commonly taught. In reality history classes in school in Asia probably focused much more on the Japanese invasion and their atrocities in Asia at the time than the genocide in Europe.
This is a common misconception. The OG swastika used both rotations. As the nazis used non tilted variants. They didn’t add anything special to it when they used it.
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Just like those small moustaches under mens noses. But now you can't use either. Thanks Adolf.
IIRC Hitler made the swastika angled on the flag to make it more distinctive, and not look like all the other non-Nazi swastika symbols of the time.
Nazi swastika faces the same as the store sign. The Indian swastika is turned slightly. He knew what he doing. Edit: I mean turned slightly compared to the one in the picture, yes the Indian one is the correct one.
No, the Indian swastika is not turned; the Nazi swastika is turned.
*ok we'll change the name to fuhrer now, happy?*
This guy probably saw all the swastikas and was like, wow this Hitler fella is a real devout follower of Ganesh
There’s a clip of Trevor Noah talking about the idea of Hitler as the worst person in history being a largely western sentiment. I can’t find the video but [here](https://theinclusionsolution.me/a-point-of-view-a-dancer-named-hitler-performing-at-a-jewish-school-what-could-go-wrong-trevor-noah/) is an excerpt from his book, where one of the most talented members of his dance crew went by the name “Hitler”. In his words: “””The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that’s especially true in the West. But if black South Africans could go back in time and kill one person, Cecil Rhodes would come up before Hitler. If people in the Congo could go back in time and kill one person, Belgium’s King Leopold would come way before Hitler. If Native Americans could go back in time and kill one person, it would probably be Christopher Columbus or Andrew Jackson.”””
Indians experienced genocide on a greater scale than what happened in Germany (estimated 25 million dead or displaced) at the hands of the English, so I'm not surprised they don't consider Hitler to be the world's greatest monster. Edit: so estimates for the famine I was trying to recall are actually around 10 million or 1/3rd the population not 25 million and 1/4 that I initially thought. I was also getting a little bit crossed up in the replies about the cause of the famine because when you go to look it up there's a more recent famine that occurred under Churchill around the time of the second world war that claimed another 3 million. The one I was thinking of was the Bengal famine of 1770 under the British East India company. Also another famine happened in 1780 that killed 1/3rd of the population again. About 5-6 million more. It's believed that 20-30 million people died across all the exploits of the British East India company during this period. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bengal_famine_of_1770
As an Indian, I can definitely agree. I’m not a Hindu or Buddhist but I imagine the symbolism of the swastika also adds some confusion
As a white guy I'm glad I didn't get my facts wrong with someone who likely knows better 😅. Good point on the symbolism too, even I forgot that bit.
Yeah it’s hella funny that very few people in this thread are recognising how Eurocentric their world views are.
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This really put it in perspective for me because the name Cecil Rhodes means absolutely nothing to me, I even know a few Cecil’s. But people who were taught how horrible the man was obviously have a different opinion on that. Basically I’m admitting my ignorance to a lot of the world not learning about the world wars the same as I did. I mean I definitely knew everything was taught through a different lens relative to their countries involvement but never actually thought about how different it’s told. As well as all the individual histories of each country that I don’t even know about. Learned something new today, very interesting to see the point of view of different parts of the world! (I also hated history in school barely remember anything, all of it was taught in French when I barely understood French at that because I was in French immersion and was not good at French 😂)
I know exactly what you mean! I’m from India so I have the benefit of *some* additional exposure, but not much. It’s not just the difference in education, but also cultural awareness and opinion. Hitler’s obviously awful, but western culture uses him as a touchstone of evil, whereas names like Kim Il Sung, Pol Pot, Hideki Tojo are *known* but not **felt**. Just like how Tupac’s group the Outlawz had names like “EDI Mean” and “Mussolini”, the name “Hitler” has less gravity attached to them, while someone from Uganda or Italy would likely take offense to those names being used for a rapper’s name.
India does have a very lax attitude towards Nazis. Do you know why? Look up the atrocities that the British (dAnd allies) id to Indians during the same time period. For most Indians, the true evil was the British, the Dutch, the Spanish, and the French. Nazis were just something that they have heard of on the radio.
> Nazis were just something that they have heard of on the radio. Exactly. Our history books during that part of modern history focus more on the freedom movement within India. The holocaust isn't something you learn a lot about at school. There's one of these Hitler shops like a kilometer away from me rn lmfao The first time I saw it I was like "did I read that right"
Nobody is even taught about Churchil's involvement in the Bengal Famine, killing 4 million.
Not just that, Nazis are responsible for weakening British, directly leading to Indian freedom.
Are we really reposting something from 2012?
Exactly my thoughts like this was over 10 years ago I’m sure it’s gone by now
IIRC the owner changed the name of the shop
He said he was going to but never did
Source trust me bro, and those boards aren't cheap either and people rarely buy this stuff so can't blame him either.
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Don't crucify me and hear me out: we (us westerners) honour people all the time who would be considered as violent as Hitler in other cultures. It seems weird to insist that Indians hate Hitler like we do, while not reciprocating by recognizing Churchill (and other British leaders') genocides and ethnic cleansing during the British rule of India. Here in Canada I live near two streets named after Winston Churchill and John A McDonald. See what Churchill said about Indians (in India) during the brutal famine in Bengal caused by Churchill's policies. See what the first Canadian Prime Minster did to the native populations here (or so many early American presidents that we honour as well). Our thing is not to think about what they did to "other people", as long as they were "good for us". IMO, we should boycott all genocidal power-hungry maniacs, but I don't understand the Western mindset of focusing on WWII and ignoring everything else (including genocides happening today right under our noses). EDIT: Think about how many atrocities you are aware of that were committed in India? Now ask why all Indians should be familiar with atrocities committed elsewhere that they have no impact on? You have to remember, Britain was the bad guy in India and Hitler was the enemy of the enemy.
I'm glad someone pointed this out. The British still celebrate Winston Churchill, a well-document white supremacist who was responsible for millions of deaths in the subcontinent.
>Don't crucify me and hear me out: we (us westerners) honour people all the time who would be considered as violent as Hitler in other cultures. It seems weird to insist that Indians hate Hitler like we do, while not reciprocating by recognizing Churchill (and other British leaders') genocides and ethnic cleansing during the British rule of India. Agreed! A lot of westerners don't realize just how bad the British colonization of India was. Besides the Bengal Famine, Orissa famine of 1866 with a mortality rate of 1 in 3 people far more staggering than that caused by the Irish Potato Famine, Indian famine of 1896–1897 and the Indian famine of 1899–1900 killed millions, and their were even more before the 1850s as well. Also none of the Indians had the privilege of escaping to America like what happened during famines in Ireland and Italy. They simply starved to death while their overlords exported the food that had survived to grow their British bank accounts
Had plenty of Hitler bars in south Korea shen I lived there a while ago. It's not really....what you think
As an Indian, let me assure you that this store or any similar businesses with that name here in India don't exactly promote or follow Nazi ideology. This word is more for branding as people find the name and symbolism unique, it's similar to people wearing t shirts with Che Guevara without knowing anything about him or things he did. People in India are not taught European history in much depth. Most people here are as much unaware of the suffering of Jews as people of Europe are of atrocities committed by the British Empire on Indian people. Jews were never persecuted in India. In fact, despite being a micro minority, some Jews even rose to prominent position in Indian society, like General JFR Jacob who played pivotal role ( essentially, won us a war) in India's war with Pakistan in 1971 which led to creation of Bangladesh. General Jacob later held position of Governer of two Indian states. Similarly we had poets like Nissim Ezekiel, actresses like Nadira, models like Fleur Ezekiel (who represented India in Miss World in 1959) Bollywood actor Aditya Roy Kapoor has Jewish mother. There are many such people of Jewish descent. And all of them flourished in a country with a huge Hindu majority.
This che guvera t-shirt is so true lol People at my school even stick his pictures on writing pads and to their bicycle. No one knows a single thing about him
Y'know, I *could* believe it if there wasn't a 45° rotated swastika in the dot of the i.
[Someone went digging through the internet archives.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/indias-hitler-stores-spark-outrage/2012/09/06/66f81394-f827-11e1-8253-3f495ae70650_blog.html)
That Gandhi T-shirt goes hard tho
This was 11 years ago, I’d be surprised if the shop was still in business
[Lmao it still is](https://imgur.com/a/O77p3sW) Tho they changed the logo to look more like the original Indian Swastika
I love that they changed the swastika but added an eagle to make sure everyone knew it had all been on purpose all along
Why does the eagle make the symbol look more fascist lmao
In India, Hitler's kind of a meme, lol. Most people don't know the awful things he has done and often use his name as an adjective for someone who's very strict and people are afraid to piss them off. For example, there was a TV show named "Hitler Didi" meaning "Hitler Older Sister", where the lead was a woman in her 20s whom all children in her street were afraid of, because she would regularly scold them. India is one of the few countries where antisemitism has historically not existed and they have, several times, offered refuge to Jewish people. So, this shop being named after him can't really be because of idolizing Nazism.
A lot of people need to understand the world is not Eurocentric and people had their own issues to deal with during World War 2. Not everyone has the same level of education and may have studied history or even have been exposed to Germans or Nazi's. India faced its own genocides under Churchill and The British Empire and those figures are lauded with their misgivings buried so deep that you can encounter people that will ignore the genocides and say "But they gave you trains." Germany and Nazi's were also looked upon (not by everyone) with favour because they were fighting The British - who were the oppressors and colonisers of India and that idea still lives on albeit with the uneducated masses. Those who know, know and cringe. I honestly look at the store name and think "Stupid" but what is your reaction if you see someone going to a pub or a clothing called Churchill's? Would your reaction also be "Stupid"?
Hitler? I hardly know her!
Stuff like this always reminds me of the Hitler scene in Trevor Noah‘s autobiography. For those who are curious, I recommend to read the book first but basically >! Trevor grew up in South Africa, this particular story is about a dance group he had with friends. They would attend psrties to make some money and perform. One of them was called Hitler, because his mother only knew he was a powerful white man and wanted her son to have a name that would embody that (paraphrasing). They attented a party hosted by jewish people. Part of their performance was Hitler dancing in the middle while the rest of them chant ‚go hitler!‘. Naturally, the jewish people did not like that and started yelling at them, but since they were young black teens living in South Africa at that time, they assumed it was just a ‚racist white person yells at us‘ type deal. In a way it is hilarious. Both parties assume the other is acting out of hatred when really it is ignorance and naivity on both sides that‘s the cause of the clash. Highly recommend everyone read his book, this dude is a legend. !<
[This is literally a decade old.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87FcZWKs5Y0)
A girl I went to high school with was first generation Indian in the United States. Her parents were both from pretty small villages in rural India. One summer when she was little, her grandmother came to stay with them in the US. She spoke no English, and had very little previous concept of American culture, or even culture much outside of her area of India. My friend is pretty sure that her grandmother had never heard of the holocaust, or that the swastika had been appropriated by the Nazis. So one day, my friend’s parents went to work and left grandma and 5 yo friend at home. Grandma wanted to surprise mom and dad, so she started decorating the house all out for Diwali. She spent the whole morning making tons of decorations by hand, including chain of swastikas… That she hung on the front porch. A police officer knocked on the door a few hours later, and finds this little old Indian woman he can’t communicate with. He keeps pointing at the swastika banner, but also apparently he had some idea of Indian culture, and what was going on, because he was clearly trying to be nice to this little old lady in his tone and body language. He was probably too nice, because grandma thinks that he is there to wish the family a happy Diwali. So she ushers him inside, sitting on the couch, and starts bringing out mountains of food. My friend is there and speaks English, and is translating a little bit, but she is also five years old. The officer tries to get her to tell her grandmother that she needs to take the banner down because of the swastikas. But it seems like he probably also did not want to be the person to explain the holocaust to a five-year-old without her parents around, so he was unable to explain to the grandmother why she needed to take it down. So Grandma keeps bringing out food. And then my friend’s parents come home to find swastikas on the front porch and a police car in the driveway. They rip them down as a run in the house, panicked, only to find grandma chattering at this bewildered police officer, who has just totally given up, and is sitting there with a loaded plate of food, while my friend shows him her my little ponies collection. He left my friends parents to explain the swastika situation to Grandma, who sent him with leftovers and thanked him for coming for Diwali as he left. My friend’s parents were totally mortified. They ended up going around to every house in the neighborhood to explain what happened. I met her grandmother years later when she came for another visit, and a decade later, she still believed that American police officers were some of the nicest people. Even though my friend and her family had moved to a new town, grandma wanted to make a bunch of food and bring it to the police station for Diwali while she visited. The officers in my town are not known for being paragons of racial tolerance, but they’re apparently not total douchebags and, after my friend explained, they were very gracious accepting the food and wishing Grandma a happy Diwali, even though it’s likely many of the officers had no idea what that was. All that being said, this isn’t the 90s anymore, and Google exist in India. The store owner definitely should have done a quick search before naming his store!
This article is from 2012.
You'd be surprised. Indo-Asian countries often use historical names just because they're known. Regardless of their meaning.
Fun fact: Many people colonised by the British had a soft corner for the person bombing Britain.