Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants

July 21, 2007 | by Jefferson | Filed Under History, People |

dining-with-hitler-in-asia-hitler-themed-bars-restaurants

Adolf Hitler? In most western countries he is viewed as history’s most evil man, and almost all are aware of the horrific genocide he was responsible for, with many having had family fight and/or die in the war against Nazi Germany.

However, in Asia, Hitler is a far more distant figure. This distance might be an explanation for the bizarre case of Hitler restaurants and bars that can be found throughout Asia.

Here are some photos of these strange Hitler-themed establishments:

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In 2006, the restaurant Hitler’s Cross opened in Mumbai, India:

From the Associated Press:

When Hitler’s Cross restaurant opened in a Mumbai suburb Sunday, local politicians and movie industry types were on hand to celebrate beneath the posters of the Nazi leader and swastikas.

“It’s really made people very upset that a person responsible for the massacre of six million Jews can be glorified,” Elijah Jacob, one of the Jewish community’s leaders, said on Wednesday.

But owner Puneet Sablok has refused to back down. Apart from Mumbai’s 4,500 Jews, there has been little controversy in India, where Holocaust awareness is limited, Adolf 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.

Soon after the article was published the restaurant’s owner backed down and changed the name of the restaurant.

________________________________________

This Hitler Bar, which was located in Busan, South Korea, caused a lot of anger in the foreign community.

The website Pusanweb interviewed the owner of the bar, who said the following:

I wanted to design a beer bar with something shocking that would attract the young generation. Beer got me thinking about Germany (the home of beer) which made me think of Hitler.
[…]
….he is no different than Alexander the Great or Gengis Khan. They were all conquerors who killed many people and they are all ‘big men’ in the sense of their notoriety living on long after they died.

The owner eventually changed the name of his bar to Ditler’ and then to ‘Ceasar’.

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Modern Bar Hitler (South Korea), photographed by Lynxsquared:

Inside Modern Bar Hitler:

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A charming sign for a Hitler bar in Korea, photographed by Oronzo:

A Korean Hitler bar in Daejong South Korea, captured by photographer Modrob:

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Another Hitler Bar in Busan, South Korea (From the The Gates of the Minjok, an article by Michael Hurt about the nazi roots of modern Korean national identity) :

From the same article:

The picture I should have taken was of another Hitler bar, this one way down on the coast in Sunchon, and which I ran across in 1994 – doesn’t exist because I was simply in too much shock at the time to have the foresight to take a picture. I tend to think, though, that since many trends in the big city get followed by small towns – and not the other way around – I tend to think that there were more Hitler bars peppered across the peninsula. And given that many other expats have told me stories of “their” Hitler bar from their own cities, I’m actually pretty sure of this.

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Inside of a Hitler Bar in Busan, South Korea (from Flickr photographer Cfarivar)

A flier for the same Hitler bar:

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A Japanese tempura restaurant with a hitler-ish mascot (from Cityskip):

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A LOL-tastic Hitler costume, which can be found on the shelves of party stores across Japan:

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What do you think of businessmen who set up Hitler-themed restaurants?
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Filed Under History, People | More articles by Jefferson

Comments

62 Responses to “Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants”

  1. Just a person on July 22nd, 2007 at 8:52 pm

    Mini Hitler picture? Ah yes other people’s takes on history.

  2. […] Link [?] Share This     Read More    Post a Comment […]

  3. […] Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants in Asia (tags: travel weird) […]

  4. […] Dining With Hitler in Asia [Who Sucks] : Cynical-C […]

  5. Does anyone bat an eyelid at places like this?

  6. […] Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants (tags: weird) […]

  7. […] e vedeta in Asia: read this Business […]

  8. really they are sons of the bitch !

  9. […] read more | digg story […]

  10. Finally the world will realize that Hitler was a great political leader, and the real evil is the International Jew

  11. Hitler was a gay fag, but I love his guts.

  12. In a way, reducing Adolf Hitler to a mere cartoon symbol of crass commercialism is yet another method of insulting his legacy. I say rock on.

  13. […] Link: klick […]

  14. after voting about the hitler bars it makes me wonder, why most of the voters actually don’t care about it all. please you all remember that the nazis could only get as far as they did, because a lot of people did the same: they didn’t care about germany getting more and more violent and hostile. make up your mind and have an opinion! if you let peple (especially business men!) do what ever they want, you should prepare for the worst. say NO to any kind of fascist, ignorant, inhuman behaviour whatsoever.

  15. What people need to realize, and what is even hinted at in the article, is that the swastika has deeper cultural significance in Asian countries than in its short stint as Hitler’s armband…in a broad social context this symbology is a seen to bring prosperity, and the Hitler association is an unfortunate but relatively insignificant one in these cultures. Once again, this is a difference in attitude between East and West, and Westerners seriously need to chill out and broaden their own understanding of such things…

  16. Here in Denver one of the most fashionable Chinese restaurants is called ‘Mao’ and is decorated accordingly. Really disgusting.

  17. Uhm … yyyeah that’s true, except in every case on this page, where the swastika is used, it is associated with Hitler pretty clearly and so any deeper cultural significance which we poor dumb Westerners are failing to chill out and see doesn’t have anything to do with it.

  18. if there was a genghis khan chinese resturant you wouldnt think twice about it

  19. actually the asian symbol that you have mentioned is the mirror image of the swastika, perhaps Hitler turned this symbol around on purpose…..

  20. actually the asian symbol that you have mentioned is the mirror image of the swastika, perhaps Hitler turned this symbol around on purpose….. *FORGET THAT- THE SYMBOL GOES BOTH WAYS IN ASIAN CULTURE*

  21. well what ever make money.. but personally i didnt like what hitler did, but i also think he was mis-understood. allot of people believe hitler killed the jews because of their religion. WRONG, he killed the jews to try to gain control of the economy, and the country easier and more. he was kind of like Vlad Dracula. allot of people thaught he was evil, but in reality he was only doing what he believed best for his country. that is excatly what hitler did, well i believe he was doing what he thaught was right for his country. but many people that do bad things in their life like that are miss understood. because others just look at what they did, and not at the true reasoning behind it. but everyone has their own opinions, and if some wish to look at only what was visible and happened, and not at the real reason behind the action. that is their decision

  22. I thought the swastika was ancient celtic or nordic symbol

  23. Required Name on July 28th, 2007 at 7:30 am

    I’m pretty sure these people have no clue who Adolf Hitler really was, but have the faintest comprehension that it’s a popular image, and thus use him.

    Also your little poll choice on “So what, they have the right to do what they want” is pretty hilarious. Made me laugh at that being a valid justification for genocide.

  24. An anonymous reader on July 28th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

    The point relating Hitler to Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan is a good one, once enough time has passed, they will probably be viewed in the same light. Those using Hitler as part of their bar’s name aren’t intending to harass Jews; it’s just a way to get people to look twice. They aren’t committing genocide, they’re being capitalists in a very strange way. Let ‘em.

  25. Why not a Hirohito saloon commemorating the ruler who brutalized so many Asians? Wouldn’t the very same philosophy hold here too? I don’t see one.

  26. the swastika is a sacred icon throughout asia - maybe thats another reason this theme works there? that and the respect that german scholars have shown for asia and asian thought - (especially hindu and buddhist scripture) - and i guess that (at least to my knowledge) german bombs didn’t fall in asia over ww2 :)

  27. […] restaurants in Asian and India What do you guys think?? __________________ Thats a Saturn?? […]

  28. the business owners here have a right to name their restaurants as they see fit. the real problem is that they serve a populace uneducated enough to be enamoured by such marketing.

    also, it’s hardly fair to compare hitler to genghis or alexander (or even mao). it’s arguable whether racism as a concept even existed until very recently and, even if so, these historical figures were hardly more than xenophobes, killing anyone and everyone without prejudice. to equate that with the targeted mass murder of a particular race virtually hand-picked from a diverse population is both disingenuous and misleading.

  29. You forgot that hitler-chique fashion store in HongKong. Dismantled now but must still be online somewhere..

  30. Another reason not to compare Hitler to Ghengis Khan or Alexander is that Hitler was an absolutely horrible military leader. He regularly overruled his best and brightest military tacticians with moronic, naive and psychotic directives that got countless German soldiers killed and ultimately helped lose him the war.

    Aside from being a Class A anti-Semite he was a dreadfully insane military leader. So, he’s miles behind Khan and Alexander and belongs in the same category as Dinkus McNincompoop and Bob Dunderhead.

  31. “well what ever make money.. but personally i didnt like what hitler did, but i also think he was mis-understood. allot of people believe hitler killed the jews because of their religion. WRONG, he killed the jews to try to gain control of the economy, and the country easier and more. he was kind of like Vlad Dracula. allot of people thaught he was evil, but in reality he was only doing what he believed best for his country. that is excatly what hitler did, well i believe he was doing what he thaught was right for his country. but many people that do bad things in their life like that are miss understood. because others just look at what they did, and not at the true reasoning behind it. but everyone has their own opinions, and if some wish to look at only what was visible and happened, and not at the real reason behind the action. that is their decision”

    Dude, would it kill you to pick up a history book? Jews made up less than 1% of the total population of Germany! From 1933 onwards laws were passed which gradually removed ALL forms of economic power from Jews. Jews had ZERO CONTROL OF THE ECONOMY, several years BEFORE THE GENOCIDE BEGAN! To state that Jews were killed to gain control over the economy, is not backed up by a single piece of primary evidence - though a great many white-supremacist / arab-supremacist psuedo-historians have attempted to convince ill informed people that this was the case in order to somehow or other ‘justify’ the Shoah.

    In actual fact, the genocide was detrimental to the war economy of Nazi Germany - think of the amount of money it cost to build concentration camps, to man them, to catch Jews, to train them in. There is quite an interesting argument that, instead of fighting a War on three fronts (Eastern, Western, Internal (Jewish)), if all of the resources which went into the Holocaust had gone into the Eastern and Western fronts, HItler may not have lost the war.

  32. I think that the idea of a Hitler themed bar, or restaurant is so freaking stupid. The people who came up with this idea obviously feel no compassion for all of the people who were killed because of Hitler and his fascist regime. The creators of this long spread of this ignorance across Asia are soulless bastards.

  33. Can I make an al-Qaeda-themed restaurant? And the special on Friday nights will be the “9/11 steak?”

    ….

    No?

    Awww, come ON.

  34. jon jakob jingleheimer on August 17th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    god whatever that is such crap i mean god get over it what the fuck who even fucking cares its such bullshit that people think that

  35. i wonder what all the neo nazis think… theyd probably flip out and blow themselves up because you should never draw the great one!

  36. I WOULD SO GO TO A 911 THEME RESTAURANT, AND YOU COULD RIDE A PLANE THROUGH THE TWIN DOORS! “JUMP OUT OF THAT WINDOW AND INTO OUR GREAT DEALS!!!!” “life at the office got ya down? WELL GO WAYYYYY DOWN AT 9/11’s FIREY BAR AND GRILL!”

    i guess the difference is, i know that’s wrong, and Koreans hardly know who hitler is…

  37. you_silly_zombies on August 22nd, 2007 at 11:46 pm

    “Adolf’s father, Alois Hitler, was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. It was generally supposed that the father of Alois Hitler (Schicklgruber) was Johann Georg Hiedler. There are some people who seriously doubt that Johann Georg Hiedler was the father of Alois an Austrian document was) prepared that proved Maria Anna Schicklgruber was living in Vienna at the time she conceived. At that time she was employed as a servant in the home of Baron Rothschild (Jewish). As soon as the family discovered her pregnancy she was sent back home..where Alois was born.” http://www.whatsmells.com/hitler.html

  38. Hitler Means Good Beer……

    In this country, a reference to Nazism or to Hitler is pretty much a sign that the discussion has gone off the rails. In fact, its been codified as Godwin’s Law which states that “As an online discussion grows longer,……

  39. The funniest thing is the BMW-ad on the side :-)

  40. has this been on snopes yet? cuz the photo’s seem highly suspect….particularly the magazine. Where’s the glare on “open” and why is it in english?

  41. why not change the name from adolf hitler; into
    atur fitler …

  42. […] in the first half of the 20th century. This is probably not true of some parts of Asia. Just read this article and get ready to be shocked and surprised. I can’t believe this stuff is still appearing out […]

  43. […] ha llamado mucho la atención una entrada antigua del blog Who Sucks titulada Dining With Hitler in Asia. En ella nos muestran una serie de fotografías de varios bares y restaurantes llamados […]

  44. There’s a ‘Mao’ bar in Glasgow, Scotland too. It’s pretty fashionable.

  45. […] Dining With Hitler In Asia (more crazy asia business) Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants In 2006, the restaurant Hitler?s Cross opened in Mumbai, India: This Hitler Bar, which was located in Busan, South Korea, caused a lot of anger in the foreign community. more Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants : Who Sucks[/quote] […]

  46. ECONOMICS STUDENT on November 29th, 2007 at 11:06 am

    I think everyone is just overeacting.
    Why is displaying anchor and sickles ok
    but not nazi swastikas? Really whats the difference?
    Anchor and sickles are very popular and nobody flinches at the sight of it despite the fact that socialist regimes have killed over 100 million people.
    Please stop talking about the Jews like they were the only people who were killed. Why the special treatment. Genocides are happening right now in Africa, and people are still ranting on about the past. Hitler is just another charasmatic icon to add to world history.

  47. ECONOMICS STUDENT on November 29th, 2007 at 11:47 am

    I meant to say Hammer and sickle.

  48. […] http://www.who-sucks.com/people/dining-with-hitler-in-asia-hitler-themed-bars-restaurants […]

  49. Hi,

    I do not know how those people can make jokes about Hitler and name bars after him… I am from Germany, nobody is proud in Hitler… Everybody hates him, because everybody knows how many humans have been killed by this terrible guy… I hope that these bars will get closed, because you make jokes about all the terrible murders, if you make jokes about that. I am very sad about these restaurants…

    PS: Excuse my bad English, please.

  50. yea yea, that’s typically american. allways judgeing the history of other countries. BUT did you guys forget, that the americans too allmost killed an entire race? just so everybody knows what i’m talking about, i mean the native americans (indians). and as a coutry, that spend more time at war’s with other countries than in peace (and that in only 200 years of history you have!), you’re the ones to talk. i’m surely not proud of what hitler did but it was the same as other historical figures (caesar just to name one) only he had the technology to take it to a “higher level”. if there was a chance, that one of the western countries tried the same, the extend of the human casualties would be even worse.
    comeing to my conclusion. i don’t mind people naming a bar after hitler, because to me it’s the same as if they named it Caesar or Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan. But in germany you couldn’t name your bear/restaurant/whatsoever Hitler, because you would automaticly be a nazi for the rest of the country/world.
    oh well, i’m interested, what comes as reply to my comment.

  51. I think its fine to use Hitler as a theme . I think there are many Hitler jokes and themes that make fun of him. Those with a sense of humour will see the funny side ! those who go on about the past and remind us again and again what a tyrant he was > get a life ! we know and dont have to be told about his background ! Im British and many of us suffered and died during WW2 but during that time and now we scoffed and laughed at Hitler as a pathetic character. Thats what the British sense of humour is all about and thats why stood up together and defeated him . when me and my friends see these bars and restuarants we laugh about it and find it funny .

    Steve

  52. lol, thats great!

  53. […] Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants […]

  54. […] Dining With Hitler In Asia: Hitler-themed Bars & Restaurants […]

  55. […] with Hitler Seht euch mal das an. Dass in Asien die Uhren ein wenig anders ticken ist ja klar, und auch nichts verwerfliches, […]

  56. Wenn wir deutschen schon nur stolz auf unser Land sind werden wir direkt als Nazis bezeichnet (Hitler war KEIN deutscher). Und solche deppen in Asien dürfen sogar Hackenkreuze überall hin kleben……

  57. well as i just saw and had to deal with this kid playing on halo with the name, knotzee. and then someone asked if he was serious, and then he replied, I hate Jews. For one I am Jewish. This didn’t only offend me, but everyone around me. Nobody i knows likes the name. I can understand a hitler bar if it’s the owners name, or just hitlers bar, but to add the WWII theme into it is like a slap in the face. I have never been to a place in america where that would stand. i would accept a hitler bar, but not with the nazi advertising around it… but allowing those two things to come together, is a sign of disrespect. You don’t see a General Custard bar, do you? or the Killing of Africans bar? or lets kill all those Korean bars? people have a genuine respect towards people, and we all should learn one anothers likes and dislikes and be mutually respectful. we are being a global economy together, with tourism as a big profit for most countries. to be honest when i see things like that, i almost want to blow up the building, but i don’t.

    ps. the swastica has even been featured in Jewish temples(pre WWII). it’s a holy symbol for almost everyone. but it’s a different meaning when you add WWII themes with it.

    In Bezug auf die Person vor mir, waren Sie ein Nazi? Und glaubte, in der die Tötung von Juden, Sinti und Roma, Gay bzw. andere Menschen, die starben, weil der österreichischen hitler? Oder wäre versucht zu helfen, die Menschen, die praktisch wehrlos waren und wie schlecht behandeln, wie sie waren. (Sorry für mein Deutsch)

  58. Justin i’m sorry about what happened during the genocide to your peoples (maybe to some of your familie members, too - i don’t hope so).
    For me as a German i’m not very happy about how the theme is treated in these restaurants. Hitler wasn’t a figure with which such a stupid kind of marketing should not be done.
    HE is that person caused the death of nearly 60.000.000 victims died during the WWII.
    HE was that one who led kill 1.500.000 persons alone in the gas chambers in Auschwitz - 9.000 per day. The total deathnumber of persons beeing sent to the gas chambers is nearly 6.000.000 - half of the origin number of jews in europe. And that all happened for the time of 3 years.
    And so on…I could list much more, you all know what i meen.

    And it’s not ok what the do there, they should remember that they would have been killed to by the nazis, but they don’t realize and that sucks me.

    “German” denk doch mal nach in welchem Land Hitler regiert hat? Und in welchem Land er zum Kanzler gewählt wurde? Und welches Volk ihm zugejubelt hat? Ja ich bin selber Deutscher und ich bin verdammt nochmal auch stolz darauf, aber nur weil ich weiß, dass es noch wirkliche Deutsche in der Zeit gab, die Hitler Widerstand boten; die den Mut aufbrachten sich gegen dieses Terrorregime zu wehren.
    Diese Menschen haben Mut bewiesen.
    Diese Menschen wurden “im Namen des Deutschen Volkes” hingerichtet.
    Diese Menschen sind meine Vorbilder auf die ich stolz bin und auf die Millionen andere auch stolz sein sollten.

    -Remember-

  59. Okay, that’s the last straw. Long live Kim Jong Il and North Korea! At least they don’t have Hitler bars…

  60. One day we’ll be light-heartedly mocking George W. Bush for his crimes against humanity too … Oh, we already are, aren’t we. I’ve got to admit, to me he’s one of the funniest men alive (albeit unintentionally) AND I know he is a murderer!

    What are you going to do, start a war against Hitler paraphernalia? Allow yourself to let this bit of satire stir up evil emotions within you?

    If it hurts you emotionally and personally, turn a blind eye and blame it on the way of the world. Then watch the six o’clock news and you’ll find plenty more to concern yourself with TODAY, than a few pieces of political satire based on a warped dictator from YESTERDAY.

  61. stupid niggers on May 8th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    you think people in germany hate hitler? All your american propaganda makes you hate whatever your pathetic goverment wants you to learn. stupid arrogant ignorant americans

  62. Sol Gittleman on May 9th, 2008 at 8:34 am

    The problem is that each ethnic group has separated itself into personalized compartments from the massive slaughter of World War II. The Polish Catholics, Russian Orthodox, and the 30 million other Europeans who died during the Nazi Period should be outraged. They think it’s all about the Jews; it’s not. It’s about THEM. Each genocide wants all the light focussed on themselves. Don’t do it. Hitler murdered three million Polish Catholics before he ever got to the Jews. Fourteen million Russians died; even six million Germans perished. Hitler theme restaurants is not a Jewish issue; it’s humanity that should be horrified. All in all, about fifty million Europeans died because one man came to power. Don’t make this a Jewish issue.

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