Nazi-themed cafe opened in Indonesia

IBSA

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Nazi-themed cafe sparks controversy in Indonesia
BANDUNG, Indonesia – The Associated Press


This Sunday, July 14, 2013 photo shows Nazi-related memorabilia hanging on a wall at Soldatenkaffe restaurant in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. AP Photo

Authorities in central Indonesia will ask a restaurant owner to explain his reasons for opening a Nazi-themed cafe that has sparked controversy among locals and tourists, an official said July 18.

Soldatenkaffee includes a red wall of Nazi-related memorabilia, including a large flag with the swastika and a giant picture of Adolf Hitler. Its wait staff dresses in SS, or Schutzstaffel, military uniforms, and can be seen posing in front of the cafe on its Facebook page.

The cafe, located in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung, one of Indonesia's tourist destination cities, has been open since April 2011. But a recent article in a local English-language newspaper has prompted angry responses from some foreigners and Indonesians on social networking sites.

Ayi Vivananda, deputy mayor of Bandung, said a letter was sent July 18 summoning cafe owner Henry Mulyana to meet with officials to discuss his motives for opening the cafe and whether his objective was to incite racial hatred. "Those symbols are internationally recognized to represent violence and racism," Vivananda said.

Mulyana says his objective was not to breed hatred. Instead, he said he wanted to decorate his restaurant with Nazi symbols to attract customers, both local and foreigners. He also denied being pro-Nazi or supporting Hitler, responsible for the deaths of some 6 million Jews during World War II.
"I'm just a businessman, not a politician," Mulyana said. "I have a right to design my restaurant with anything that attracts people to come. I'm sure that I'm not violating any laws."

He said the recent controversy has forced him to temporarily close his restaurant. He declined to say whether he would consider changing the Nazi theme if authorities requested him to do so. "Let's wait and see," he said. "I don't want the workers here to lose their jobs."
 

W.G.Ewald

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Its wait staff dresses in SS, or Schutzstaffel, military uniforms, and can be seen posing in front of the cafe on its Facebook page.
That's over the top, I would say. What fascinates those Asians who are into nazism?
 

Known_Unknown

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Nazi-themed cafe sparks controversy in Indonesia
BANDUNG, Indonesia – The Associated Press


This Sunday, July 14, 2013 photo shows Nazi-related memorabilia hanging on a wall at Soldatenkaffe restaurant in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. AP Photo

Authorities in central Indonesia will ask a restaurant owner to explain his reasons for opening a Nazi-themed cafe that has sparked controversy among locals and tourists, an official said July 18.

Soldatenkaffee includes a red wall of Nazi-related memorabilia, including a large flag with the swastika and a giant picture of Adolf Hitler. Its wait staff dresses in SS, or Schutzstaffel, military uniforms, and can be seen posing in front of the cafe on its Facebook page.

The cafe, located in the West Java provincial capital of Bandung, one of Indonesia's tourist destination cities, has been open since April 2011. But a recent article in a local English-language newspaper has prompted angry responses from some foreigners and Indonesians on social networking sites.

Ayi Vivananda, deputy mayor of Bandung, said a letter was sent July 18 summoning cafe owner Henry Mulyana to meet with officials to discuss his motives for opening the cafe and whether his objective was to incite racial hatred. "Those symbols are internationally recognized to represent violence and racism," Vivananda said.

Mulyana says his objective was not to breed hatred. Instead, he said he wanted to decorate his restaurant with Nazi symbols to attract customers, both local and foreigners. He also denied being pro-Nazi or supporting Hitler, responsible for the deaths of some 6 million Jews during World War II.
"I'm just a businessman, not a politician," Mulyana said. "I have a right to design my restaurant with anything that attracts people to come. I'm sure that I'm not violating any laws."

He said the recent controversy has forced him to temporarily close his restaurant. He declined to say whether he would consider changing the Nazi theme if authorities requested him to do so. "Let's wait and see," he said. "I don't want the workers here to lose their jobs."
The Nazis (unwittingly) ended colonialism and put an end to the slavery of Asians and Africans to European & American imperialism. They were the enemy of our enemies. Hence from Japan to SE Asia to India and the ME, they will always be regarded with a mix of curiosity and admiration.
 

opesys

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You can see some really abysmal distortions of history on DFI, and ignorance of a few members is literally painful to see. :-(

Thanks to the Russians Nazis were stopped at Eastern Europe. So people in Asia never got to see any first hand Nazi rule. Also not much about Nazis is taught in school either, simply because there is enough other history to be taught. People in Asia are aware of what Nazism is theoretically but they can't simply associate themselves with the victims of Nazis.

Similarly imagine if somebody opens up a cafe in the name of some Japanese Emperor(related to the Nanjing massacre) or Ghazni or Ghori or Aurangzeb in the US and how many Americans will be able to relate themselves or American history with these tyrants ?

In this context when Asians cannot really relate themselves or their history with Nazism they take a cheap shot of using Nazism for advertisement purposes. That cafe is not only popular in Indonesia it is popular now throughout the world now. I am sure in a weeks time the cafe owner will come out with a formal apology and act innocent. People will eventually forget the incident but will become quite aware of the cafe though.
 

IBSA

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The Nazis (unwittingly) ended colonialism and put an end to the slavery of Asians and Africans to European & American imperialism. They were the enemy of our enemies. Hence from Japan to SE Asia to India and the ME, they will always be regarded with a mix of curiosity and admiration.
Yes, several leaders of that time or future leaders have liking by Nazi, as the youngs Anwar Sadat or Saddam Hussein. It is said that Saddam's moustache did reference to the Hitler's and Stalin's moustaches. And Gandhi also had liking by Mussolini and Fascism at that time.
 

angeldude13

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You can see some really abysmal distortions of history on DFI, and ignorance of a few members is literally painful to see. :-(
there is no distortion of history.
it's just those british thugs killed far more people in india during there rule.

i agree lets eradicate nazi bastards from our history text book but then we should also eradicate that killer queen and that fat bastard churchill from our history books as they killed far more indian then hitler killed jews and also likes of churchill should be strip off from all his heroic medals and other things.
until then i'll call it your western hypocrisy.
 

SATISH

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You can see some really abysmal distortions of history on DFI, and ignorance of a few members is literally painful to see. :-(
Well I think it was just the man 'Adolf Hitler' who is looked at with so much curiosity in Asia. His rise to power from being and ordinary soldier in WW I to the leader of the Third Reich In 1933. And how he made Germany a superpower within a span of a decade.

I hate that self obsessed bast**d but his rise was something to be admired and his capability to move huge masses of people. Just one man changed the course of history and hence all this hoop-la behind him.
 

Dovah

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I wonder where freedom of expression goes when it comes to the Nazis.
 

W.G.Ewald

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there is no distortion of history.
it's just those british thugs killed far more people in india during there rule.

i agree lets eradicate nazi bastards from our history text book but then we should also eradicate that killer queen and that fat bastard churchill from our history books as they killed far more indian then hitler killed jews and also likes of churchill should be strip off from all his heroic medals and other things.
until then i'll call it your western hypocrisy.
See what I mean about distortion of history?

George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India, and the first Head of the Commonwealth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI

Your "killer queen" came to the throne in 1952.
 

Singh

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There are Hitler themed stuff in India and Thailand too.
 

apple

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there is no distortion of history.
it's just those british thugs killed far more people in india during there rule.

i agree lets eradicate nazi bastards from our history text book but then we should also eradicate that killer queen and that fat bastard churchill from our history books as they killed far more indian then hitler killed jews and also likes of churchill should be strip off from all his heroic medals and other things.
until then i'll call it your western hypocrisy.
First of all, I don't get your allegation of hypcocrisy. Well I get it, but it smacks of ad hominem to me. You should be confident enough of your own position that you don't need to make accusations against others. Play the ball, not the man.

You are comparing Queen Victoria's exploitation of India (that's your "Killer Queen" right?) and Churchill's mismanagement of the Bengal Famine with Hitler... seriously?

I would have thought non Europeans would be very sensitive to racist imperialists enslaving others and would be pretty accurate at being able to compare them.

Queen Victoria thought she was doing good. Churchill was trying to win a war. Hitler was trying to extinct large portions of humanity.

Can understand how Indians look at world history from an Indian viewpoint, and while I agree don't that Nazi's ended European Colonialism, I can understand how that would be a popular idea in India... but seriously, Hitler?

Didn't Hitler tell Lord Halifax that Britain should shoot Gandhi, and (and I'm quoting Hitler here) "if the rebellion of the lower Indian race against the superior English Nordic race continued the British should begin mass executions of Indians till it stopped" ? Hitler wanted Britain to keep India.

Indians relative's, the Romani (i.e.Gypsies) live in Europe. They are properly Aryan (not the Nazi's perverted "Aryan" concept) i.e. they came from Northern India, Pakistan, etc. Some of the Romani were "lucky" enough to get sent to concentration camps to be worked to death, but many (most???) of them went straight to the gas chamber.

The concept of Asians, Indians in particular, not hating Hitler is incomprehensible to me


Well I think it was just the man 'Adolf Hitler' who is looked at with so much curiosity in Asia. His rise to power from being and ordinary soldier in WW I to the leader of the Third Reich In 1933. And how he made Germany a superpower within a span of a decade.

I hate that self obsessed bast**d but his rise was something to be admired and his capability to move huge masses of people. Just one man changed the course of history and hence all this hoop-la behind him.
This isn't much better, depending on what you mean by curiousity. How Hitler came to power, and pre World War 2 Nazi Germany isn't something to be admired. And, actually, I'd question if Nazi Germany was a world superpower. Yes, he's an important part of world history, and there's no wrong with (neutral) curiousity. But, basically, he's Hitler...

_________________________________________________

As to this café, the Indonesians have a strange relationship with the Axis powers of WW2. The Japanese occupiers were quite popular in, what was then, the Dutch East Indies and ten of thousands of Indonesians joined a pro- Japanese, proto Indonesian army. As to their relationship with Nazis, I have no idea. Although, they (or at least the Javanese+ others) are Muslim, with a pro- Imperial Japanese history, so suspect they have a quite unique view of Nazism
 

W.G.Ewald

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There are Hitler themed stuff in India and Thailand too.
Nobody had cooler uniforms than the nazis.

"Women in Uniform" :-D



 
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W.G.Ewald

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Think he means Queen Victoria.
But she was not a contemporary of Hitler or the nazis, so his point was lost on me.

Germany and Italy were colonial powers, and Japan would have subjugated India if the Axis had prevailed I believe.
 

angeldude13

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First of all, I don't get your allegation of hypcocrisy. Well I get it, but it smacks of ad hominem to me. You should be confident enough of your own position that you don't need to make accusations against others. Play the ball, not the man.

You are comparing Queen Victoria's exploitation of India (that's your "Killer Queen" right?) and Churchill's mismanagement of the Bengal Famine with Hitler... seriously?

I would have thought non Europeans would be very sensitive to racist imperialists enslaving others and would be pretty accurate at being able to compare them.

Queen Victoria thought she was doing good. Churchill was trying to win a war. Hitler was trying to extinct large portions of humanity.

Can understand how Indians look at world history from an Indian viewpoint, and while I agree don't that Nazi's ended European Colonialism, I can understand how that would be a popular idea in India... but seriously, Hitler?

Didn't Hitler tell Lord Halifax that Britain should shoot Gandhi, and (and I'm quoting Hitler here) "if the rebellion of the lower Indian race against the superior English Nordic race continued the British should begin mass executions of Indians till it stopped" ? Hitler wanted Britain to keep India.

Indians relative's, the Romani (i.e.Gypsies) live in Europe. They are properly Aryan (not the Nazi's perverted "Aryan" concept) i.e. they came from Northern India, Pakistan, etc. Some of the Romani were "lucky" enough to get sent to concentration camps to be worked to death, but many (most???) of them went straight to the gas chamber.

The concept of Asians, Indians in particular, not hating Hitler is incomprehensible to me




This isn't much better, depending on what you mean by curiousity. How Hitler came to power, and pre World War 2 Nazi Germany isn't something to be admired. And, actually, I'd question if Nazi Germany was a world superpower. Yes, he's an important part of world history, and there's no wrong with (neutral) curiousity. But, basically, he's Hitler...

_________________________________________________

As to this café, the Indonesians have a strange relationship with the Axis powers of WW2. The Japanese occupiers were quite popular in, what was then, the Dutch East Indies and ten of thousands of Indonesians joined a pro- Japanese, proto Indonesian army. As to their relationship with Nazis, I have no idea. Although, they (or at least the Javanese+ others) are Muslim, with a pro- Imperial Japanese history, so suspect they have a quite unique view of Nazism
that's your version of history.
AFAIK hitler welcomed subhash chandra bose and he wanted the british to leave india.he also sent subhash chandra bose to japan where subhash chandra bose made azad hind fauj fight with british thugs.
history is written by the victors and you can write anything you want.
 

angeldude13

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See what I mean about distortion of history?



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI

Your "killer queen" came to the throne in 1952.
so you mean her highness queenie queen victoria wasn't the empress of india???
yeah history is distorted in india that's why they tell us how queen got her heart melted and sent some help to the poor indians and how british gave us railways and other things.
right???after having this short and humorous and hypocrite debate with you i think i love british and especially that mass murderer general dyer.:mad:
 

W.G.Ewald

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so you mean her highness queenie queen victoria wasn't the empress of india???
Not when Hitler was in power. One trouble with you neo-nazis is you argue all over the map, indiscriminately mashing up history with your twisted arguments. And you decry racism while worshipping the greatest racist who ever lived.

The likes of you and @Known_Unknown are badly in need of mental health therapy and certainly are no credit to DFI.
 
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angeldude13

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Not when Hitler was in power. One trouble with you neo-nazis is you argue all over the map, indiscriminately mashing up history with your twisted arguments. And you decry racism while worshipping the greatest racist who ever lived.

The likes of you and @Known_Unknown are badly in need of mental health therapy and certainly are no credit to DFI.
again what have german nazis have to do with the atrocities done by britishers on indians???
i clearly said if you consider nazis to be bad then please increase the no.'s in the list and add some other colonial powers names.
didn't expected this from an american.you were there slaves too and you know how they were.
 
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