Hitler Store Stirs Controversy In India

“Hitler” is probably a bad name for a store.

Several people in India are calling for the Hitler store to change its name but the shop owner, Rajesh Shah, says that he wouldn’t only do so unless he is compensated for the re-branding costs.

Shah said:

“I will change it (the name) if people want to compensate me for the money we have spent — the logo, the hoarding, the business cards, the brand.”

The store doesn’t sell Hitler paraphernalia but the “i” in the store’s name is dotted with a Nazi swastika.

Despite the name and the swastika Shah says that it isn’t a racist store. Instead, the owner claims that the store was named after his business partner’s grandfather who was given the nickname Hitler because “he was very strict.”

Shah said that he did not know who Adolf Hitler was until he opened the store and did not know about the significance of the swastika.

Shah told the AFP:

“I didn’t know how much the name would disturb people… It was only when the store opened I learnt Hitler had killed six million people.”

Shah reiterated his claim to the Times of India:

“Frankly, until the time we applied for the trademark permission, I had only heard that Hitler was a strict man… It was only recently that we read about Hitler on the internet.”

Do you believe Shah? Is it really possibly for someone to not know about Adolf Hitler? Do you think Shah named his store Hitler to cause some controversy and get some press?