This past weekend, with the news of the hateful massacre of eleven Jewish people in Pittsburgh, I noticed some buzz about a local controversy. A haunted house that has been around for years apparently was its annual “Swastika Saturday” event. A bit of a head scratcher, to put it mildly. It isn’t very well defined by most of the news stories, but employees (and customers) were encouraged to put swastikas on themselves for their final day.
The owner, defying calls to end the 28 year, um, “tradition”, said at the time they focused on human horrors and the Nazi symbol was just an extension of humanity’s evil. A quick search showed other images, like a zombie nun with an upside down cross and stories of flying the American flag. I went there once in high school and the only thing I really remember was a hallway where hands were grabbing at us and a guy blowing his brains out with a shotgun – very gory and we really enjoyed it at the time.
Why does the controversy matter? A few reasons. First, why? I’ve never looked a vampire, werewolf or zombie and thought, boy, if it’s a Nazi, it’s going to be REALLY scary. “But they focus on humanity, that’s why!” OK, again why? Rapists are scary. Child molestors are terrifying. Klansman elicit fear from evil. Why don’t they have those groups, to name a few? Because they would have their ass handed to them the day after word got out.
Secondly, for human decency. The crime in Pittsburgh was several hours before they opened and all over the news. It was known immediately that it was a hate crime and by early afternoon that the shooter was a Nazi sympathizer/anti-Semite. There was plenty of time to tell the staff and/or not promote it in fresh Facebook posts. Even if you’re not sure, just back off. What, is some idiot really going to have their night ruined by not seeing crudely painted swastikas on a fake corpse? Chances are they can just go back to their garage and stare at the one hanging in there. Yes, I’m assuming the only people upset by no swastika night are probably already Nazis.
Thirdly, why were the Nazis bad? I get very annoyed that the Hitler and Nazi terms are far too loosely batted around for political reasons and on the media. It downplays what they did. The Nazi party was built on an ideology rooted in false beliefs, as a radical extension of eugenics and racism, that the “Aryan” race was being plagued by lesser races, primarily the Jews. It built upon German national pride and borrowed centuries old Anti-Semitism, one of Europe’s hand me downs that still has a strong base in that continent, the Middle East, and even here, in America. They decided, in addition to starting a war of conquest that would lead to tens of millions deaths, to exterminate the undesirables in a way unseen by history. Using the modern tools available to them, they set up death camps where dozens of completely innocent men, women and children were gassed, tortured, starved, beaten and shot with ruthless efficiency.
The Holocaust also targeted the disabled, homosexuals, Communists, and gypsies, in addition to political targets, but it had one goal over all others – to eradicate the Jewish people from Europe, and probably ultimately, from the earth. Children were ripped from their mothers’ arms, never to be seen again. Families were put into lines, picked for death at random, after having been forced onto cattle cars where they had to piss and shit on one another, packed in so tight, some died on their feet and stayed that way. The Nazi medical “doctors” used human beings for medical experiments, like sewing children together to try and make conjoined twins. They injected blue dye into their eyes to attempt to make Aryan features. These animals would break bones over and over and over to see how often they healed. The put people in extreme temperatures or air pressure chambers until they frozen or their eardrums burst. Some of these Nazis were never caught or brought to justice. This is why you don’t host a Swastika Saturday.
After extreme social media pressure and the media getting involved, the Haunted Hoochie finally expressed regret. In a well worded post, obviously from a lawyer, they apologized and pledged to donate $50,000 (who knows how this will be proven) to the synagogue. Part of humanity is forgiveness. I believe, despite poor taste, horrible judgement and their grab for attention over doing what is “right” that we could possibly forgive them…but I saw this on my pal Ron’s post. This was found from digging around on their FB page.
This is a post from years ago where the Haunted Hoochie gives strong credence to a Nazi history troll (yes, they are out there – I saw them pop up on a page about the Churchill movie, Darkest Hour), blaming the Jews for World War II. Stating that you can’t criticize certain people, aka Jews. Too all those who think this was a nothingburger or an example of PC culture ruining your good time, I say this. If you need a swastika to have fun at a haunted house, go stick a fork in a toaster. If you see what the Nazis did, watch Holocaust survivors tell their stories shaking with tears running down their faces, knowing they executed children via medical experimentation, starvation and gassing, and still think this isn’t a big deal, you are a shit human being.
Lastly, to the Haunted Hoochie, I’m not one to boycott, flip out, or jump on social trends. I don’t need to be told what to be upset by or what way to turn. I see that post I shared above and I know what you think about Jewish people. At best, you’re a radical conspiracy theorist with a haunted house, at worst, you are a racist and harbor sympathy to white supremacist garbage. Your $50,000 is a desperate parachute to save your ass, not a genuine gesture. You stood defiant in face of a killing spree because you stand defiant to history and facts. If that post above wasn’t you, why did someone post as “Haunted Hoochie” such a moronic and evil statement and someone with admin responsibility respond in kind? I would say shame on you, but you have none. Good luck next year, it will likely be your last.