Guardian, Soldatenkaffee Indonesia Nazithe Soldatenkaffee cafe in West Java province, has been in business since April of 2011 and sports nazi memorabilia.On display within the red walled restaurant are propaganda posters, swastikas, and a portrait of Adolf Hitler. The waiters too are part of the theme, wearing uniforms similar to the officers of the Nazi paramilitary, Schutzstaffel (SS). The menu even has a nod to the far-right German party, which boasts "Nazi goreng", a fried rice dish, reports the Jakarta Globe.
But the cafe's owner, Henry Mulyana, isn't aware of the offensive nature of his theme. He told the Jakarta Globe, "The way I see it, the Nazis didn’t commit slaughter. War is crime, so there will always be acts of murder in a war." He also said that he knew the eatery, whose name translates to "soldier's cafe", would spark controversy. But as he's not violating any laws he, "decided to go for it."
Mulyana believes what the Nazis did was not much different than what the Dutch colonialists did in Indonesia. "Even during the Dutch colonization of Indonesia, many Indonesians were killed. This is also the case with Americans and their bombing of Hiroshima. Why are the Nazis seen as bad guys while those belligerent nations are not?" he told the Jakarta Globe.. Mulyana even claimed there was no evidence of the Nazi regime being responsible for the genocide of the six million Jews during World War II. "I’m not personally familiar with the [Nazi] ideology, but even if I am, I don’t think I’d find it completely disagreeable," he told the Jakarta Globe.
Mulyana isn't the only person in Indonesia to lack the knowledge of Nazism and the Holocaust. The Jakarata Globe reports that Nazi symbols have been used in marketing by producers, with consumers also ignorant of he origins and meaning. The newspaper reports that few schools teach the curriculum or other topics that involve racial tensions.
