Hitler Reloaded: In Pakistan, the Fuhrer's name sells clothes.

[marble falls]

Hitler reloaded
Meher Ahmad/The Outline
Culture

https://theoutline.com/post/2390/where-hitler-doesnt-mean-anything

Where ‘Hitler’ doesn’t mean anything
In Pakistan, the Fuhrer’s name sells clothes.
Meher Ahmad
Oct—12—2017 11:07AM EST

-snip-

In Pakistan, “Hitler” is everywhere. Often searching for Wi-Fi signals, I’ll sometimes come across one with some permutation of Hitler’s name: “h1tl3r72,” “hitlerhouse,” or the confounding “ManUnitedHitler” combo I saw flicker on and off while sitting in a coffee shop. Stuck in Karachi’s never-ending traffic, I’ll catch a glimpse of “HITLER” emblazoned on the back of a Suzuki passenger van. Occasionally, I’ll see “hitler” spray-painted on a slum wall or stitched onto the polo shirt of a chai-wallah. The most baffling and established example of Hitler’s omnipresence here is a label called “Hitler: Reloaded,” headquartered on the corner of one of Karachi’s biggest markets. It sells moderately priced menswear.

I assumed all these Fuhrer sightings were the unfortunate result of rampant anti-Semitism percolating through Pakistani culture. In addition to the usual pro-Palestine stance taken by most Muslim-majority countries, Israel, and by extension Jews, are the often the scapegoats for, or subjects of, conspiracies against Pakistanis. The myths abound: Israel is attempting to sterilize the masses through polio vaccines, Israel is colluding with India to destroy Pakistan as a state, etc. These are some of the more coherent examples — others involve illuminati and Satanic plots. It doesn’t help that Pakistan’s small Jewish minority has, understandably, mostly left or gone into hiding. The average Pakistani rarely interacts with a Jew face-to-face.

It turns out, however, that the average Pakistani doesn’t know who Hitler is. On one of the occasions I saw a Wi-Fi network featuring the Fuhrer’s moniker — “hitler2,” in this particular case — I was in a small enough neighborhood in which I could deduce which house named their network after ol’ Adolf. When I finally met the man living in the house, I asked him why he named his Wi-Fi network after Hitler. “He was a really strict general in Germany. I like to keep a strict household,” he said.

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Now, with punching Nazis a regular topic of discussion on my Twitter feed, I pass by Hitler: Reloaded almost every day. A few weeks ago, I went to its flagship store for the first time, pretending to shop for my non-existent husband. The store was filled with the odd mixture of menswear oscillating between Express Men’s and Hollister: faded skinny jeans and fitted button downs on one end of the store, satin suit jackets and ties on the other. There was an excellent collection of Fendi knockoff belts with the “F” logos flipped. All the merchandise was subtly labeled with the brand’s “HITLER: Reloaded” logo. The “Reloaded” part has a stylized needle and thread at the end. Nothing seemed particularly Nazi-themed, with perhaps the exception of their polo shirt section.

[DFW]

1. Some friends of mine live in a small town with a "Wait, WHAT?" name near Osnabrueck

Its name is Hilter. Dyslexic tourists driving through town turn their heads in pure disbelief when they see the sign at the town limit, and cause near-accidents all the time.

"Did you just see on that sign what I just saw?" Well, no, I didn't, because you read it wrong.

The town has been there for about 900 years. It's not THEIR fault

[marble falls]

2. Being dyslexic has made my life so much more fun.

[DFW]

3. One of my godsons is dyslexic. He is also brilliant with an IQ off the charts.

His mind races at 200 mph while his reading is just learning to walk. His whole life, he has been trying to reconcile his intelligence with his disability, and with limited success. I didn't mean to belittle those that really do suffer from it.

[marble falls]

4. It's a hard way to go. We're over represented in jail populations, and in odd science ...

... and creative occupations.

[DFW]

5. And unenlightened schools think dyslexics are of below average intelligence. The opposite is true

As for creative occupations--you nailed that with my godson. He has become an expert in rare comic books, and works with Heritage Auctions of Dallas in their rare comics division. I never would have even thought there WAS such a profession. His dad was the one who introduced me to Stan Lee, and this kid knew him as well. I was never together with the two of them, but I bet they got along famously.