South African Political Aide: Hitler Was 'Right' About Jews An aide with the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, has drawn sharp rebukes from Jewish groups for an outrageous Facebook post praising Adolf Hitler for the Holocaust.
Rene Smit, a social media manager with the ANC in the Western Cape province, posted an image of Hitler with the comment: "Yes, man, you were right!"
Below Hitler's face were the words: "I could have killed all the Jews, but I left some of them to tell you why I was killing them."
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies wrote to the ANC's secretary-general to protest the post, The Jewish Daily Forward reported.
Wendy Kahn, director of the Board of Deputies, called the post "appalling and upsetting to the Jewish community" and said the ANC should "distance itself from such comments and say it would not work with that volunteer again."
According to the Guardian newspaper, a spokesman for the ANC in Western Cape, Cobus Grobler, said Smit is "not employed by the ANC" and "she assisted in our recent election campaign. Anybody can help us as a volunteer."
Smit later said, amazingly: "I remorsefully removed [the post] immediately once I became aware that it is inappropriate and offensive."
Smit's original post came just days after ANC Deputy Secretary General Jessie Duarte posted a statement on the ANC's website comparing Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to Nazi war crimes.
"As we move toward the month of August and are reminded of the atrocities of Nazi Germany, surely we must ask the people of Israel: Has the term 'lest we forget' lost its meaning?"
The Jewish Board of Deputies called the statement "venomous and insulting."
South Africa's Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein wrote that Duarte's statement was a "hate-filled outburst" and said her "comparison of Israel to Nazi Germany and Gaza to the Holocaust death camps is abhorrent and beyond the pale of civilized discourse. She must be held accountable for her morally repugnant words, which have brought the ANC into disrepute."
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also attacked Duarte.
"The ANC anti-Israel attack is a despicable pack of lies," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the center. "With this despicable attack, the ANC is also guilty of desecrating the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the ultimate icon of a freedom fighter."
Jewish settlers began to arrive in South Africa in significant numbers in the 1820s. There were about 75,500 Jews in the nation at the time of the 2001 census.
Poster Comment:
Do we really need to know about this? Yes! ;)
