In 1947, amidst a national outrage andwidespread anti-semitic rioting over the execution of two British officers by theIrgun in an event known asThe Sergeants affair, angry mobs inNorth Wales wrote the words "Hitler was right" on Jewish properties.[4][5] InEccles, a crowd of around 700 people were told by formersergeant major John Regan that "Hitler was right. Exterminate every Jew – every man, woman and child. What are you afraid of? There's only a handful of police." He was fined 15 pounds for the statement.[6]
Colin Jordan, leader of the BritishNational Socialist Movement, argued in a 1962 speech titled "Hitler was right". Some witnesses recalled seeing banners stating "Hitler was right".[7][8] In the early 1960s, Canadian neo-Nazi activist David Stanley distributed "Hitler was right" leaflets.[9] In Germany in the 1960s neo-Nazis were convicted for distributing "Hitler was right" leaflets.[10]
On June 29, 2011, a user posted on4chanHitler Did Nothing Wrong[14] and the phrase has continued to be used since January 30, 2012.[15] After the statement went viral, the site was pulled and accompanied with an apology, but the site quickly went back for a while.[14] The meme was originally onMountain Dew's 2012 campaign, where in August 2012, 4chan users attacked a third-party sponsored Mountain Dew campaign called "Dub the Dew"[16] on the contest with the nameHitler Did Nothing Wrong, which was a failure. The write-in contained Nazism, the statement as well as theHolocaust joke to climb to the top of the list, and the company shut down the contest.[17]Adweek compared the incident to another recent campaign hijacked under similar circumstances, where musicianPitbull was sent to perform inKodiak, Alaska, in aWalmart promotion.[18][19][20] An analysis byUSA Today found thatTeespring was selling T-shirts reading "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong" and one with an image ofBill Cosby paired with the slogan "drinks on me ladies".[21] After the huge controversy, an American Clothing website still continues to sell T-shirts with Nazi Slogans.[22]
The concept of "Hitler as a Hero" was listed by theSimon Wiesenthal Center as the top sixth most anti-Semitic slur in 2013, with the subject's entry stating that "'Hitler was right' has emerged as a rallying cry not only for neo-Nazis but increasingly among some Arabs and Muslims."[27]
The Microsoft chatbotTay was trained in 2016 by internet users to use phrases such as "Hitler did nothing wrong" and "Hitler was right I hate the Jews". It was taken offline because of these statements.[28][29][30]
People tweeting "Hitler was right" has been cited as an example offascism on social media.[31] A 2017ProPublica investigation revealed that Facebook allowed advertisers to target users using antisemitic ad categories including "Hitler did nothing wrong".[32]
In 2018, conspiracy theorist Steve West won the Republican primary for a district in the Missouri State House after stating "Hitler was right". TheMissouri Republican Party did not endorse West.[33] United States Rep.Mary Miller was criticized for stating the day before the2021 United States Capitol attack that "Hitler was right on one thing. He said, 'Whoever has the youth has the future.'”[34]
Welsh criminal Austin Ross went on a campaign of vandalistic acts andhate crimes from 2012 to 2018 which involved the defacement of locations acrossNewport, Wales. Ross carried out at least twoarson attacks and regularly covered buildings with posters saying that "Hitler did nothing wrong."[35]
2020s
In 2020, four people were arrested inArizona after hanging a "Hitler was right" poster.[36]
In 2021, Palestinian BBC journalist Tala Halawa was fired after it was discovered she had tweeted "#Israel is more #Nazi than #Hitler! Oh, #HitlerWasRight #IDF go to hell. #prayForGaza." during the2014 Gaza War. In response to her suspension Halawa apologized for the tweet but insisted that she was the subject ofcharacter assassination by theIsrael lobby.[37][38]
On October 20, 2021, posters carrying the phrase were posted on the walls of a synagogue inCarmichael, California, by the far-rightAryan Nations terror group.[39]
^Demsar, Vlad; Brace-Govan, Jan; Jack, Gavin; Sands, Sean (2021). "The social phenomenon of trolling: understanding the discourse and social practices of online provocation".Journal of Marketing Management.37 (11–12):1058–1090.doi:10.1080/0267257X.2021.1900335.S2CID233651571.
^Zemčík, Tomáš (2021). "Failure of chatbot Tay was evil, ugliness and uselessness in its nature or do we judge it through cognitive shortcuts and biases?".AI & Society.36 (1):361–367.doi:10.1007/s00146-020-01053-4.ISSN0951-5666.S2CID225313255.
