Friday, August 16, 2013



Must not mention Hitler to a Norwegian


Some novelty wines sold in Italy were too much for a sensitive Norwegian conscience.  No thought that the Norwegian Vikings were the terrorists and mass murderers of their day

A Norwegian holidaying in Italy came in for a nasty surprise when he stumbled upon a rack of 'Hitler' wine openly for sale in a local grocery shop.

"I have no personal connection to what happened during the war, but I naturally reacted with disgust," Håvard Furulund, who works at a Toyota dealership in Trondheim, told Norway's Adressa newspaper.

The bottles, sold in a shop on the Rimini seafront, had a shelf all of their own,  where they were sold alongside bottles of wine celebrating the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

They sported images of the Nazi leader, along with swastikas and Nazi slogans.

The Italian wine-maker Vini Lunardelli, which produces Hitler wine as part of its 'Historical' line, has been attacked in the past, with Italian prosecutors threatening it under a law which makes it a crime to glorify fascism.

Its Hitler bottles are embellished with slogans such as "Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Fuhrer!", and feature old propaganda pictures of the Nazi leader.

The company's 'Il Ventennio' line celebrates Mussolini, with wines carrying names like 'Il Duce' and 'Il Camerata', while the Communist Collection features Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky, Marx and Marshall Tito, leader of the former Yugoslavia.

Source

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could it be because the Norwegians remember the Nazi occupation during WWII?

Anonymous said...

Yes, WWII and the Nazi occupation still has sorrowful effects in present day Norway - the Viking pirates 900 years ago or so have rather less emotional impact anywhere at all, so why did the host here even mention it? (A cheap dig at Norway????!!)

Anonymous said...

2:55 For g-s be realistic! - any invaded country would have a lot of potential (if not pre-existing) collaborators plus sympathizers),and that would also have happened in the US, which already had a very pro-Nazi element before the US was DRAGGED into WWII.

Anonymous said...

Yep, easy to be on the winning side after the winners win, and then of course history is always written by the winners!

Anonymous said...

well here's a thought, LEAVE THE F'N STORE! Or better yet, go home!

At least it's nice to see its not only american liberals that are perpetually offended!

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:42AM

Maybe people should be upset at the vikings from 900 years ago, heck the muslims are STILL whining about the crusades, 700+ years latter!

Anonymous said...

Before you "leave the f'n store", complain to the manager of the store.

Anonymous said...

Using historical images and personalities to sell wine seems like an odd marketing choice to me - but I see no reason why anyone would feel that they shouldn't be allowed to do it.
Just don't buy the wine.
Also - maybe consider adding Pol Pot to the Red collection.