Restaurant Apologizes for Items Named for Anne Frank, Hitler
A fast food restaurant in Argentina has apologized for naming products after Holocaust-victim Anne Frank and Nazi-leader Adolf Hitler.
The Honky Donky restaurant in Rafaela recently launched an Anne Frank Burger, made with beef patty, tomato, pickles, lettuce and mayonnaise, to go with their cheddar, bacon and green onion-topped Adolf fries. The Jewish Chronicle notes that “unsurprisingly, neither products are kosher.”
A Twitter post by Aviva Klompas, Associate Vice President of the Israel & Global Jewish Citizenship at Combined Jewish Philanthropies, succinctly summarized the situation. “This is truly sickening,” Klompas wrote. “What possesses someone to do this. [sic] For the shock factor? To bring in the bigots? To threaten Jews? It is appalling beyond words.”
This is truly sickening. A restaurant in Argentina named items on its menu the 'Anne Frank burger' and 'Adolf fries.'
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) August 3, 2023
What possesses someone to do this. For the shock factor? To bring in the bigots? To threaten Jews?
It is appalling beyond words.https://t.co/OzjJwiqLBg
Local Jewish community leaders immediately denounced the products and promised legal action. “In light of the fact that a fast-food place in our city has trivially used the names of Anne Frank and Adolf to identify their products, the Jewish Community of Rafaela expresses its repulsion and indignation,” the community said in a statement.
The Israelite Cultural and Sports Association sent a letter to the restaurant which was later leaked to local media. "It is not only offensive to the victims of racist genocide, but also offends human dignity,” the letter reportedly stated.
Honky Donky eventually apologized for the incident in a lengthy statement. “From our gastronomic venture we apologize for the offense and the lack of sense of responsibility for the misuse of names that refer to open wounds in humanity as a whole,” the restaurant said in a statement.
The Anne Frank Burger, they said, would be altered to commemorate Anne Boleyn, the beheaded wife of Henry VIII. They also announced plans to name products for notable rights leaders, such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa.
Whether the restaurant will re-christen its other troubling menu items is unclear. Still on offer are several french-fried-sides named for autocrats. There’s the “Benito” (plain rustic fries) for Italian dictator Benito Mussolini; the “Genghis” (fries and hot sauce) for Ghengis Khan; and the “Mao” (fries with eggs) for Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.