A popular bar in the city center has nicknamed one of its beers for the Nazi Party.
“Dark Nazi wheat beer” is the description that Glen Whisky Bar has given the Tucher Dunkel beer. The nickname appears on its menu in Hebrew and English.
Leon Shvartz, owner of the establishment, said the beer has been labeled as such for nearly three years, and he has been carrying the brew for even longer. He rarely gets complaints.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, most of the people laugh or smile. And for example, when I give the menu to tourists or locals, I notice them when they get to the beer that they suddenly smile and show it to each other,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
Shvartz explained that he “made the menu in the middle of the night, and when I thought to write it - one word: good, precise, exact - I thought of that.
“If Jerry Seinfeld can call an episode ‘Soup Nazi,’ I felt I could describe a beer that way,” he continued.
But some visitors do not agree with Shvartz. On Thursday, a group of Israelis took to Facebook to criticize Glen Whisky for the decision to use the term.
“I don’t think reminding Jews in #Israel that the Nazis were a strict or precise bunch is going to win you more fans IMHO,” Joshua Hasten, wrote in a Facebook comment, asking others for feedback.
His sentiment was reminiscent of an earlier statement but an unnamed visitor on February 28, who posted on the bar’s Facebook wall: “In their menu they call every German beer Nazi Beer in both languages. This is a kind of stereotype the real Nazis used to dehumanize Jews. There are plenty of decent bars in the area: Do not support this one.”
But Shvartz pushed back. He responded to the chatter by saying: “To clarify and to those who felt offended. The use of the word ‘’Nazi’’ wasn’t to hurt anyone, not the beer and not any people. It’s used as a slang [for the] very strict brewing process and very precise recipe.”
He told the Post that “everything you see on Facebook got out of hand from people who unfortunately prefer to be offended.”
Shvartz said the beer is among his best sellers and he is friends with the distributor. He described the Tucher Dunkel beer as a dark wheat beer, a bit sweet, with big banana flavors and cloves.
The beer cost NIS 17 to 28, depending on the size of the glass or mug.