In the same interview with the German paper, Uunona said his father gave him the name without understanding its dark history.
“As a child I saw it as a totally normal name,” Uunona said.
Uunona insisted he rejects Nazi ideology and any dreams of world domination.
“It wasn’t until I was growing up that I realised: This man wanted to subjugate the whole world,” Uunona said. “I have nothing to do with any of these things.”
Idk, I guess I believe the guy, but his father must have been living under a rock.
I’m certainly no expert on Namibian history and culture, most of what I know comes from just now skimming the Wikipedia article
But a couple things jumping out at me
The area was at one point a German colony (and also at one point they carried out a genocide against the Herero people that some think may have been sort of a model for the Holocaust)
They also had apartheid similar to South Africa.
And to this day a whole lot of Africa doesn’t exactly have stellar access to education, the internet, etc. and even in some parts of the world that do have better access, there’s a lot of people in other parts of the world outside of Europe and the Americas who don’t quite grok* just how bad the Nazis were because it’s not something they cover so extensively in their history classes. I feel like every couple years I see some story come out of Asia somewhere where some business opens up with a Nazi theme and they don’t get why so many people in the West are mad about it.
So kind of taking a couple stabs in the dark here
It could be that his father named him after Hitler maybe trying to soften things up for him, like maybe the white people at the top of the apartheid heiarchy would be a little nicer if he was named after the biggest whitest racist he could think of.
Or maybe they were in a bit of an information bubble where he just really didn’t fully understand how bad Hitler and the Nazis were and went with it because he thought it had a nice ring to it
Maybe it was a way to give a giant middle finger to racists. Sort of a “haha, how do you like your leader’s name when it’s on a black kid? Suck it Nazis.”
Or maybe it was something else. That’s just a couple thoughts off the top of my head.
*fuck muskrat for trying to steal this word for his own bullshit.
Robert A. Heinlein was good friends with L Ron Hubbard — you may want to rethink your assertion that Musk is ‘stealing’ the word. Pretty sure that ship sailed long before Musk.
ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com
on 28 Nov 11:28
nextcollapse
Vinladen is named after Osama bin Laden, the founder of
Al-Qaeda […] His brother is named Sadam Huseín after the dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, and his father planned to name the third sibling George Bush after U.S. president George W. Bush if it had been a boy.
The local pol said he usually goes by Adolf Uunona in daily life and argued it’s too late to formally change his name.
“It’s in all official documents. It’s too late for that,” he told German newspaper Bild in 2020.
For context for folks in the US, the US makes it pretty easy to change your name. Ditto for a number of other countries that derive from the British legal tradition. A number of countries have considerably more restrictive law on this point.
Original Birth Certificate (including dependants’ certificates, if included in application)
Certified copy of ID.
Affidavit with Declaration Statement setting out why you are requesting a change of surname.
Notices in Government Gazette
It’s not that fucking hard to not be Adolf Hitler
MajorSauce@sh.itjust.works
on 28 Nov 05:47
nextcollapse
Same in Quebec, except there’s no need for the police clearance certificate.
trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world
on 28 Nov 06:54
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That’s assuming the original birth certificate still exists. I don’t know how well these things were archived in Namibia in the 1960s, but I wouldn’t just assume it could still be found.
The name/s Adolf/Adolphe are still in use in German and French former colonies in Africa, and WW2 wasn’t that big of a deal in a lot of the continent. A lot of them had other shit going on, still do.
The internet and easy-to-access translators are more common now, leading to a further decline in the name, but in Namibia in the 1960’s? Totally understandable someone would hear/see the name Adolf Hitler without context, assume a strong German name would help their kid get by in German-Occupied Namibia, and leave it at that. Looks like it worked.
More common than you might think. When I lived in a remote Amazonian village in the early 2000s, a local teacher was named Hitler (his given name). This area probably barely had contact with the capital in the 50s, let alone Europe. It wasn’t uncommon to choose a powerful or famous name, and Hitler was probably just someone who they knew changed the world.
There were other interesting names still being given too. My favorite was a baby named Shakira Marley while I lived there.
GreenShimada@lemmy.world
on 28 Nov 10:04
nextcollapse
In his book, Trevor Noah mentions this. Everyone knows the name Hitler! So it’s like borrowing fame.
Across West Africa a few years post-9/11, tons of merch would feature Osama Bin Ladin. T-shirts, watches, posters, etc. Most people didn’t fully understand he did 9/11, but his name and picture was always in Western media, so he was famous!
Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
on 28 Nov 11:11
nextcollapse
That’s kinda cute in a strange way.
yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de
on 28 Nov 16:51
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It’s literally free fame.
Would you have ever heard of this local African politician if he didn’t have this name?
Interesting to compare and contrast with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe who deliberately wore a toothbrush moustache and referred to himself as "The Hitler of our time".
Also interesting that now Mugabe is dead, there seem to be quite a few potential candidates for that title.
But, as best as I can tell, Uunona isn't in the running there.
threaded - newest
Thought this satire at first.
c/NotTheOnion
I’m glad they included a picture in case we forgot who hitler was.
He looks different than I remember…can’t put my finger on it though…
No mustache
Nah. Hitler was only captured in black and white photography. The other one is colored so it can’t be him.
Well, his father did, so…
Literally Hitler.
Also hes 59…so he’s born in 1966-ish. Hitler was recent history. That’d be like me calling my kid Suddam Hussein.
Oh really was there someone else by that name already? I hadn’t known.
You’d think at least a nurse or something would be like “uhh you might want to reconsider”.
Udolf Hitler?
<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/28596623-86aa-4d03-951b-b68d68e531aa.gif">
Idk, I guess I believe the guy, but his father must have been living under a rock.
I’m certainly no expert on Namibian history and culture, most of what I know comes from just now skimming the Wikipedia article
But a couple things jumping out at me
The area was at one point a German colony (and also at one point they carried out a genocide against the Herero people that some think may have been sort of a model for the Holocaust)
They also had apartheid similar to South Africa.
And to this day a whole lot of Africa doesn’t exactly have stellar access to education, the internet, etc. and even in some parts of the world that do have better access, there’s a lot of people in other parts of the world outside of Europe and the Americas who don’t quite grok* just how bad the Nazis were because it’s not something they cover so extensively in their history classes. I feel like every couple years I see some story come out of Asia somewhere where some business opens up with a Nazi theme and they don’t get why so many people in the West are mad about it.
So kind of taking a couple stabs in the dark here
It could be that his father named him after Hitler maybe trying to soften things up for him, like maybe the white people at the top of the apartheid heiarchy would be a little nicer if he was named after the biggest whitest racist he could think of.
Or maybe they were in a bit of an information bubble where he just really didn’t fully understand how bad Hitler and the Nazis were and went with it because he thought it had a nice ring to it
Maybe it was a way to give a giant middle finger to racists. Sort of a “haha, how do you like your leader’s name when it’s on a black kid? Suck it Nazis.”
Or maybe it was something else. That’s just a couple thoughts off the top of my head.
*fuck muskrat for trying to steal this word for his own bullshit.
Robert A. Heinlein was good friends with L Ron Hubbard — you may want to rethink your assertion that Musk is ‘stealing’ the word. Pretty sure that ship sailed long before Musk.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osama_Vinladen
There is actually an Indian colleague in IT by the name that you have mentioned :)
Oh shit does he work for Cisco TAC? I think I’ve worked with him before. Forgot all about that.
For context for folks in the US, the US makes it pretty easy to change your name. Ditto for a number of other countries that derive from the British legal tradition. A number of countries have considerably more restrictive law on this point.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_change
How do you change your name in Namibia?
It’s not that fucking hard to not be Adolf Hitler
Same in Quebec, except there’s no need for the police clearance certificate.
That’s assuming the original birth certificate still exists. I don’t know how well these things were archived in Namibia in the 1960s, but I wouldn’t just assume it could still be found.
I see a lot of people nowadays trying very hard to be him
Harvey Epstein is also a real life politician with an unfortunate name. Less so, but, still.
It’s not true anymore, though.
Uunona has officially changed his name and also his papers have been updated by now.
His name is now just Adolf Uunona.
Source: German Spiegel magazine.
A wild twist on the Uuno movies
The name/s Adolf/Adolphe are still in use in German and French former colonies in Africa, and WW2 wasn’t that big of a deal in a lot of the continent. A lot of them had other shit going on, still do.
The internet and easy-to-access translators are more common now, leading to a further decline in the name, but in Namibia in the 1960’s? Totally understandable someone would hear/see the name Adolf Hitler without context, assume a strong German name would help their kid get by in German-Occupied Namibia, and leave it at that. Looks like it worked.
More common than you might think. When I lived in a remote Amazonian village in the early 2000s, a local teacher was named Hitler (his given name). This area probably barely had contact with the capital in the 50s, let alone Europe. It wasn’t uncommon to choose a powerful or famous name, and Hitler was probably just someone who they knew changed the world.
There were other interesting names still being given too. My favorite was a baby named Shakira Marley while I lived there.
In his book, Trevor Noah mentions this. Everyone knows the name Hitler! So it’s like borrowing fame.
Across West Africa a few years post-9/11, tons of merch would feature Osama Bin Ladin. T-shirts, watches, posters, etc. Most people didn’t fully understand he did 9/11, but his name and picture was always in Western media, so he was famous!
That’s kinda cute in a strange way.
It’s literally free fame.
Would you have ever heard of this local African politician if he didn’t have this name?
also Brazil: there used to be a police chief named Hitler Mussolini
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._K._Stalin
Interesting to compare and contrast with Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe who deliberately wore a toothbrush moustache and referred to himself as "The Hitler of our time".
Also interesting that now Mugabe is dead, there seem to be quite a few potential candidates for that title.
But, as best as I can tell, Uunona isn't in the running there.