Swastika helmet leaves sour taste at historic Cape pub

The Firemans Arms pub in Cape Town has existed for 156 years, and is filled with memorabilia from times gone by. But when Jewish customer Antony Arvan sat down for a drink last week, he was astonished to see a helmet with a swastika imprint sitting on the shelf next to him.

“On 6 November, I went to Firemans Arms and was astounded and upset to see a Nazi helmet emblazoned with the swastika displayed on its shelf,” Arvan told theSA Jewish Report.

“I immediately called the owner over and demanded that it be removed. He refused. I tried to reason with him and explain what the symbol represented. This made no difference. Eventually he said he would move it somewhere else in the pub, as if that was some begrudging compromise. I advised him that still wasn’t acceptable, and he shrugged and basically walked away. When I left a few minutes later, the helmet hadn’t been moved.

“I’ve subsequently been advised that it’s a fireman’s helmet. To me that makes absolutely no difference. It has the swastika on it. The fact that it’s on a helmet makes it even more menacing. I want an apology, and for the helmet to be removed. I would hope in this day and age that they would be sensitive enough not to display it. It’s the ultimate symbol of hate.”

Arvan subsequently lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission and shared the incident with other media houses. He also asked the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) to investigate. In a letter to the pub’s owners, Cape SAJBD Executive Director Stuart Diamond wrote, among other points, “In 2017, the Cape SAJBD launched its #NoPlaceforHate campaign and this past week launched #WordsMatter, but it has become clear now that even symbols matter.”

He went on to say, “Although [Arvan] accepts that the display of the swastika isn’t illegal in South Africa, it remains hurtful, upsetting, and offensive to a community that has a large Holocaust survivor community and connection to the Holocaust. We recognise that symbols must be evaluated in the context in which they appear, but we ask that you understand how this symbol is interpreted for so many. With diverse clientele, [we hope] that you would be open to engage in trying to find a solution.” The owners of the pub, Kevin Phelan and Dean Kadir, responded to this letter with an apology.

Phelan said, “We wish to apologise to the customer and Jewish community for any distress caused. We have owned The Firemans Arms for 29 years, and it has been running since 1864. It has a hoard of memorabilia which has been donated over many years. The helmet has been at The Firemans Arms for more than 50 years, and was given by one of the customers.”

He doesn’t know the history of the helmet or where it comes from, but it is one of 150 helmets of all kinds on display. “We have many Jewish friends and customers, and did not intend to upset anyone. The helmet has been moved.” He said he and Kadir understood the sensitivity around the swastika, especially for the Jewish community.

“We clean our memorabilia on a regular basis, and the reason we have never had a problem is because the swastika was never in full view, as we knew it would offend customers. It was unintentionally put back the wrong way by our barmen while cleaning,” he said.

There are other items of memorabilia in the pub that patrons may find offensive, Phelan said, for example, the old South African flag and the Confederate flag. However, they aren’t displayed prominently. Though Arvan had asked for the helmet with the swastika to be completely removed from the pub, he said they wouldn’t do so because it was an historical item that was part of the pub’s memorabilia collection. However, he promised that it would be displayed with the swastika facing away.

Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Cape Town and antisemitism expert, Milton Shain, said, “This isn’t the first display of a swastika in a public setting [in South Africa]. I recall several other occasions, including Nazi-regalia being worn as fancy dress at a Tuks [University of Pretoria] residence party decades ago. A float at one RAG procession had a Nazi theme. It remains offensive to Jews, and rightly so.”

However, the chairperson of the Cape SAJBD, Tzvi Brivik, said, “When investigating cases of Nazi imagery displayed in public, it’s essential to carefully consider the context and motive behind such displays. The SAJBD will deal with every such case on its merits, and its conclusion may well be that there is a valid reason for the display of such images or items.

“Unless there is compelling evidence to suggest otherwise, the inclusion of Nazi-era artefacts in general displays of historical memorabilia doesn’t equate to public advocacy of support for or identification with Nazism. Military re-enactments would fall into the same category.

“From a legal point of view, the court’s ruling on displaying the old RSA flag would probably extend to the legality of displaying Nazi imagery as well. In terms of that ruling, it’s recognised that it’s legitimate to display the old flag when this is done in a bona fide educational or historical exhibitional context, such as school textbooks or museum displays. It’s when the flag is gratuitously displayed in a public setting that it amounts to hate speech, since it inter alia expresses support for the old apartheid regime and therefore the racially discriminatory system that underpinned it.

“In this case, the fireman’s helmet with a swastika on is part of a general collection of such items from different times and different places,” Brivik said. “It’s inclusion can therefore safely be attributed to it being of genuine historical interest and relevant in the context of a public meeting place whose very name ‘Firemans Arms’ advertises its nature.”

Arvan said he didn’t accept the owner’s explanation. “When I discussed the matter there, at no stage did he advise that the helmet had unintentionally been put back the wrong way. He stood his ground, and said that the helmet had been there for the past 50 years, and he wasn’t going to remove it. He was absolutely indifferent and insensitive to the offence it was causing.

“Why not simply put it in a private office or out of the public domain? The fact that they have a hoard of memorabilia doesn’t justify the display of the swastika. The line that he has Jewish customers runs thin when you display the swastika knowing it would or could offend those very customers.”

After further urging from Diamond, Phelan eventually agreed to store the helmet in an office.