In the week of International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan. 27) and the year of commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, it’s hardly surprising that many are less than receptive to a positive appraisal of Adolf Hitler.
But that didn’t deter Morris Berger, a newly appointed football coach at Grand Valley State University, Michigan, from trying to generate some positive PR for the much reviled German leader.
His employers failed to appreciate his attempt at historical analysis, however, and the man in charge of the football team’s attack discovered he had coordinated an offense of a different kind when he was suspended on Monday.
It all began when Berger was innocently interviewed last Thursday by The Grand Valley Lanthorn, the university’s student-run newspaper, during his first week on the job.
Berger, a History graduate from Drury University in Missouri, was asked which three famous figures, living or dead, he would choose to join him for a fantasy dinner party, with the proviso that football luminaries were not allowed.
Perhaps emboldened by his own Germanic surname, the imprudent Berger named the Führer first, although he recognized it would not be a popular choice.
“This is probably not going to get a good review, but I’m going to say Adolf Hitler,” the coach answered. “It was obviously very sad and he had bad motives, but the way he was able to lead was second-to-none.”
“How he rallied a group and a following, I want to know how he did that,” Berger explained. “Bad intentions of course, but you can’t deny he wasn’t a great leader.”
Responding in a statement issued on Monday, the university announced Berger’s suspension and said that his comments “do not reflect the values of Grand Valley State University.” It promised to conduct a “thorough investigation.”
If Berger gets the same question again he’ll need to think hard for a replacement to accompany his two other choices, JFK and Christopher Columbus. Perhaps Adenoid Hynkel would be a safer bet.