Holocaust survivors and fellow Republicans have rebuked Rich Iott, a congressional candidate for the Republican Party in Ohio, for wearing a SS uniform during re-enactments of World War II history. Iott, a candidate backed by the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, belonged to the Wiking organization from 2003 to 2007, ‘The Atlantic’ magazine reported last week. The group staged full-dress re-enactments of Nazi SS maneuvers. The American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants said in a statement that donning the SS uniform was "profoundly disgraceful" and that Iott's failure to apologize "desecrates the memory of all victims of the Nazis, Jew and non-Jew."
In an appearance on ‘Fox News’, the minority whip in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor, said he "absolutely repudiates" such a behavior. The National Republican Congressional Committee removed Iott from a preferred list of candidates and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) said the candidate was unfit for office. "Rich Iott's initial statement after the story about his Nazi-focused historical reenactments broke showed that he clearly lacks the judgment we should expect of lawmakers," RJC director Matt Brooks said in a statement.
In a statement on his website, Iott (pictured above, second from the right, in the SS uniform) said he had enjoyed a broad range of re-enactments, including playing US soldiers from World Wars I and II. "Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish community," Iott said. He said he would not apologize and blamed his Democratic opponent for publicizing the information.
On CNN, Iott said donning the Nazi outfit was part of a historical lesson. His hobby of military re-enactments had been taken out of context. "The whole purpose of historical re-enacting is to educate people one-on-one," Iott said. "And that is done by going out and participating in re-enactments." When asked if he thought the men being impersonated were "valiant men," Iott said, "I don't think we can sit here and judge that today. We were not there the time they made those decisions. Were there bad people? Absolutely. Were there atrocities committed? Absolutely there were. There are people that want to deny the Holocaust ever happened in this country and around the world."
Asked by the news agency AP whether it was wrong to wear a Nazi uniform, Iott said: "I don't see anything wrong about educating the public about events that happened. And that's the whole purpose of historical re-enacting."
