Nazi Salutes Jewish Deli Menu

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A North Shore deli's catering menu for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur was adorned with caricatures of a Nazi and a Sasquatch in response to the hate and violence on display this month in Charlottesville, Virginia. The frowning, blond-haired, uniform-clad figure wears an "I'm with Alt-Right" T-shirt and a swastika armband and salutes Hitler beside a menu in the style of a Torah scroll with such High Holiday favorites as latkes, brisket, matzo balls and kishke.

"Have I taken this too far?" asked Greg Morelli, 49, owner of Max's Deli in Highland Park and the creator of the provocative menu artwork. "Maybe. Or maybe I haven't taken it far enough," he said in an online message accompanying the image, which aims to show that racism and anti-Semitism remain an active threat.

On the bottom of the menu there's another image of a cartoon figure, as a Sasquatch is portrayed wearing a shirt proclaiming "I'm with Alt-Left." By portraying the "alt-left" as a mythical cryptid, Morelli suggests that the perceived threat from anti-fascist activists is a fantasy. While both Nazis and Sasquatch are "man-made," one of them is harmless, he said.

"At least Sasquatch won't ship your entire family on a train to a so-called work camp while your neighbors look the other way. Or turn away the SS St. Louis," Morelli wrote, referring to the boat on which more than 900 Jewish refugees were blocked from entering the United States in 1939. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Highland Park — or your community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

"When you put Nazi insignia somewhere it’s instantaneously emotional and dangerous," Morelli told WMAQ. “I’m a Jew. I cannot pretend, in this movement, that I’m not afraid—but I’m also afraid of being afraid.” He said he decided to pair the artwork on the diner’s Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana menus because the upcoming Jewish holidays are focused on atonement.

“If this president could learn anything from the High Holidays, it’s that it’s OK to be wrong,” he told the TV station. “You’re making me uncomfortable, man, you’re supposed to be the president.”

UPDATE, Sept. 2: Morelli posted an apology with his next cartoon on Aug. 31:

He also provided a discussion of the experience of going viral as part of his "Regulars of Max's Deli" interview series:

Related:

• Illinois Hate Groups: Map Shows Active Racist Organizations
  
• Nazi Symbols Found On Roof Of Elementary School In Frankfort
  
• Neo-Nazis Are Terrorists: Illinois Senate
• President Trump: Neo-Nazis Bad, But 'What About The Alt-Left?' (Watch)

_{Top image: Max's Deli in Highland Park (Google Street View)}