Time for some last words. I want to thank all the amazing people who joined and enjoyed this campaign. We told thousands of people, and hundreds of restaurant managers, that we dont want to eat with nazis. The Pizza Jazz Nazi will get a criminal record and he probably wishes he never expressed his disgusting fantasy in a public place. He will be in court in a couple of weeks to decide the size of his fine. It will be in all the news portals and everybody will go apeshit and keep saying but what about the green bridge all the damn time. As Richard says, the only opposition to our akcija was from people who lack intelligence, reason, logic or compassion. Whenever we were worried that maybe we were doing the wrong thing, a total idiot would come along and write something stupid on the wall. This was very encouraging, because if only idiots oppose you, then you are probably doing something right. We attacked Pizza Jazz more than the actual nazi guy. Why? Because of the unprofessional way Pizza Jazz handled the situation. They had many chances to put things right, but they ended up blaming Richard in the press for a conflict between customers and attacking him for criticising Pizza Jazz on facebook. Wow. It was not a conflict between customers. It was a conflict between Richard and the management staff of Pizza Jazz, who suck at their jobs. They didnt admit that, and they didnt apologise. They promised to call Richard and explain, but they didnt. Pizza Jazz, and the press, tried to imply that only a foreigner would complain about this, and he should have just kept quiet, because he is western and doesnt understand. Wow again. If nobody cares, why did my boycott get so much support from people saying they will never eat in Pizza Jazz again? We are talking about a serious crime, not just a civil offence. Many people in Kaunas would be traumatised by seeing that uniform, and it should be taken very seriously. The staff did nothing. Richard didnt complain to the police, he reported to the police that a crime was taking place. The police were professional about it (shaunuoliai), Pizza Jazz were not. The nazi was arrested. And so begins the process of a thousand Lithuanians trying to find a way to blame Richard for this. An apology would have cost nothing and we would have immediately stopped the boycott. We gave Pizza Jazz many chances. They failed every time. They could have just said We are very sorry for the way we handled the incident you witnessed in our restaurant, and for the unsatisfactory response of our staff. We want to assure you that it is not our policy to welcome that kind of behaviour on our premises, and we have issued instructions to all our restaurants to ensure that this will not happen again. Please accept our sincere apologies, and the enclosed vouchers which you may spend anywhere in our chain. We look forward to seeing you back again at Pizza Jazz.. Simple. I hope many Lithuanian companies saw this akcija and they realise that they need to improve their PR. Customers have the power to embarass them. Thanks to our akcija, more customers realise that now. Mistakes happen, but you can apologise for them nicely and create loyal customers who thank you for your honesty. Or - you can just deny everything and defend nazis. If Pizza Jazz is run so unprofessionally, what do you think the kitchen looks like? Pizza Jazz are free to choose who gets brandy in their restaurant. I am just very sad that they chose a guy in an illegal nazi uniform who was joking about killing Jews. What part of Sorry about the nazi in the restaurant is so hard for Pizza Jazz to say? ------ The final words are my two favourite comments from Richard - seeing as the media didnt bother to ask him for his opinion. Here, Richard answers the millions of questions about Soviet symbols. If you want to be outraged by Soviet symbols then thats fine, but maybe you also want to do something positive about it rather than moan on other peoples walls. Start a campaign perhaps, but dont try and give us a history lesson on a subject we know more about than you do (being Lithuanian doesnt give you any authority Im afraid... you still have to do your homework). Jewish culture and history in Kaunas is my subject, and its not what you probably think it is. Among the projects Im currently working on is a PhD about Kaunas Jews during the Soviet period. Ive recently interviewed a Kaunas Jew born in 1937 who at the age of four was along with the rest of his family deported to Siberia during the June 1941 Soviet deportations. Of those who were deported from Lithuania during this first wave of Soviet atrocities its now generally believed that over twenty percent were Jewish. One of the things that annoys me is that when its convenient the Lithuanian Jews are described as Lithuanians (as in the case of the first Soviet deportations) and at other times its better to call them Jews. And finally, Richard explains why it is important for Lithuanians to remember that nazis are bad. Another point thats difficult to express is just how badly the people at Pizza Jazz handled the situation when I met them. They promised to get back in touch with me with an explanation by the end of the day (this was on Monday), and they didnt. Its quite clear that they said this to get rid of me. Its these minor details that change everything. They were wrong on issues of both legality and morality and they deserve the shit were giving them. I dont believe that what were doing is inappropriate at all. The legal issue is very clear. The moral issue is much more complicated. I have friends in this city whose family members were murdered here during the Holocaust. Some people argue that we should forget the past and move on. I dont agree with this. You may be surprised to know that the Holocaust doesnt actually interest me that much. The issue Im concerned with is how the past is remembered. Id much prefer to just get on with my life and not think very much and drink lots of beer. Unfortunately I dont have that choice. Some call it a conscience. Others call it a disease. Whatever it is, it needs to be dealt with and not brushed under the carpet. This small campaign isnt the product of childish troll-like minds. Its a reaction to something that happened that makes the world an unpleasant place to live in. We want to make the world a nice place to live in. Mark SPLINTER will agree with me when I say that we both love Lithuania and we do these things because of this.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 20:21:48 +0000
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