[a] grumble... I'm forgetting who it is... Sorry...

'Swastika boards' and 'surf Nazis': New documentary explores surfing's
history of antisemitism
...
When he was 13 years old, Josh Greene moved with his family to San
Clemente, California, a city known as one of the best spots for surfing on
the West Coast. Greene quickly fell in love with the sport, even holding
his bar mitzvah party at a local museum dedicated to it.

As a "skinny, very unathletic" teen, Greene said he endured a significant
amount of bullying, including some that "extended itself into
antisemitism." Students at his school would compare his physique to that
of a Holocaust survivor.

Surfing provided refuge.

"Surfing was my way to really carve my own niche and find the confidence,
courage and physical strength I needed," he told the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency.

But years after his bar mitzvah, Greene learned that his parents had
arranged for the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center to remove
swastika-engraved boards that were on display, to avoid disturbing the
partygoers. Wanting to learn more, he discovered that the sport's history
is full of Nazi imagery: Particularly in the 1960s, seeing surfboards with
swastikas or surfers giving "Sieg heil" salutes was commonplace. Serious
surfers called themselves "surf Nazis" as a way to signal their intense
dedication to the sport.
=====
rest:
https://www.jta.org/2023/02/17/sports/swastika-boards-and-surf-nazis-new-documentary-explores-surfings-history-of-antisemitism

_____________________________________________________
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
dannyb@panix.com
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Which raises the question of whether the
folks behind the notoriously bad 1987 film
"Surf Nazis Must Die" were in fact aware
of the details described below and
intentionally riffing off them or just
came up with the term independently when
trying to work up an absurd exploitation
film plot.

On 2/19/2023 9:02 AM, danny burstein wrote:
> [a] grumble... I'm forgetting who it is... Sorry...
>
> 'Swastika boards' and 'surf Nazis': New documentary explores surfing's
> history of antisemitism
>    ...
> When he was 13 years old, Josh Greene moved with his family to San
> Clemente, California, a city known as one of the best spots for surfing
> on the West Coast. Greene quickly fell in love with the sport, even
> holding his bar mitzvah party at a local museum dedicated to it.
>
> As a "skinny, very unathletic" teen, Greene said he endured a
> significant amount of bullying, including some that "extended itself
> into antisemitism." Students at his school would compare his physique to
> that of a Holocaust survivor.
>
> Surfing provided refuge.
>
> "Surfing was my way to really carve my own niche and find the
> confidence, courage and physical strength I needed," he told the Jewish
> Telegraphic Agency.
>
> But years after his bar mitzvah, Greene learned that his parents had
> arranged for the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center to remove
> swastika-engraved boards that were on display, to avoid disturbing the
> partygoers. Wanting to learn more, he discovered that the sport's
> history is full of Nazi imagery: Particularly in the 1960s, seeing
> surfboards with swastikas or surfers giving "Sieg heil" salutes was
> commonplace. Serious surfers called themselves "surf Nazis" as a way to
> signal their intense dedication to the sport.
>      =====
> rest:
> https://www.jta.org/2023/02/17/sports/swastika-boards-and-surf-nazis-new-documentary-explores-surfings-history-of-antisemitism