Man Says His Son Was Threatened For Wearing Hitler Halloween Costume

@tom_wolfson/Twitter

A man from Kentucky, US, has spoken out about how his son was threatened for wearing a Hitler costume at a Halloween event.  

Bryant Goldbach and his five-year-old son attended a ‘trail of treats’ event in Owensboro on Thursday (October 25), where the pair wore controversial Nazi costumes.

Following the event, the father shared a picture of his family on Facebook, defending his decision to dress himself and his son as ‘historical figures’, with a lengthy caption describing how the five-year-old had received threats at the event.

Goldbach’s post read:

Tonight me and my family went to the ‘Trail of Treats’ at the riverfront. They had a wonderful time and are very happy with their candy haul. But I need to speak out. [sic]

Anyone who knows us knows we love history, and often dress the part of historical figures.

Tonight as we walked we saw people dressed as murderers, devils, serial killers, blood and gore of all sorts. Nobody batted an eye. But my little boy and I dress as historical figures, and it merits people not only making snide remarks, but approaching us and threatening my little 5 year old boy. [sic]

The post continued:

Tonight grown adults threatened a child over his costume. Threatened to rip his outfit off of him screaming obscenities, scaring a small child.

Yes liberalism is alive and well. And we had the displeasure of dealing with the fruits of the so called “Tolerant Left”. [sic]

The post was later deleted, but not before it had chance to circulate the internet, sparking outrage from many.

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One infuriated Twitter user shared a picture of the father, writing:

This is Bryant Goldbach. He enjoys cosplaying himself and his family as nazis. And follows a few dozen Nazi/right wing extremist groups on social media. But I’m sure he just “appreciates history”. [sic]

While another posted:

#bryantgoldbach How did the conversation go with your toddler as you dressed him as one of the most diabolically insidious historical figures of all time? [sic]

Do you think he understood how despicable it was to force him into this position?

Tom Wolfson/Twitter

According to the TriState Homepage, the father has since admitted he didn’t think through his costume idea, saying:

I think it was in bad taste for me to let my child to wear that, probably for me to wear that. It didn’t occur to me. I thought it was a bad decision on my part.

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Rabbi Gary Mazo at Temple Adath B’nai Israel made a statement about the situation:

The fact that the father apologized is important; the fact he did not know the costumes would be offensive is a very sad reflection on our society. A good rule of thumb would be: “if your costume calls to mind an event where millions were killed, choose another costume.”

Costumes where someone dresses up deliberately to mock someone’s race, religion or nationality should be avoided.

If the purpose of Halloween is to have fun – bigotry, anti-Semitism and racism are not fun. That should be common sense. This is not being “politically correct” this is simply being respectful, understanding and kind.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to [email protected]. 

Emily Brown

Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.