[Mcebo] Dlamini, the elected student leader of Wits University in Johannesburg, made the offending comment on Facebook “below a graphic comparing modern Israel to Nazi Germany,”reported the student newspaper, The Wits Vuvuzela. (Dlamini did not explain why, if Hitler was such an admirable statesman, Israel should be condemned for following his example.)

When challenged by the paper on his remarks, Dlamini did not back down. “What I love about Hitler is his charisma and his capabilities to organize people,” he said. “We need more leaders of such caliber. I love Adolf Hitler.” Hitler, the paper laconically noted by way of response, “is generally blamed for triggering World War II and sending over 6-million Jews to death camps as well as Roma, communists and homosexuals.”

Dlamini, however, was undeterred. “I have researched about president Adolf Hitler. I have read books about president Adolf Hitler. I have watched documentaries about president Adolf Hitler,” he insisted. And upon hearing that the university’s vice chancellor had condemned his comments and opened a disciplinary investigation, Dlamini released an 800-word statement, effectively doubling down.

Read the article “South African Student Body President: “I Love Adolf Hitler”” on tabletmag.com.