Mass. Restaurant apologizes after historical reenactors dined dressed as Nazis

Local News

The restaurant said it received threats following the incident and announced Tuesday morning that it would be closing on Oct. 15 to ensure the safety of its employees.

A restaurant in Hudson, Massachusetts, has become the “target of increasing harassment and threats” after it apologized Sunday for allowing a group of historical actors, some dressed as Nazi soldiers, at the establishment to dine.

On Saturday evening, a group of eight reenactors – four dressed as U.S. soldiers, one as a military nurse and two as German SS soldiers – from the American Heritage Museum, who were taking part in a local World War II reenactment, came to Kith and Kin Hudson for dinner.

According to an event post, over 350 reenactors took part in the weekend event, with actors representing multiple branches of the Allied and Axis militaries.

“In hindsight, they should have asked to change before being seated,” the restaurant posted on Facebook. “At a time when anti-Semitic violence continues to rise, we should have recognized that other guests may not be aware of the local World War II reenactment.”

The statement went on to say the restaurant would “never intentionally do anything to offend or hurt anyone in the community.”

“If we truly believed that these individuals had anti-Semitic beliefs, we would never have allowed them to enter the restaurant,” Kith and Kin wrote.

Since the incident, the restaurant has been the target of harassment and threats and announced Tuesday morning that it would be closing on Oct. 15 to ensure the safety of its employees.

One Facebook commenter wrote that it was “strange” that the reenactors “mistakenly felt it was unnecessary to take off the costumes.”

“I can't imagine that they actually thought it was acceptable to wear these costumes to dine in public,” wrote the commenter on the restaurant's post, who said they were dining at Kith & Kin when the actors arrived. “If they know the story, they should know better and save the costume for the performance.”

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Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, covering breaking news, crime and politics across New England.

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