Kentucky dad Bryant Goldbach came under fire after pictures circulated online of his 5-year-old son dressed as Adolf Hitler for a local Halloween event.
Goldbach, who dressed up as a Nazi soldier, initially defended the costumes in a Facebook post which was screen-grabbed by multiple outlets before it was deleted.
“Anyone who knows us knows that we love history, and often dress the part of historical figures,” he wrote in a post riddled with spelling errors and typos. The father of four noted that no one “batted an eye” at revelers who channeled serial killers and devils but people were outraged by what his little boy was wearing.
“Tonight grown adults threatened a child over his costume,” Goldbach alleged. “Threatened his mom and dad as well. Threatened to rip his outfit off of him screaming obscenities, scaring a small child.”
But not everyone was horrified. “I do want to thank the people who intervened, and for those good people we interacted with,” he wrote. “Yes, liberalism is alive and well. And we had the dis-pleasure of dealing with the fruits of the so called ‘Tolerant Left.’”
Goldbach apologized on Sunday, October 28. “I wasn’t trying to make a statement or put my son in any position,” he told The Owensboro Times. “It was bad judgment. I want people to know I am sorry.”
The former watch shop owner, who dressed as Confederate solider for Halloween in 2017, called white supremacy “disgusting” during his interview with the paper. He also denied being racist.
“My brother is half-Iranian,” he said. “I have black friends. My last name is Jewish.”
Since photos of his son’s Nazi costume hit the internet on October 25, Goldbach claims he has received death threats and is afraid to leave his home. “I understand that people are mad,” he explained on Sunday. “But please leave my family alone.”
Rabbi Danny Burkeman of Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, Massachusetts, stresses that wearing a Nazi uniform is never appropriate or acceptable. “The symbols that child wore represent evil in its purest form,” Rabbi Burkeman tells Us Weekly. “It is a costume of hate directed at Jews, the LGBTQ community, and countless others who were persecuted by the Nazi regime. There is clearly a need for greater education to remind people of what those symbols stand for and why they should be completely rejected.”
