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Ecclestone says Hitler storm a 'misunderstanding'

Mon 06 Jul, 10:36 AM


Bernie Ecclestone has dismissed as a ‘big misunderstanding’ the international furore created by his recent interview with London's Times newspaper.

Not only was the F1 Chief Executive's apparent defence of Adolf Hitler condemned by Jewish groups, it is believed sections of the Formula One world argue it is evidence the 78-year-old should retire.

"All this is a big misunderstanding," Ecclestone told Germany's Bild newspaper.

"In the interview we were talking about structures and that it can sometimes be good to act and make strong decisions without reservation," he explained.

"I wasn't using Hitler as a positive example, but pointing out that before his dreadful crimes he worked successfully against unemployment and economic problems," said Ecclestone.

The wide-circulation German newspaper asked the Briton if he felt the need to apologise.

"It was never my intention to hurt the feelings of any community," Bernie replied. "Many people in my closest circle of friends are Jewish.

"Anyone who knows me knows that I would never attack a minority," he added.

 

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  1. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh­ hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­ iiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt­ tttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttllllllllllllll­ lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll­ lllllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­ eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrr­ rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr­ rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr RULES

    From Burt, on Tue 7 Jul 11:51PM

  2. Bernie has lost his marbles Hitler started his crimes­ against humanity well before he had turned­ 'things' around in Germany, it was precisely­ these crimes that got people scared into doing anything­ in the first place.

    Bernie should quit before his­ mouth gets him arrested for being a Nazi !

    From art_tidesco, on Tue 7 Jul 9:42AM

  3. BERNIE IS SIMPLY OUT OF TOUCH. HE STILL BELIEVES WE­ ALL HANG ON HIS EVERY WORD AND THAT, OF COURSE, HE CAN­ DO NO WRONG. I'M AFRAID HE IS SIMPLY MISGUIDED­ HERE, OR PERHAPS WERE HE WENT TO SCHOOL AND SPENT HIS­ TIME DURING THE WAR IS NOT ON MY PLANET?
    AND THEN TO­ SAY, SURE SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE JEWS--COME ON­ BERNIE, WE ALL KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE FRIENDS, JUST­ SUCKING UP SICOPHANTS!

    BYE BYE BERNIE.

    From bruce, on Mon 6 Jul 9:41PM

  4. John Lennon got himself into hot water in the USA in­ the 1960s for a quite similar, jocular comment. I fully­ understand why many many people are very sensitive to­ any comment made whatsoever, that is why individuals­ who are reported widely in the international media have­ to be very careful of anything they say, and that they­ are reported correctly. Reading this makes me very sad.

    From Only Human After All, on Mon 6 Jul 9:28PM

  5. I am over 12, can I post on this site please??

    From jonny_maverick1, on Mon 6 Jul 7:05PM

  6. I do not know why he is saying it is a storm in a tea­ cup....but I do kn ow that he and mosely would have­ made excelent Nazi dictators.They rule F1 with a steel­ hand with a saying of do as I say and not as I do.

    From IVORBENTONE, on Mon 6 Jul 4:24PM

  7. From Nxxx: ".... but not having read it choose,­ from a position­ of ignorance, not to comment on­ Bernie's beliefs."

    Well, I have read it and­ find it unnecessary to speculate about Ecclestone's­ beliefs. All one needs to do is understand what he­ said. The worst of what he said is basically that­ Hitler was a great guy who did a lot of wonderful­ things until others convinced him to do a number of­ unfortunate things.

    Ridiculous and utterly­ inexcusable.

    From John Barringer, on Mon 6 Jul 4:10PM

  8. Mr Burns this is not about being p.c. this is about a­ senior and important figure in the world of sport­ venerating a man and time that is one of the worst in­ the history of the world. No one should be holding that­ time up as one of note, and unless we ensure that­ people like Bernie do not water down and portray a­ sympathatic role of the main figure, then we will open­ the way for teh world to forget the horrors. If we­ forget the horrors then we pave the way for it to­ happen again.

    From Ellie, on Mon 6 Jul 4:03PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Nowdays you need a team of lawyers before you open your­ trap - This PC stuff is getting out of hand!

    From Mr Burns, on Mon 6 Jul 3:51PM

  10. Bernie is "a misunderstanding"!

    From Mark, on Mon 6 Jul 1:23PM

  11. why is anyone suprised that this short dictator admires­ Hitler

    From liam, on Mon 6 Jul 1:04PM

  12. When will he realise that this comment is essential the­ begining of his downfall? I've seen multiple­ petitions online for him to be sacked because of this!

    From chris.iremonger, on Mon 6 Jul 12:46PM

  13. Bernie,Did you read"The Nazis-A Warning From­ History"by Laurence Rees.His crimes started the­ moment he became Chancellor,so they ran concurrent with­ his rule.As for unemployment and economic growth that­ was illusiory and only came by pegging the Reichsmark­ high against other countries that he occupied from 1939­ on.As for your article being misunderstood I reckon the­ journalist was doing his job properly as they do record­ interviews.Once in print that was it and no­ backpedalling on your part will alter what you­ stated.You are an admirer of Fascism.Simple as that.

    From Rick Moth, on Mon 6 Jul 12:42PM

  14. While almost everyone has made ill thought out­ statements of belief at one time, or another in life,­ not very many have made so completely deliberate­ statements so absolutely publicly and devastatingly as­ those made by Mr. Ecclestone earlier this week. If the­ reporter was quoting Mr. Ecclestone accurately, and­ there isn't a shred of evidence that the reporter­ wasn't doing so; Mr. Ecclestone should be making­ abject apologies to everyone in sight.

    The net Mr.­ Ecclestone cast was wide. Each personality added in­ support of his contention only created additional­ problems in terms of increasing his culpability. There­ is now no place for Mr. Ecclestone to run and hide. No­ safe haven. The insensitivity of Mr. Ecclestone is so­ great that his reputation will now be forever tarnished­ in every reasonable society in the world.

    Mr.­ Ecclestone must resign his offices and retire from all­ public activities having to do with F1. He must­ disassociate himself from these statements and spend­ the remainder of his days making public restitution for­ his insensitive behaviour. That being said, I do not­ feel that there is anything that Mr. Ecclestone can say­ that would mitigate what he said, but he must make an­ honest effort to accomplish that end.

    From larsonrc41, on Mon 6 Jul 12:33PM

  15. More proof that he's lost the plot, as if any was­ needed?

    From JULIAN, on Mon 6 Jul 12:07PM

  16. Isn't it interesting that sometimes the true Bernie­ and Max escape and reveal who they really are.

    F1­ has been under their dictatorship for years. No other­ major sports would have tolerated this.

    We now know­ who their true hero is, I am sure BMW, Mercedes will­ love the association.

    How much more are they going­ to tolerate

    From robert b, on Mon 6 Jul 11:58AM

  17. What a half-a$$ed apology, if you could even call it­ that. Typical Bernie, it's not his fault it's­ ours for not being smart enough to understand his very­ point, which still he defends. He's never wrong,­ but those who disagree with him are always wrong

    Using­ the old, I'm not anti-Semitic, some of my best­ friends are Jewish. If this is true then he has­ completely lost it. If he does have Jewish friends then­ he definitely should have known how inappropriate an­ analogy this was. So either he is lying or clueless,­ either way what more do those in charge need to hear­ from these two a$$ clowns before they get rid of them?­ Enough is enough

    From chris_s, on Mon 6 Jul 11:51AM

  18. Wow, from 2 to 6 I count 5 intelligent posts in a row.­ That must be a first for this forum.

    For intelligent­ F1 discussion and lobbying polls aimed at the current­ F1 hierarchy join the Autosport forums, no trolls­ allowed.

    I am surprised at Bernies statements, but­ then again I am not. The sociopath does not distinguish­ between right and wrong, they have no concept of right­ and wrong, just respect or not respect. Unfortunately­ they only seem to respect and recognise fellow­ sociopaths and those who similarly covet wealth and the­ power associated with wealth.

    From woodrowtio, on Mon 6 Jul 11:48AM

  19. Yeah him and his best mate Mad Max they are both­ misunderstood trouble they are not taking the hint to­ go NOW they are both self obessed fools who seem to­ think that they can call people what they like and come­ out with crass comments at anytime well you idoits you­ can't

    From Spud..., on Mon 6 Jul 11:40AM

  20. I ask you as a fan what recourse do we have to show our­ displeasure with the current state of F1 other than­ post to a website? I am refraining from watching F1­ until Mr.s Eccelstone and Mosley are removed from their­ respective positions. I will not support the collective­ group of sponsors either as this type of thoughts are­ detrimental to a progressive sport as F1 and its fans.

    From David, on Mon 6 Jul 11:35AM
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