According to The Journal in Ireland, a man from Kilkenny, Larry Brennan, celebrated his 79th birthday with a cake featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler. Here’s Brennan, his daughter, and his Nazi cake as shown on the KCLR 96fm website, a radio station on which he was later interviewed.

Brennan was then dumb enough to go on the radio (KCLR) to talk about his Hitler cake and his feelings about der Führer; you can hear the interview here. It’s summaried on the Journal website as well:

The interview starts with chat about Brennan’s local connections but when asked by Nunn why he had a picture of Hitler on his birthday cake, he replied:

“Well, I have great admiration for Hitler’s army, the way he dressed, his immaculate uniforms and his equipment.”

He said that equipment and clothing belonging to the German army during Hitler’s reign were highly sought after by many collectors. “It commands a very high price, unfortunately, today,” he said, pointing out that even English collectors were very interested in these items.

Presenter Nunn suggested that the strongest association most people would have with Hitler was one of “absolute mayhem, the torture and death of millions of people”. Brennan insisted that he himself was “not political”.

This is a transcript of what came next:

Brennan: “With politicians, it’s like a race; there’s always somebody trying to get out there, the jockey trying to get out in front to win. To me, politicians are like that, they say, ‘Forget about the truth, make it interesting, that sort of thing. That doesn’t tie with me, honestly, … and I’m afraid I part company with politics in that respect.”

Nunn: “But are you saying you admire Hitler, Lar?”

Brennan: “I admire Hitler because his army was so disciplined and he had great command over the people, and he fought for the people of his country. He was behind them, like, and they were behind him. It took three nations to beat him, like, and you know, he must have had some power.”

Nunn: “And all the people that he burned and…?”

Brennan: “Yes, well, that was the sinister thing about him. Behind that as well – and I don’t want to go into politics – but apparently there are two sides to every story and I heard that the other side of the story, the people that he, am, ah, put to death were spoiling the economy of his country by devaluing the deutschmark.”

Nunn: “Oh holy God. I can’t even let you say that, Larry, because I think that is just so offensive to people, you know. I mean…”

Brennan: “That’s what I heard.”

Nunn: “It’s been proven again and again and again and again … And why did the kids get, why did your daughter get the cake for you then, Larry? Was it a surprise?”

Brennan: “It was a surprise because she knew I collected all sorts of stuff like that. I collect motorbikes – well, I’m not saying I have masses of motorbikes, I have an interest and have a few motorbikes – and guns, swords, anything that’s old and antique-ish. I’ve a great interest in history, like, you know.”

Nunn: “And do you have Hitler memorabilia?”