‘Miss Hitler’ beauty pageant banned in Russia

A “Miss Hitler” online beauty pageant has been shut down in Russia following an outcry over its glorification of the Nazi leader, according to reports.

The competition, which appeared on Russia’s equivalent of Facebook – VKontakte – encouraged young females contestants to post pictures of themselves in Nazi uniform, making Nazi salutes or expressing devotion to Adolf Hitler.

According to a report in the Times, the contest aimed to “promote Hitlerian culture; encourage interaction between the Hitlerian community; clear the image of Hitlerian culture; show beauty of Hitlerian culture”.

The article added that government agency Roskomnadzor has since replaced the page with a message, which said: “This community has been blocked because of calls to violence”.

Contestants had entered the competition, sporting names such as Miss Edelweiss and Miss Marta, with their application seeing them dress up in Nazi uniform, praising Hitler and carrying out antisemitic rants.

Abraham H Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which criticised the staging of a similar competition back in 2014, said: “For us, the fact that the contest took place is a reminder of the importance of continuing education about the lessons of the Holocaust and the legacy of antisemitism in Russia.”