Parents of Adolf Hitler to be Evicted

When Heath and Deborah Campbell complained that their local ShopRite supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake with their son's name, little did they know how much publicity they would receive.

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They could not understand why the supermarket would not put their son's name - Adolf  Hitler - on his birthday cake. They could not understand why naming all three of their children after Nazi names was such a big deal. They could also not understand why everyone thought they were racists just because they had swastikas all over their house. They really did not understand all the negative publicity they received. And one more thing - they don't know why New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) came and removed all three children from their home.

To be fair to the Campbells DYFS has not given a reason for removing the kids from the household. DYFS cited privacy concerns and has refused to provide any information about the case. DYFS did however say that they would not remove children from their parents just because of their names. A recently scheduled court appearance has been postponed, reportedly at the request of the parents, to give them time to find a lawyer.

In the meantime Heath Campbell is hospitalized due to stress and his wife Deborah gave the following interview:

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Mr. Campbell had at least two of the children’s names legally changed in recent months. He dropped his son’s original first name, Antonio (Adolf and Hitler had been the middle names), so he is now Adolf Hitler Campbell, and fixed his daughter’s birth certificate to correct the spelling of “Aryan.”

The Campbells’ neighbors described a family living on the fringe, financially and socially. Mr. Campbell, 35, and his wife, Deborah, 25, do not work and receive disability payments for emphysema and neck pain, respectively. Their landlord, Larry Lippincott, who shares the two-family home, said the family is often up all night.

“I hear the kids playing at 2:30 in the morning and the TV on,” Mr. Lippincott said. “He told me he was a night person and didn’t like to do anything during the day.”

Mr. Lippincott said he had decided — before the cake incident — not to renew the Campbells’ lease when it expired in November because, he said, a relative they frequently argue with threatened to “firebomb the house.” He expects to begin eviction proceedings soon.

“They’re not destroying anything, the house is clean and they pay their rent on time,” he said. But, he added, “There comes a point when you say, ‘Enough is enough.’ ”

Adolf Hitler Removed From Parents Home

3-Year-Old Adolf  Hitler Campbell and his two younger sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell were removed from their parents home by New Jersey’s Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), for unknown reasons. Kate Bernyk, a spokeswoman for the DYFS, said confidentiality laws barred her from commenting on the case or even confirming that the Campbell children were involved.

Little Adolf  Hitler Campbell gained national notoriety when his father, Heath Campbell, tried to order a birthday cake with his son's name on it. The local ShopRite refused to inscribed the name "Adolf  Hitler" on the cake, claiming that the name was offensive. Heath, who has named all three of his children after Nazi characters, eventually got the cake engraved with his son's name by a nearby Walmart.

Why the children were removed from the Campbell house remains a mystery. Sgt. John Harris of the Holland Township Police Department says, as far as he knows, there have been no problems with the Campbell family.

"I’ve dealt with the family for years and as far as the children are concerned, I have never had any reports of any abuse with the children," Harris said. "As far as I know, he’s always been very good with the children."

Even though DYFS spokeswoman, Kate Bernyk , would not comment specifically on the Campbell case she indicated that there was good reason for removing the children and that the action taken was in consultation with other pertinent authorities.

Speaking generally, Bernyk said the state's "decision to remove a child is based on the safety and well being of the child and the risk to that child, and that decision is made in conjunction with the courts and the county family court judge."

"DYFS would never remove a child simply based on that child's name," Bernyk said.

Whatever the reasons for removing the children, Heath Campbell, 35, and his wife, Deborah, 25, have an appointment in court to deal with this matter. Forensic psychologist N.G. Berrill said naming a boy Hitler could be considered child abuse.

"Part of it is the infantile nature of the parents’ behavior," Berrill said. "You can name your dog something weird, but they think they’re making some kind of bold statement with the children, not appreciating that the children will have separate lives and will be looked at in a negative light until they’re able to change their name. It is abuse."

The Campbell house is a monument to the Nazi's. There are swastikas prominently displayed in each room of their home. They say they aren’t racists but believe races shouldn’t mix. Heath says he named his son Adolf  Hitler because he liked the name and because “no one else in the world would have that name.”

ShopRite says No to Adolf Hitler Cake

There are laws against naming your children (or changing your own name) to something inappropriate. Such names referring to: obscenities, "fighting words", racial slurs, bodily functions etc. would be rejected. Nevertheless some parents choose names that are unusual and sometimes a little silly for their kids. Some examples are: Apple Martin, Peerless Price and Poppy Petal. Although there is nothing wrong with any of these names, it may cause the kids some embarrassment or even ridicule from their peers.

However it takes a special kind of parent to name their kids after notorious figures in history. The Campbells are one such couple. They have three young kids:

• Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, a girl named for Nazi head Heinrich Himmler, turns 1 in April


• Joycelynn Aryan Nation Campbell, who turns 2 in February.


• Adolf Hitler Campbell who just turned 3

Heath and Deborah Campbell believe that the holocaust never really happened. They have swastikas in each room of their home. In the foyer were boots worn by a Nazi solider named Daniel. They lay next to a skull with a swastika on its forehead. The living room is decorated with war books, German combat knives and, of course, swastikas. There are swastikas on walls, on jackets, on the freezer and on a pillow.

The Campbell home is kept neat aside from scattered toys and other evidence three children live there. It's small, but it's what the Campbells can afford. They live in a rented half of a one-story duplex just outside Milford, a borough in Hunterdon County. They say they aren't racists but believe races shouldn't mix.

Disabilities, the couple says, have left both out of work: Heath Campbell can't landscape or pump gas because he has emphysema, and Deborah can't waitress because she has a bad back. They live on Social Security payments.

The Campbells ran into a problem when they tried to order a cake from their local ShopRite supermarket for their 3-year-old son's birthday cake. Deborah Campbell, 25, said she phoned in her order last week to the ShopRite. When she told the bakery department she wanted her son's name spelled out, she was told to talk to a supervisor, who denied the request. That's right the store refused to decorate a cake wishing Adolf Hitler Campbell a happy birthday!

"ShopRite can't even make a cake for a 3-year-old," said Deborah Campbell, 25, who is Heath's wife of three years and the mother of the children. "That's sad."

Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman for the ShopRite located in Greenwich Township, said the grocer tries to meet customer requests but rejects those deemed inappropriate. She said the Campbells had similar requests denied at the same store the last two years and said Heath Campbell previously had asked for a swastika to be included in the decoration. The store has also refused to make a cake bearing the name of Campbell's daughter, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, who turns 2 in February.

"We believe the request to inscribe a birthday wish to Adolf Hitler is inappropriate," she said.

The grocer offered to make a cake with enough room for the Campbells to write their own inscription. But the Campbells refused, saying they would have a cake made at the Wal-Mart in Lower Nazareth Township. The Campbells say Wal-Mart made cakes for Adolf's first two birthdays.

A spokeswoman for Wal-Mart said the store won't put anything illegal or profane on a cake but thinks it's important to respect the views of customers and employees.

"Our No. 1 priority in decorating cakes is to serve the customer to the best of our ability," Anna Taylor, the spokeswoman, said from Bentonville, Ark.

Heath Campbell,35, said some people like the names but others are shocked to hear them. "They say, 'He (Hitler) killed all those people.' I say, 'You're living in the wrong decade. That Hitler's gone,'" he said.

"They're just names, you know," he said. "Yeah, they (Nazis) were bad people back then. But my kids are little. They're not going to grow up like that. Other kids get their cake. I get a hard time," he said. "It's not fair to my children. How can a name be offensive?" he asked.

Barry Morrison, a director at the Philadelphia office of the Anti-Defamation League, which works to stop anti-Semitism and bigotry, said the organization had never heard of children named for Hitler, Himmler or Aryan nations. He found the names offensive and commended ShopRite's decision.

The Campbells, Morrison said, "might as well put a sign around their (the children's) neck that says bigot, racist, hatemonger. What's the difference? Why not call the kid Peace or Tranquility or Hope or Acceptance?

"It's doing them (the children) a tremendous disservice, and it's cruel that parents would place these names on children," he said. "It's a mark upon them. It sets them apart for ridicule, derision, attacks.

Robert M. Gordon, a clinical psychologist in Allentown, said the names would hurt the children. "Certainly society is going to be hostile towards those kids, especially when they go to school," Gordon said. More than that, he said, the children would be harmed by their parents' views.

"By the time they get to school, they will already have been damaged," Gordon said. "Any parent that would impose such horrific names on their children is mentally ill, and they would be affecting their children from the day they were born. Only a crazy person would do that."

Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because "no one else in the world would have that name." He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated. He said his ancestors are German and that he has lived his entire life in Hunterdon County. He said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically. But he said he would try to raise his children differently.

"Say he grows up and hangs out with black people. That's fine, I don't really care," he said. "That's his choice."

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