Rutgers University newspaper under fire for Hitler spoof

Rutgers University senior Aaron Marcus' name and image were attached to an article titled, 'What About the Good Things Hitler Did?' published in his school's satirical newspaper.

A Jewish student at Rutgers University has filed a bias complaint after a satirical campus paper ran a pro-Hitler article under his name last week.

Aaron Marcus was shocked to see his byline and photograph attached to an article titled, "What About the Good Things Hitler Did?" in the April Fools’ issue of The Daily Medium, a parody issue of the campus' actual newspaper, The Daily Targum.

Marcus, who writes a conservative, pro-Israel column for the Targum, said the Medium is known for being offensive, but went too far this time.

"The Medium has a right to freedom of speech, but what's different in this is that they took my name and took my image to publish an anti-Semitic diatribe, to praise Hitler," Marcus told the Daily News.

"So while they have a right to freedom of speech, they don't have a right to tarnish my reputation."

Marcus, who said the fake article was especially painful because many of his ancestors died in the Holocaust, said he was targeted because he is a Jewish columnist.

"If I weren't Jewish, and if I weren't pro-Israel, they wouldn't have used this Hitler reference," he said. "Primarily, toward the end of the piece where it says, 'If you're happy that Israel is around, thank Hitler.' That's clearly targeted toward my religious and political perspective."

The Medium is known around campus as a satirical newspaper, but for this edition, it copied the design of the Targum. Marcus says people who thought they were picking up a copy of the Targum accidentally grabbed the Medium, even fooling some of his own friends, who wondered if he'd actually penned the article.

On Thursday, Rutgers University President Richard L. McCormick released a statement about the column.

"No individual student should be subject to such a vicious, provocative and hurtful piece, regardless of whether First Amendment protections apply to such expression," said McCormick. "The Medium's article was particularly despicable in light of Mr. Marcus' Jewish faith."

Faculty adviser Ronald Miskoff, who critiques the Medium after it’s published but does not approve the content beforehand, told The Star-Ledger the article is "about the irony of a Jewish activist writing something that is the complete opposite of what he really believes.

"The editors are extremely aware that they have hit a hot-button issue, and I am sure they will learn something valuable from the experience," he said.

Marcus, who says anti-Semitism is a growing problem on campus, hopes the incident will serve as a wakeup call to the school.

"This is an ongoing problem at Rutgers, not protecting Jewish students on campus," he said. "Just the idea that the Medium thought they could run something like this, and it would be okay. Where praising Adolf Hitler is considered funny. And it's not.

"It's stealing my name and stealing my identity to publish something horrific," he added. "I hope the university takes a strong stance against anti-Semitism on campus and uses this to see how bad the situation really has become."