The Hudson restaurant and its staff didn’t deserve the harassment they got after news outlets reported that the eatery had served patrons dressed as Nazi soldiers. The abuse got so bad that the Kith & Kin had to close on Tuesday.

As it turned out, the guys dressed as German soldiers were WWII reenactors who stopped in after the local American Heritage Museum’s annual “Battle for the Airfield” reenactment over the weekend in Hudson. They were accompanied by reenactors wearing old American GI uniforms. … The restaurant clearly should have asked the Nazi reenactors to change clothes or cover up their costumes, as the apologetic Kith & Kin now acknowledges. It was downright stupid not to do so, considering the recent rise in antisemitism. But it was an honest mistake. …

Fyi: I live in Hudson and I’ve frequented both the restaurant and museum. As far as I know, they’re owned and run by good people. And the annual “Battle for the Airfield” is a hugely popular event sponsored by the well-respected museum.

Update – 10-16-24 – I’ve since corrected my initial version of this post that stated the reenactors were dressed as SS troops. They weren’t. Just regular Wehrmacht soldiers. Which is bad enough.

Update II- 10-16-24- Scott Van Voorhis at Contrarian Boston is blaming the “boneheaded” reenactors themselves for trooping around town and going out to dinner in controversial uniforms. Good point. And he’s also reached out to the head of the museum to find out what new “protocols” he was talking about regarding behavior surrounding reenactments. Scott hasn’t heard back yet from the museum owner.