Man Who Named Son Hitler Wears Nazi Attire to Custody Hearing
When Heath Campbell appeared in Hunterdon County (N.J.) Family Court on June 3 to fight for the right to visit his 18-month-old son, he had one goal in mind: prove he is a fit father who deserves a second chance. To bolster his chances, the 40-year-old Holland, N.J., man dressed for success 鈥� in a Nazi uniform decorated with medals, a swastika armband, and shiny, knee-high leather boots.
Campbell, who sports a Hitler-style mustache and whose body is festooned with Nazi-themed tattoos, including one that reads 鈥淜ill Judes鈥� (misspelled German for 鈥淛ews鈥�), came under scrutiny in 2008 when he asked a supermarket to write 鈥淗appy Birthday Adolf Hitler鈥� on a cake for his son, who is named for Campbell鈥檚 hero. Little Adolf Hitler Campbell, 6, along with his siblings 鈥� Joycelynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 5, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 4 鈥� were taken into state custody in 2009 after the birthday cake incident triggered an investigation. They have since been adopted. The toddler at the center of the current custody battle, Hons Heinrich Campbell, was taken into custody on the day of his birth.
The unemployed Campbell survives on disability and appears to be involved with the National Socialist Movement (NSM), currently the largest neo-Nazi group in America. He contends that he is capable of being a good father. 鈥淛ewish people came into my house and took my kids all over a name,鈥� he told the New York Daily News. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 murder
anybody. I didn鈥檛 hurt anybody. What crime did I do? Yes, I鈥檓 guilty of loving my children.鈥�
But it wasn鈥檛 just the Nazi names. Two former wives have alleged that Campbell beat, intimidated and threatened to kill them. According to one, he wanted to name another son Lucifer.
In June, Campbell announced that he and his new fianc茅e, Bethanie Zito, 22, are expecting a child. If it鈥檚 a girl, he told the New York Daily News, they will call her Eva Braun, after Hitler鈥檚 mistress. A boy would be named after Erwin Rommel, the Nazi field marshal known as 鈥淭he Desert Fox鈥� who commanded German and Italian forces in North Africa during World War II.
