‘Hitler’ clashes with ‘Zelensky’ for control over French town

The names of the candidates for mayor of Arcis-sur-Aube have drawn global attention

An upcoming mayoral runoff in the small French town of Arcis-sur-Aube has drawn global attention due to the unusual surnames of two candidates, which resemble those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.

Mayor Charles Hittler is seeking reelection in a three-way second round on Sunday against Annie Soucat and Antoine Renault-Zielinski, after leading the first round of voting last weekend.

Hittler, who has governed the small community of less than 3,000 in the Grand Est region since 2020, is in the lead following the first round, in which he received 37.81% of the vote. He was followed by Soucat with 32.20% and Renault-Zielinski with 29.99%, Le Figaro reported.

What stopped Hittler from changing his name?

Online jokes about the election have gone too far, the mayor told the BBC. “I’ve seen online articles saying ‘37% of the people of Arcis are Hitlerites!’ My wife is in tears.”

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The 75-year-old former lab chief said his family comes from Alsace, a French region bordering Germany, and was among the victims of the Nazi regime, which subjected him to forced labor. He considered changing his name when he married in 1949, but decided the administrative burden was not worth it.

“Once you are known, the name begins not to matter. People look at the person behind the name. To my familiars, I was just ‘Monsieur Charles’. So I decided to keep it,” he said.

Hittler’s campaign is nonpartisan and center-right.

Not a Zelensky cousin

Renault-Zielinski, 28, is also running as an independent, though his candidacy is supported by the right-wing Patriots party led by Florian Philippot.

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The second part of his family name is Polish rather than Ukrainian and comes from his maternal side. The customs officer said he has grown accustomed to questions about a possible connection to the Ukrainian leader since the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.

“People are often curious; they say things like ‘your cousin Zelensky,’ asking me if we might be related,” he told BFM. Renault-Zielinski said he understands why his contest with Hittler is seen as amusing, but he does not find the situation particularly funny – or offensive.

“As long as it stays good-natured,” he said, “it helps to put Arcis-sur-Aube in the spotlight, and if it allows some people to discover our town, we should take it!”

The municipality is known as the site of a major battle during the Napoleonic wars, in which outnumbered French forces were defeated by Austro-Russian troops.