New Jersey's Little Adolf Hitler Won't Be Coming Home Soon
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
Adolf was a perfectly good baby name until you-know-who showed up.
Likewise, names like Aryan had no negative connotation at all until that same guy started saying anyone who wasn't Aryan was inferior and quite probably should be put to death.
Giving a New Jersey couple the benefit of the doubt, maybe a beloved uncle was named Adolf Hitler. And maybe, just by sheer happenstance, he was married to a lovely woman named Aryan Nation.
That could be why they gave their children such odd names.
However, that's more doubt than a state appeals court in New Jersey is willing to give Heath and Deborah Campbell and their children -- 4-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell and his little sisters JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell.
CBS News reports the court ruled this week that the couple should not have custody of their children. The kids have been in foster care since January of 2009, shortly after they first attracted attention because a supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake with little Adolf Hitler's name on it.
Social workers from New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services were a little, uh, concerned about a family with so many Nazi and generally racist names.
According to CBS News, the three-judge panel ruled the Campbells have more problems than a fascism fetish. Heath, 37, has never had a job because of medical and psychological problems. His wife, Deborah, 27, also has a history of mental illness and dropped out of high school in the 10th grade.
The court ruled social workers "proved the need for protective services for these children within the meaning of abuse or neglect."
Social workers started investigating the Campbells in 2009, in response to reports of domestic violence. The children were also allegedly strapped and confined for unusual amounts of time inside the house in child booster seats.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports investigators found the couple's bedroom windows were nailed shut, and Heath Campbell controlled the couple's car and only active cell phone.
According the newspaper, judges also considered a typo-riddled note Deborah Campbell had given to neighbors.
"If anything may happened to me please do an altops on me b/c My husband has done something to me," the letter reads. "Hes thrend to have me killed or kill me himself hes alread tried it a few times. Im afread that he might hurt my children if they are keeped in his care. He teaches my son how to kill someone at the age of 3."
Related: Your Baby's Name Is Not a Battleground











ReaderComments (Page 6 of 11)
8-06-2010 @ 4:22PM
ram said...but it is ok to name your child keyshawn. pouquisia. boushwaila.etc as long as they can catch a football?
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8-06-2010 @ 4:26PM
Maurice Holt said...FedEx denies employees time off to attend their FATHERS' funeral.
Go to YouTube, search word: FedEx Inhumane Treatment.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:28PM
mschatterbox4 said...Why is it that these are the people that can actually reproduce?????? There are plenty of great couples out there that can't have children, but it's these two nuts that are able to have kids! Urghh!
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8-06-2010 @ 4:30PM
livelovelaugh said...Aside from the facts that these parents, at least the father, are seriously messed up and should never have been allowed to influence the life of any child, there still remains the argument over whether or not parents should be judged by the names they assign to their children. What does it say about their states of mind? Obviously the Cambell's minds are racistly slanted toward the murderous acts of Hitler and friends! But what about others? Where was Frank Zappas' mind when he named his child "Moon Unit"? Is Moon "Unit" in reference to a body part? How sick and dangerous for a child would that be? Or how about George Foreman naming all of his children "George Foreman"! Is it abusive to remove individualism before it can even begin? Maybe he and mom just have no imagination! Ahh...but still maybe it's just artistic love! So, who decides what is normal and OK to name a child? Who Cares!! If you don't like your name for what ever reason, for around $200 you can change it and in the case of these Cambell kids, let them decide whether or not to change their names and let the kids pick their own names (that could be really fun). If there comes a court order it should force the parent to foot the bill. (Oh yeah, that would be the tax payers!)
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8-06-2010 @ 4:36PM
Mona said...I agree with Leann. It's apparent that the mother, being a high school drop-out and having can't spell well is possibly in danger. How long were these two together? Were they high school sweethearts? If this is the case then it is very highly possible the husband has been mentally and emotionally abusing his wife and kids.She tried to get help from a neighbor by writing the letter to her. Her husband probably didn't even know she wrote the note until all of their problems was investigated.
I really think that also the parents have a right to give what ever names they want too to their kids, but they should also use a little common sense too and think about how it will affect their children in the future. Now true, Sticks and stones may break my bones but names won't ever hurt me!" Well the last part of that statement is not intirely true. It's called Verbal abuse!
The mother having limited to and or no use/access of the only cell phone they have and having their windows nailed shut with no way out other than the front door (if they could even get out of there ) in case of an emergency like a fire. This sounds like the father has serious mental issues and is very abusive towards his wife and children.
The mother needs to be placed in protected custody and given her kids back after shes gone through extensive rehab with supervised visits with her children. And the father locked up!
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8-06-2010 @ 4:32PM
Gina said...Olesteak, if you read the article correctly you would see that these people are crazy and obviously not all there in the head. The mother (or the woman who gave birth to them because she's obviously not good enough to be called a mother) wrote a letter to a neighbor stating her husband tried to kill her and is teaching their 3 year old how to kill.
The names of these kids only proves there is something wrong with them. Who would EVER name their child Adolf Hitler????
I'm glad they took the kids away from them before something horrible happened to them.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:31PM
Eddie said...The parents of these kids never should have been allowed to breed.
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8-10-2010 @ 4:46PM
earichter said...Do you believe the article? Do you think the investigators' were honest? Have none of you heard about how investigators and GALs invent issues, distort the facts, and exaggerate based on their own personal biases? You guys never heard of that? Give me a break! How about the value of preserving the family? Did the children have to be permanently taken away or could the social workers have worked with the parents in order to make the necessary behaviorial changes for them to maintain their parental rights? Is there an assumption that if you have a mental illness you should be denied parental rights. In CT I know parents who have maintained parental rights even though they are doing drugs or have beaten their children repeatedly. These parents don't just call their children funny names, they kill. But they are not losing their children. So why is the government targeting these parents? Bigotry, bias, prejudice? Whatever, they have violated the civil rights of these parents.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:39PM
Carole said...Either some of you didn't read the entire article or are too stupid to understand and realize the danger these children were in. Some people shouldn't be allowed to breed and apparently Amy and Olesteak were at the bottom of the gene pool.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:55PM
Mona said...Carol. I agree that anyone who is abusive in any way shape or form, shouldn't be allowed and or able to have and or adopt any children!
However in this story, I believe that the mother was and is being abused by her husband as well as her kids too by him. She needs to be placed in protected custody and given supervised visits with her kids while and or once shes gone through extensive rehab for domestic and abused women and children. And the husband should be locked up.
8-06-2010 @ 4:40PM
Sindy said...I am just thankful that for once, the folks making the more common sense comments are in the majority here. The lack of tolerance for the kind of ignorant b.s. kids are unwittingly subjected to is the only thing that is going to stop it. It amazes me that none of their friends or extended family had the balls to enlighten them to the repurcussions their idiocy would have on their kids. Someone slip these people some birthcontrol!
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8-06-2010 @ 4:47PM
boredsilly said...would you name your kid pecker-head or shit-stain? we may call the little curtain-climbers stuff like that behind closed doors, but you can't send them to school or for a job interview with those names. it' like labeling them for life.
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8-09-2010 @ 12:08PM
mcpino said...How do they live, welfare? A good argument why we should not give poor people checks. If you cannot afford to take care of your children then the state will, in an orphanage. No more free money just for having babies.
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8-06-2010 @ 6:02PM
keithflier said...It is alright to take children away from parents who teach hatred yet we elect a president that sits in a church and and hears hatred spewed from the pulpit. What a hypocrital world we live in.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:47PM
fatblackandhappy said...I have a hard time believing that the grocery store's refusal to decorate the cake with "racist" names is what actually caused the removal of the children. I think there's more to this story. More than likely, this family had already come to the attention of their local social services department, and as is typical of such departments, nothing was ever done. I believe that it wasn't until this story made the newspapers or was aired on television, that the department began to do their job and conduct a real investigation. I would put money on the table right now that there was already a file on this family with several "unfounded" complaints, gathering dust under some donut-eating caseworker's desk. Another telling thing from this article comes from the note the mother wrote. Despite mental illness and some obvious cognitive deficits, she's aware enough of her situation to be in fear of her life, and she has the wherewithal to know it's wrong to teach a toddler to kill. My only hope is that she and her children aren't penalized by an embarrassed social services agency and separated from each other forever. Foster care can be an even worse nightmare. I know - I worked at my local social services department for fourteen years. Foster care can be a trip to hell.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:55PM
boredsilly said...Unfortunately, large-happy-lady, you are right. were they in school? I can't see a teacher or school administrator not red-flagging this one. Pediatrician might have raised a ruckus; poor family...kids probably never saw a Pediatrician. I don't have much positive to say about organized religion, but no way a man or woman of the cloth would baptize a baby with those names.
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8-06-2010 @ 4:54PM
Jean said...Leave it to Fox to find the most irrevelant part of the story and emphasize that part as the main focus. The children were not taken out of the home because of their names, they were taken out because of the actions of their parents. The names of the children are minor details.
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8-06-2010 @ 5:17PM
leigh said...As I read the comments it appeas that this family has more trouble than just what they named their children, I believe the children should haave been protected from the family not from what the family named them. I guess it is easier to get a judgement on the names than on the real problem ....These two people should not have bred!
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8-06-2010 @ 5:12PM
boredsilly said...obviously, the article detailed many good reasons for the removal of the kids. My point is, the family may have been kept out of the main-stream. Where I come from, if the kids had been in school or receiving state assistance or going to a church of God, someone would have had an issue.
8-06-2010 @ 5:11PM
amksinny said...My father made a statement many years ago ( back in the 60's) When you let the government into your home there will be problems. He was right. The government DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TELL YOU WHAT TO NAME YOUR CHILD. The government should not be in my Doctor's office, or my home. I believe the people that lived behind the Berlin Wall lived like this. You know, telling you where you could go, how to live, how to raise your children, spies and camera's everywhere. HELLO PEOPLE......
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