A small commune in north-central France has unexpectedly become an online talking point because its incumbent mayor shares a striking surname with history's most notorious dictator.
Charles Hittler, the mayor of Arcis-sur-Aube (population about 2,785), is seeking re-election in Sunday's municipal run-off and narrowly led after the first round.
The retired laboratory chief says the surge of social media attention has shifted focus away from local issues and left his family distressed.
For decades the name attracted only occasional jibes and the odd defaced poster, Hittler explains, but recent posts comparing him to Adolf Hitler and his opponent to Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky have amplified the ridicule.
He says people are talking about names instead of municipal policies.
Hittler traces his family to northern Alsace.
His father was taken to Germany for forced labour during World War II and, after the war, the family decided not to go through the costly administrative process of changing their surname.
A few relatives have altered the pronunciation or dropped the name through marriage, so the surname is now rare in France.
His main challenger, 28-year-old Antoine Renault-Zielinski, is a customs officer who recently moved to Arcis and is standing with the far-right Patriot movement.
The Polish-origin ending of his name often draws comparisons to Zelensky, which Renault-Zielinski says is a coincidence and not a relation.
A third candidate, Annie Soucat, is also in the contest.
Arcis-sur-Aube sits roughly 160km southeast of Paris in a region where right-wing parties perform strongly in national polls.
The town's name also has an odd historical echo: a settlement near Odesa was named Artsyz after the 1814 battle of Arcis-sur-Aube.
Locals hope the online frenzy will fade and conversation will return to local governance.
For now, a quirk of names has put this small French town squarely on the map.
