The name of a new men's clothing store in India has caused a furor.

Rajesh Shah, the owner of the shop called Hitler, with a swastika dotting the I, claims he didn't know about the famous fascist leader until recently.

"I didn't know how much the name would disturb people," he told AFP. "It was only when the store opened I learnt Hitler had killed six million people."

Shah said Hitler is the nickname of a co-owner's grandfather, according to the Times of India. It was given to him because he was a strict man.

The tiny Jewish community in Ahmedabad is not convinced.

"He feigned ignorance about Hitler ... But after we left, we began to believe that he may have been aware about all this and was just pretending to be ignorant," Menasseh Solomon, secretary of the local synagogue, told the Indian Express.

Solomon was part of a small group that visited the shop on Sunday and asked Shah to change the name, "but he refused."

Shah said he was caught off-guard by the reaction because no one complained about the "Hitler opening shortly" banner he'd had up for over a month, TOI reports.

He now says he is willing to change the name but only if he's compensated for his costs: about 40,000 rupees (approximately $710 CAD) on licencing, signage and marketing.