# Tussauds' Hitler wax figure sparks uproar in Germany



## Royal605 (1 Jun 2008)

Tussauds' Hitler wax figure sparks uproar in Germany


Last Updated: Saturday, May 31, 2008 | 11:41 AM ET Comments51Recommend53CBC News 
Plans to display a figure of Adolf Hitler at a new branch of Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin has triggered an outcry in Germany with one Jewish group calling it a "Nazi Disneyland."

Natalie Ruoss, a museum spokeswoman, confirmed on Friday the world famous museum will feature a display of German historical figures.

Ruoss emphasized Hitler would not appear as a figure to be revered but rather as a "broken man" in a re-creation of his bunker just before the end of the Second World War.

She said he would be dressed shabbily, depicting the German leader as a defeated man as the Red Army entered Berlin shortly before his suicide on April 30, 1945.Plans to recreate the last hours of Adolf Hitler, pictured here in 1939, at the new Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Berlin have sparked outcries of a Nazi Disneyland. (Associated Press)
"We did surveys while we were planning the exhibition on the street with Berliners and with tourists, and the result was quite clear that Hitler is one of the figures that they want to see," Ruoss said.

"Seeing as we are portraying the history of Germany, we could hardly have left him out ... we want to show the reality," she said.

Regardless, some Jewish organizations and politicians have voiced their concerns.

"It's like a Nazi Disneyland," Uwe Neumärker, the executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Association, told The Telegraph newspaper.

"It's tasteless. They didn't think about history, they just wanted to lure in the tourists."

The Berlin Tussauds is to open in July on Unter den Linden, not far from the Brandenburg Gate, which was once used as the headquarters of the Nazi regime. Hitler's bunker was nearby.

The museum has branches all over the world including New York, Las Vegas, London, Amsterdam and Shanghai.

Federal politicians in Germany expressed their dismay about the Hitler figure.

Michael Braun, from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party, called it "tasteless beyond compare." Politicians form the Left-wing SPD and Green party also blasted the idea.

But not everyone was quick to criticize.

Stephen Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said while some Holocaust survivors might find the exhibition offensive, he was not opposed as long as it was done properly.

Kramer said he hopes the exhibit might "demystify" Hitler.

"Erasing him from history is not going to bring the perished ones back, it's not going to heal the damage that he did, the crimes that he did. That would be counter-productive."






Thoughts?


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## geo (1 Jun 2008)

Hey.... Hitler is (or was) a big part of Germany's not too distant history.
He should be there.... trying to erase his ever having existed makes absolutely no sense.

Place him in context & it should be OK.


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## MedTechStudent (1 Jun 2008)

geo said:
			
		

> Hey.... Hitler is (or was) a big part of Germany's not too distant history.
> He should be there.... trying to erase his ever having existed makes absolutely no sense.
> 
> Place him in context & it should be OK.



Agreed you can't just whitewash over those years of German history.  And so what if its to lure in tourists?  Its going to lure in tourists who will be educated on the holocaust, and maybe walk away with a better understanding of it.  We can't have THAT going on  :

I suppose a Red Baron wax figure would be tasteless too?


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## Good2Golf (1 Jun 2008)

Such a position makes no sense.  How does one address the issue of WWII without addressing the one figure that was ostensibly the root cause?  This could be seen as historical revisionism that weakens the case for having to acknowledge some of the greatest evil of our recent times.  That some may suggest it would be seen as a shrine to Hitler in some sort of attempt to glorify him is without basis.  There has been enough accommodation just portraying him as a broken man, hours away from his suicidal end.  I would suggest that showing him in a manner more indicative of his influential period, such as his addresses at Nuremburg, would have an even greater effect of portraying his evil.  One shouldn't turn one's head and pretend something didn't happen.  It should be understood -- just reading through transcripts of Hitler's speeches throughout the years (provided by the Hitler Historical Museum) is chilling enough to realize you should not try to wish away the past, but acknowledge it and try one's best to understand its effect.  

G2G


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## ENGINEERS WIFE (1 Jun 2008)

When I first read the subject I was thinking(me having a blond moment ) why the heck would Germany want a statue of Hillier, Rick.  I mean we all love him and all........read post............HITLER......ahhhh.....now, it makes sense :brickwall:  Yes, I am an idiot!


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## karl28 (1 Jun 2008)

Relax your not an idiot  you just had a moment ENGINEERS WIFE  as adults we all have those kind of moment from time to time .   ;D I call them over the age of 30 moments LOL .

     As to the topic at hand I agree that part of German history should not be forgoten it may of been dark times but if the exhibit does what it says it should teach future generations of what happened and hopefully something like that will never happen again .


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## Blackadder1916 (1 Jun 2008)

While Hitler (as an historical figure) can't be ignored, into what depth will Madame Tussauds go to explain the circumstances of his rise to power, the atrocities that happened under his leadership and the continuing results to Germany?  Based on what they currently do, not much (if any).  Tussauds is more an entertainment experience than an educational one.  They can make him as unsympathetic (or weak looking) as possible but (if one can still interact with the figures as was possible 15 years ago in London) the biggest attraction will be to have a picture taken with him.  When a display of a Hitler figure is taken in that context, I can readily understand the protest in Germany.  I've tried to think of anyone who, if a similar figure of them was displayed in a Canadian wax museum, would spark comparable outrage.  No one comes to mind.  It is almost impossible for us here to comprehend the relationship Germans have with the memory of Hitler.  Even today, over 60 years after his end, Hitler still provokes feelings of hatred, revulsion, fear, shame, disgust, self-loathing and, to a few, continued admiration.  

Maybe it is time for Germans to heal the wounds of their past with a public display that they have moved on from his legacy.  But I don't think that would happen at Madame Tussauds.


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## geo (1 Jun 2008)

FWIW, I would suggest that a wax figure of Hitler dancing (as his jig in the woods outside of Paris) while the rest of the 3rd Reich burned ... would be significant enough.

Let's face it, the Bolshevic revolution in Germany, the German population suffering through the reparations imposed at Versailles and the global depression of the 30s created the conditions that made the rise of the Nazi party possible....


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## old medic (1 Jun 2008)

Royal605 said:
			
		

> Stephen Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said while some Holocaust survivors might find the exhibition offensive, he was not opposed as long as it was done properly.
> 
> Kramer said he hopes the exhibit might "demystify" Hitler.
> 
> "Erasing him from history is not going to bring the perished ones back, it's not going to heal the damage that he did, the crimes that he did. That would be counter-productive."



Not the first time that attitude has been observed, even if pointed out in jest. 
http://www.zanyvideos.com/videos/family_guy_tour_of_munich


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## TrexLink (1 Jun 2008)

It's context, always context.  

In a weak moment, I rewatched Val Kilmer in Top Secret last night:  _"Ve found your manager impaled on a curious electrical implement. Ve did vat ve could, but it took our surgeons two hours to get the smile off his face."_


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## Kilo_302 (5 Jun 2008)

The reason that Germans are so uncomfortable with the Nazi period is the fact that as late as 1942, given a choice, most Germans would have voted for Hitler anyways. We forget that he was immensely popular, mostly because of he ended the unrest and turmoil of the 1920s and early 30s. He built the autobahn, increased employment and drastically reduced crime. Because of this, his anti-Jewish policies as well as the euthanasia programs were tolerated. Antisemitism in Germany at the time was widespread, so in the end, Germans were willing to look the other way when they could have resisted.


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## geo (5 Jun 2008)

Kilo...
which ties in to my last post - Versailles, Global depression, Bolshevism..... Revolution... which old Adolph struck down HARD.  Most Germans, Austrians & even the Czeks could appreceate a lot that the Nazi gov't was doing.


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## TrexLink (5 Jun 2008)

For a while, Geo, for a while...


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## Kilo_302 (6 Jun 2008)

Geo, I think we are on the same page...I would only add resistance was possible, as it occurred several times (Rosenstrasse protests etc).


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## geo (6 Jun 2008)

Let,s face it, most of the WW1 allies were happy that the Germans had found stability after the troubles & revolts of post war germany.  Once Adolph and his cronies were firmly in place and started threatening their neighbours - most countries around the world were attempting to deal with the depression and by then..... it was already too late.


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## Xcalibar (8 Jun 2008)

I don't think a wax figure of Hitler is necessary a bad thing, as long as it is displayed in the right context.  Sure he brought Germany back from an economic disaster, rebuilt the army and made Germany a world power, but he did it through violence, war and genocide and eventually ruined everything.  Those years are a dark spot in Germany history, but should not be sanitized.  I don't think a wax effigy will win him any more admirers than he already has.


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## Mike Baker (5 Jul 2008)

Man beheads Hitler waxwork




> BERLIN, Germany (CNN) -- A man raced into Berlin's Madame Tussauds wax museum Saturday and ripped the head off a waxwork of Adolf Hitler, police said.
> 
> Police said the 41-year-old entered the exhibit shortly after the museum doors opened and "made for the Hitler figure," scuffling with a guard assigned to protect it and the manager before tearing the head off the life-size statue.
> 
> ...



More on the link.


-Dead


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## MedTechStudent (5 Jul 2008)

Deadpan said:
			
		

> Man beheads Hitler waxwork
> 
> 
> More on the link.
> ...



Bound to happen.  Thats the beautiful thing about wax figures, some heat and a steady hand, the old boy will be good as new.


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## derael (5 Jul 2008)

I still don't see the big deal. It's a wax figure. Are pictures of Hitler in history books controversial as well?


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## MedTechStudent (5 Jul 2008)

derael said:
			
		

> I still don't see the big deal. It's a wax figure. Are pictures of Hitler in history books controversial as well?



I mean this has all been gone over in this thread, but.  You can't just white wash over years of German history to spare the feelings of some people.  It's either German citizens who are embarrassed and disgusted by their dark history, or its relatives, people of the same ethnicity as those persecuted and killed during the holocaust who protest the wax/ paper images, and I don't blame them really.  Then of course there are the people that said the whole thing never happened.  I mean Allied commanders *knew* those speculations would come up that is why they ordered the men to take so many pictures once they had liberated the camps. 

Oh well you can't please everyone, and you can't take him out of the history books, he wrote a large chapter in them.

Cheers, Kyle    

*_Milnet.ca staff edit for site policy_*


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## Zell_Dietrich (5 Jul 2008)

In Germany it is illegal to wear/display a Nazi uniform, perform a Hitler salute, make/display a swastika ... basically everything related to that period is anathema.

German children are taught about what happened, how and why and have the lessons learned from those events drilled into them.  I remember when I was having nachos with My friend Thomas (native German) when a table of 'tipsy' people 10 meters from us had a guy start singing Deutschland uber alles.  I thought it took alot to make him really pissed off,  I guess it only took a song.

I don't think it is that they want to forget,  I think it is because they were so strongly affected by that time they can't view it with the detached curiosity we can.  Example: a guy was arrested, charged and convicted for selling anti-nazi tee shirts.  These shirts show a swastika  in a red circle with a line through it. ( http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/769481.html )


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