Hitler returns to the heart of Berlin

BERLIN – A life-size wax figure of Adolf Hitler has gone on display in the heart of Berlin in what museum officials say is the first such public exhibition of the Nazi dictator in post-war Germany.

“Provided it’s all just art, it’s permitted,” a Culture Ministry spokesman said Tuesday, when asked if the Hitler waxwork was breaking Germany’s tough anti-fascist laws banning the use of Nazi symbols and insignia. Hitler shares a room at the “Galerie Art’el” museum with his World War II adversaries Joseph Stalin, Franklin D.Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, overlooking the former Cold War border crossing Checkpoint Charlie in the once-divided German capital.Museum director Inna Vollstaedt said Hitler would soon be reunited with his former Nazi henchmen Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels in the waxwork displays.”Until now there has never been a wax figure of Hitler displayed in Germany,” said Vollstaedt.”We have these men to thank for the Berlin Wall.We want them all,” she said, referring to the Cold War barrier.Vollstaedt, born in Russia, has assembled a collection of wax models including Count Dracula, French porn actress Lolo Ferrari and ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes.Although it has been nearly 60 years since Hitler and his top deputies killed themselves at the end of the Third Reich, artists must be mindful of the anti-fascist laws.German authorities have long been at pains to distance the country from Hitler’s legacy.The remains of the Fuehrer’s bunker in central Berlin have been sealed off to prevent neo-Nazis from turning it into a shrine.- Nampa-ReutersHitler shares a room at the “Galerie Art’el” museum with his World War II adversaries Joseph Stalin, Franklin D.Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, overlooking the former Cold War border crossing Checkpoint Charlie in the once-divided German capital.Museum director Inna Vollstaedt said Hitler would soon be reunited with his former Nazi henchmen Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels in the waxwork displays.”Until now there has never been a wax figure of Hitler displayed in Germany,” said Vollstaedt.”We have these men to thank for the Berlin Wall.We want them all,” she said, referring to the Cold War barrier.Vollstaedt, born in Russia, has assembled a collection of wax models including Count Dracula, French porn actress Lolo Ferrari and ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes.Although it has been nearly 60 years since Hitler and his top deputies killed themselves at the end of the Third Reich, artists must be mindful of the anti-fascist laws.German authorities have long been at pains to distance the country from Hitler’s legacy.The remains of the Fuehrer’s bunker in central Berlin have been sealed off to prevent neo-Nazis from turning it into a shrine.- Nampa-Reuters