Man rips head from Hitler wax figure

[Dixie*Darling]

Sat Jul 5, 2:21 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday, police said.

Just minutes after the museum opened, the 41-year-old German man pushed aside two security men guarding the exhibit.

"Then he went over to the figure and ripped off the head," a police spokesman said.

The man tore off the head in protest at the exhibit, the spokesman added. The police were alerted and arrested the man, who did not resist. He was later released though he remained under investigation for assault and damaging property.

The waxwork figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life was criticized as being in bad taste. A media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds on Thursday was overshadowed by a row over the exhibit.

Critics said it was inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080705/en_nm/germany_hitler_head_dc

[Chris_]

I agree with his sentiment, but this was a crime.

Simple vandalism, but a crime.

[Wretched Excess]

good for the head-ripper-offer.

[Wretched Excess]

I agree with his sentiment, but this was a crime.

Simple vandalism, but a crime.

you won't believe this, but just as I was posting my reply, I thought, "watch freedumb post something about the destruction of private property being wrong".

honestly.  it happened.

[Chris_]

I agree with his sentiment, but this was a crime.

Simple vandalism, but a crime.

you won't believe this, but just as I was posting my reply, I thought, "watch freedumb post something about the destruction of private property being wrong". :-)

honestly.  it happened. :tongue:

It is scary when we can start to read each other's thoughts... ;)

[jtyangel]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

[Wretched Excess]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

[jtyangel]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

He was one of many evil people in the world throughout history. People must move on while being aware of the evils that were perpetrated. If we focus on the evils of one man, we tend to miss the same evil tendencies in ourselves.

As for the exhibit, it is a wax figure. The ridiculousness of attacking it is akin to burning George Bush in effigy on the streets of San Francisco. It is ineffectual. This man now takes himself and his influence out of society for a short time where he might have actually been able to do some good.

[Wretched Excess]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

He was one of many evil people in the world throughout history. People must move on while being aware of the evils that were perpetrated. If we focus on the evils of one man, we tend to miss the same evil tendencies in ourselves.

As for the exhibit, it is a wax figure. The ridiculousness of attacking it is akin to burning George Bush in effigy on the streets of San Francisco. It is ineffectual. This man now takes himself and his influence out of society for a short time where he might have actually been able to do some good.

point well spoken.  I hadn't considered it from that perspective.

still, it's hard to find fault with a guy that defaced a hitler exhibit.

[Dixie*Darling]

I've come to learn that FD2003 is the voice of reason in my knee jerk reaction to the world.  Even with this knowledge, it's still hard to restrain myself. 

[Chris_]

I've come to learn that FD2003 is the voice of reason in my knee jerk reaction to the world.  Even with this knowledge, it's still hard to restrain myself. 

You do make me blush ;)

And that doesn't mean I don't have the voice of plain old vengeance for Hitler and his ilk on my other shoulder.

[Wretched Excess]

I agree with his sentiment, but this was a crime.

Simple vandalism, but a crime.

you won't believe this, but just as I was posting my reply, I thought, "watch freedumb post something about the destruction of private property being wrong".

honestly.  it happened.

It is scary when we can start to read each other's thoughts...

I hate to be predictable, but I can almost hear your keyboard clicking when I post some of my replies.

[Wretched Excess]

I've come to learn that FD2003 is the voice of reason in my knee jerk reaction to the world.  Even with this knowledge, it's still hard to restrain myself. 

he's the voice of something, allright.  I'm just not sure that it is always reason.


(kidding, FD.  you know I love to knock stuff around with you)

[AllosaursRus]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

As he is only 41, unless his great grandparents were Jewish, I don't see where he has credibility in destroying an exhibit. Perhaps he is ashamed. All the more reason to display the monster!

Sure Hitler was a dastardly individual, criminal to the extreme, but like others have said, he is part of history. The worst thing we can do is sweep this crap under the rug. Hopefully mankind will learn from it's mistakes. If we don't inform the "new" generations of our past, how in the world do we expect them to learn?

[Chris_]

I've come to learn that FD2003 is the voice of reason in my knee jerk reaction to the world.  Even with this knowledge, it's still hard to restrain myself. 

he's the voice of something, allright.  I'm just not sure that it is always reason. :-)


(kidding, FD.  you know I love to knock stuff around with you)

click click click clack clack click clack!!!

[Wretched Excess]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

As he is only 41, unless his great grandparents were Jewish, I don't see where he has credibility in destroying an exhibit. Perhaps he is ashamed. All the more reason to display the monster!

Sure Hitler was a dastardly individual, criminal to the extreme, but like others have said, he is part of history. The worst thing we can do is sweep this crap under the rug. Hopefully mankind will learn from it's mistakes. If we don't inform the "new" generations of our past, how in the world do we expect them to learn?

yet another perspective that I had not considered.

[Ptarmigan]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

[jtyangel]

I don't agree with the sentiment and was pleased to see in the video on one of the sites where many Germans were saying as distasteful as it is, he is a part of their history and it is best to remember where they have been by acknowledging both the good and bad. Hitler is dead and his policies are dead except in the hearts of fringe individuals with adequacy and self-esteem issues(at least in Germany, obviously there are great issues with the attitudes of anti-semiticism still in the middle east)...attacking a wax replica of the man is really nothing but a dramatic hissy fit that accomplishes nothing but destroying property.

I hear what you are saying, Jty, but let's compare the destruction of the exhibit to the thought that went into creating it in the first place.

hitler was evil on a galactic scale, and my sympathies go out to the guy that wrecked it.

As he is only 41, unless his great grandparents were Jewish, I don't see where he has credibility in destroying an exhibit. Perhaps he is ashamed. All the more reason to display the monster!

Sure Hitler was a dastardly individual, criminal to the extreme, but like others have said, he is part of history. The worst thing we can do is sweep this crap under the rug. Hopefully mankind will learn from it's mistakes. If we don't inform the "new" generations of our past, how in the world do we expect them to learn?

Precisely and I could understand the pure emotion from someone close to it. I have a Israeli born Jewish friend, a boyfriend when I was a teenager, whose family was very effected by it. He, even at only 39 years old, I could see having such emotion for even the image of the man. On that note, my friend has in turn learned hatred, however, of the German culture and people in general. This is where I part ways with such hysteria. We had spirited debates as adults about this topic since having such emotional reactions to say just the German language is really akin to the same kind of knee jerk emotionality that Hitler was able to play on in the German people to begin with. I suppose that is why the whole thing gives me pause with the wax figure.

[jtyangel]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

Yes and the focus should be where the hatred currently sits imo. Agreed Ptarmy.

[Lanie]

It's a crime, but that rocks.

[Lanie]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

Yes and the focus should be where the hatred currently sits imo. Agreed Ptarmy.

I agree, but I keep thinking a lot of them are dead now.

[jtyangel]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

Yes and the focus should be where the hatred currently sits imo. Agreed Ptarmy.

I agree, but I keep thinking a lot of them are dead now.

A lot of the original nazis are dead? Indeed, many are, just as our own WWII generation extinguishes itself. The point was that anti-semitic sentiment exists still. It has taken root in the hearts and minds of many factions in the middle east. THAT is where THAT particular evil should be addressed now. Chasing the ghosts of Nazism from 60+ years ago is a fruitless endeavor when 19, 20, 21 year old Muslim men carry the torch of their own brand of 'Nazism' today.

[Lanie]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

Yes and the focus should be where the hatred currently sits imo. Agreed Ptarmy.

I agree, but I keep thinking a lot of them are dead now.

A lot of the original nazis are dead? Indeed, many are, just as our own WWII generation extinguishes itself. The point was that anti-semitic sentiment exists still. It has taken root in the hearts and minds of many factions in the middle east. THAT is where THAT particular evil should be addressed now. Chasing the ghosts of Nazism from 60+ years ago is a fruitless endeavor when 19, 20, 21 year old Muslim men carry the torch of their own brand of 'Nazism' today.

Of course. I apologize for misunderstanding. I see what you're saying. A few years back. Eygpt (who is supposed to have made peace with Israel) aired their version of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Yuk.

[jtyangel]

Adolf Hitler is not the only evil person in history. You got Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, and Juan Peron. Sadly, Hitler's ghost lives on in the Middle East. Many Nazis fled to the Middle East after World War II ended. It was second to South America for Nazis to flee too. 

Yes and the focus should be where the hatred currently sits imo. Agreed Ptarmy.

I agree, but I keep thinking a lot of them are dead now.

A lot of the original nazis are dead? Indeed, many are, just as our own WWII generation extinguishes itself. The point was that anti-semitic sentiment exists still. It has taken root in the hearts and minds of many factions in the middle east. THAT is where THAT particular evil should be addressed now. Chasing the ghosts of Nazism from 60+ years ago is a fruitless endeavor when 19, 20, 21 year old Muslim men carry the torch of their own brand of 'Nazism' today.

Of course. I apologize for misunderstanding. I see what you're saying. A few years back. Eygpt (who is supposed to have made peace with Israel) aired their version of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion". Yuk.

No need to apologize  and I echo you on that 'yuk' sentiment.

[DixieBelle]

While a part of me went, "yeah!", a larger part of me agrees with the rest of you. This was vandalism.

And as for the larger debate, I agree. Evil like Hilter, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao, etc...should be upfront and center and always on display. Never forget. As distasteful as I find such figures, I think it's important to never diminsh their place in history. Every generation deserves to see their evils cataloged and put in perspective. To do otherwise is foolish.