A Jewish group in Britain has asked the Madame Tussauds wax museum in London to consider altering its wax figure of Adolf Hitler to make it appear more “vulnerable”.
The UK Zionist Federation made the request after visitors to the museum persisted in posing provocatively next to the Hitler figure, making “sieg heil” salutes and other inappropriate gestures.
A spokesman for the organization told The London Evening Standard on Wednesday that making the Nazi dictator look less “upright” and more “defeated” might discourage such behavior by museum visitors.
The organization made the call after Israeli holidaymakers who visited the museum complained they witnessed children copying the Nazi salute for family photographs. Madame Tussauds apologized to the tourists and assigned staff to prevent similar behavior.
“At the end of the day Hitler has a place in history,” Stefan Kerner, the UK Zionist Federation’s director of public affairs, told The Evening Standard. “I would like to see him in the Chamber of Horrors myself but he was a significant world leader.
“I have no problem with Adolf Hitler being displayed,” Kerner added. “However, we want to display him in a more vulnerable position or situation. Or he could be placed in a way that people can’t take photographs beside him.”
The Standard later found that despite the museum assigning “guards” to the Hitler figure, youngsters were continuing to pose with it.
A spokeswoman for Madame Tussauds told the newspaper, “We are standing by our position. If our members of staff see someone behaving inappropriately they will stop it.”
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)