 HORROR: A visitor stares at a bust of Hitler |
"It is a serious approach to the theme, which is without doubt difficult to deal with," said Stephan Kramer, the general secretary of the Central Council of Jews.
"The exhibition is happening at the right time."
But Kramer said he worried that the people who might have most to learn from the Hitler exhibition wouldn't go to see it.
Hitler and the Germans - Nation and Crime, which runs until February 6 at the German Historical Museum, is the first exhibition in the capital to focus so firmly on Hitler's role - another step in the erosion of taboos concerning depictions of the Nazi era.
It portrays the Nazis' dual approach of making the German masses feel included in their movement while
excluding those who they had identified as enemies, such as Jews, gypsies, gays and the disabled.
And it illustrates the German masses' willingness to support those policies.
The exhibition comes more than 75 years after the Nazis took control, as Germans increasingly look at Hitler not as a one-dimensional monster but as a complex figure who enjoyed vast popularity before plunging the country into war.
Such explorations of the Nazi past were inconceivable until not long ago.
But in recent years there have been a series of films, exhibitions and plays that have shown Germany to be growing increasingly comfortable with confronting the phenomenon of Hitler's rule directly - or even as the subject of satire or comedy.
Museum head Hans Ottomeyer acknowledged that, even now, "displaying Hitler is viewed as delicate." He stressed that the show isn't a "homage".
"It is certainly not about Hitler as a person," Ottomeyer said. "It tries to portray how Hitler grew out of the politics of his time, the mental state and fears, what methods he used and where that led."
The collection of 600 exhibits, along with 400 photos and posters, takes visitors chronologically through the life of the regime.
Nearly threequarters of the material comes from the museum's own extensive stores.
The exhibition juxtaposes items such as busts of Hitler and Nazi-era toys with artefacts from concentration camps and footage of events such as the book-burning that followed Hitler's rise to power.
In the week when the exhibition opened, three small brass plaques on cobble stones were laid in a quiet street a short distance away.
On them were the names of three people executed by the Nazis for organising resistance and saving Jews.
One of the people at the street ceremony was Hans Coppi whose parents were hanged.
"I find the exhibition of Hitler not a good idea," he said. "I believe the neo-Nazis will come."
No comments:
Post a Comment