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The Man Who Beheaded Hitler

time.com — How a dare over a beer led a retired policeman to rip the head off a waxwork of Der Fuhrer

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  • bosssmiley, on 07/11/2008, -10/+76Some vandalistic tosser gets his (christian) name in the paper for wrecking a waxcrafter's hard work on a drunken dare, and the German establishment applauds him.

    Good going on being about *63 years* late with your big, daring political gesture Frank L. What's next? Beating up an actor because they play an unpopular character on TV.

    I bet his mother's proud.
    • The2ndAct, on 07/11/2008, -0/+15From the article: "he returned home, after several hours of interrogation, to a hero's welcome from his girlfriend and neighbors." Yeah, I bet his mother IS proud.
    • wukillabee, on 07/12/2008, -13/+5calm down nazi, its only a statue.. of WAX!
      • CVL4317, on 07/12/2008, -2/+5I see that as a piece of art which has been destroyed by hatred to no-longer-exist evil.
      • banik2008, on 07/12/2008, -4/+3This evil still exists, it didn't dissappear when Hitler died.
      • mattlohkamp, on 07/12/2008, -1/+5what, he was reincarnated? Or - oh my god - was Wolfenstein right? Has hilter's brain been transplanted in to a cyborg clone that directs the remaining secret nazi society from his arctic bunker?
    • plingboot, on 07/12/2008, -7/+6>Some vandalistic tosser gets his (christian) name in the paper f>or wrecking a waxcrafter's hard work.

      I think the majoirty believed a wax work of adolf hitler in berlin was in extremely poor taste. This guy had the guts to do something about it.
    • blackjack75, on 07/12/2008, -2/+3So, a movie about Hitler would be bad taste too? Why not burn the studio where they film one of the hundred movies about him?
    • gekkoeye, on 07/12/2008, -1/+4That was my first reaction too. Then I RTFA. Maybe you should too.
    • yurigoul, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2Fascists are again active in Germany, especially in the former East German regions. It is not unthinkable that the site would become a place of pelgimage for neo-nazis - as was mentioned in the article. The same happens with the burial site for Rudolph Hess - one of the few important nati's who's burial site was known. the allied were not crazy when they scattered Hitlers ashes on unknown grounds after WW II.
      • ATLien74, on 07/12/2008, -1/+3Beheading a statue is not going to change the past. When you forget your history you are doomed to repeat it.
  • ironeus, on 08/01/2008, -4/+8Maybe he was angry that the wax portrayal wasn't accurate: his real last day should have depicted Hitler biting into a cyanide pill and ready to shoot himself.
    • pensivewombat, on 07/12/2008, -1/+2It wasn't his last day, it was his last days. Also the article said that he was depicted as pretty crazy looking. I'm fine with it being displayed like that, but it doesn't mean that I didn't get a good chuckle out of the beheading either.
      • starkistuna, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1Correct order would be:
        cyanide
        shooting
        burning
        beheading
        burying
        DIGGing!
  • grrad, on 07/12/2008, -5/+5Dugg for the loserosity of the great hero. Or should it be loser-ness?
  • wukillabee, on 07/12/2008, -12/+4hitler was gay and a jew, haha what a douche
  • TheEclipse, on 07/12/2008, -16/+3I'll buy the guy a drink if I ever see him. A German wax museum putting Hitler next to celebrities is not respectful at all, now matter how diggers try to spin it.
    • Aeroboy, on 07/12/2008, -1/+8No matter how you spin it, Hitler IS a celebrity. Not a popular one, but he is famous. And anyway, historical figures should be in wax museums, like Stalin, Mussolini, Churchill, and yes even Hitler.
      • TheEclipse, on 07/12/2008, -2/+1You're right. Paris Hilton should be added to Mt Rushmore. At the Lincoln memorial we should erect a wax figure of Soulja Boy sitting on Abe's Lap.

        Do you work for Brawndo by any chance?
    • CVL4317, on 07/12/2008, -1/+3If we forget the devil, how can we stop future devils?
  • wastedfish, on 07/12/2008, -3/+32It's not necessarily about respect. It's about artistically appreciating the humanity that exists in all people. And quick before you digg me down Hitler was an awful awful sick person. On that note, imagine what he was going through the days before he killed himself. His dream had crashed, his perfect race of people would never exist. The artist made a wax painting of this broken human realizing he was wrong and coming to terms with his failure through his art. And some people see it and just scream "OMG HITLER BAD MAN11!!!1!". There is more to everything if you just look.
    • CVL4317, on 07/12/2008, -3/+2Because pointing out the failure of an evil trying to take over the world is not worth displaying?
    • thisoneisunique, on 07/12/2008, -0/+7I doubt that Hitler realised that "he was wrong"... After Stalingrad he said something along the line of "if the German people are too weak they deserve to be annihilated and you shouldn't feel pity for them". I'd think that attitude continued till his death.
      Then again I am aware of the state Hitler must've been in in his bunker - that mainly was the controversy around the film "Downfall": Bruno Ganz gave such a pathetic, pitiful performance as Hitler that the audience couldn't but feel pity for him at some point. Most film reviews raised the question whether you're allowed to feel sorry for a mass murderer... it was kind of the same with Saddam Hussein, when the Americans released that video of his medical examination, in which he looked very troubled and worn out and I DID feel sorry for him, to be on show like that.
      But it's different with the wax museum's deliberate decision to opt for the 'pathetic' portrayal - is it supposed to tell us that even he was a human? Even if every single museum in the world shows pictures of him during one of his speeches in which he whips up the crowds, I'd have found that more appropriate because it is indicative of the political and propagandistic phenomenon Adolf Hitler.
    • apothekari, on 07/12/2008, -2/+1I'm an artist and as such I feel that this man did a very artistic thing.
      The statue will be repaired.
      But this mans OBVIOUS statement {if you still don't know why he did it RTFA}in doing this was very cool.
      I have a new hero.
  • RicartAuto, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1wow, this is crazy indeed.
  • audleylibrary, on 07/12/2008, -6/+4dugg up for that hilarious picture of hitler...yes the man actually lived in a constant state of looking like he soiled himself
    • Soval, on 07/12/2008, -0/+5It's not a picture of Hitler, but of the wax work.
  • whatthefu, on 07/12/2008, -5/+22Someone worked hard on that sculpture. Being a douche bag and ruining it doesn't mean you're a "hero" like Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg. You're not risking your life. And you can't just erase your nation's history because you don't like it.
  • kaopectate, on 07/12/2008, -1/+6the intersection of life and art are rarely this wonderful.
  • YancyFryJr, on 07/13/2008, -5/+7Love him or hate him, the guy's got balls.
  • manmademark, on 07/12/2008, -2/+8Think we'll ever forget Hitler? 50 years from now? 200? 1,000? Who's worse than Hitler?
    • InfinitySnatch, on 07/12/2008, -1/+5Maybe I can do it. Someday...
    • Halsfield, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2you're the best...AROUND...and nothing's ever gonna keep ya down!
    • LembasBread, on 07/12/2008, -0/+6It's a tough high score to beat!
    • sotose, on 07/12/2008, -1/+2Stalin.
    • Vazel, on 07/12/2008, -0/+5I read in the Dune Chronicles Muad'dib mentioning Hitler in 10000AD despite that future going through a dark age where most of the knowledge of this era was lost.

      But seriously before Hitler there was Attila who was seen as the big bad bogeyman enemy of civilization. The Germans were even called Huns as a derogatory nickname. I think it's safe to say Hitler has replaced Attila until a new big bad guy comes along.
    • Paulish, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2Stalin... How have people so easily forgotten the Soviet atrocities? Ah well, that's the world I suppose...
    • DeceptaKhan, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1Mao Zedong?
    • mllawso, on 07/13/2008, -0/+2Bratz.
  • InfinitySnatch, on 07/12/2008, -2/+11Sounds like those Germans are trying just a little too hard to distance themselves from the whole Hitler thing.
    • CVL4317, on 07/12/2008, -1/+2denial of history?
      • badoli, on 07/12/2008, -0/+4Probably denial. Being depicted as the minions of Evil in any second holywood movie isn't taken to be lightly...
    • thisoneisunique, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1Or you could call it civil disobedience (even if the act was a bit silly). Would've have been a good course of action for us in the 30s.
      I'm not saying that Germans are all sound and sensible in the way they're dealing with their past but it's still an ongoing process and at least they ARE doing it so I wouldn't call it denial.
  • CLYF, on 07/12/2008, -0/+15I don't like where this is heading...
    • jimbob007, on 07/12/2008, -0/+7i see what you did there
    • Pinkshisno, on 07/12/2008, -0/+5You are ahead of the rest when it comes to witty remarks.
    • oo7b0nds, on 07/12/2008, -0/+3omg. i haven't actually laughed out loud in a long time. i actually LOL'ed
      thank you sir.
    • blagoaw, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1It's gonna be fine. Soon the repairs will be done, and he'll surely be headed down in the bunker. I mean to the bunker..
  • badoli, on 07/12/2008, -0/+3Pictures or it didn't happen!
  • yawnstretch, on 07/12/2008, -0/+6It's easy to make a gesture now. But what about going against a corrupt leader while he's in power? Hmm I wonder which leader today could do with some public opposition...
  • fxu1989, on 07/12/2008, -8/+2This was a triumph.
  • dnimphobic, on 07/12/2008, -4/+2vandalism for the win.
  • imhalfpirate, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2I'd rather it'd been a figure of L. Ron Hubbard. To each his own.
  • Lavarock, on 07/12/2008, -4/+9Congrats, Germany. This shows that your country is just a little unhinged and more than a little insecure. If he'd turn down the bet he'd be the next person to get his head torn off.
    • derwarnochfrei, on 07/12/2008, -0/+4You judge a whole country according to one man's act?
  • ptacnik, on 07/12/2008, -3/+7its in a museum of celebrities, rockstars... something tells me the ****ing thing didnt belong there anyway. To hell with his motives... 'cause either way he did what everyone else wanted to.
    • CVL4317, on 07/12/2008, -2/+2Opinions of many != right , even Socrates will agree to this.
  • annjay, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1dugg for you man
  • ClockworksNine, on 07/12/2008, -2/+2An hero for killing a wax doll of a dead man.
    • MessiahTyler, on 07/12/2008, -3/+3Feel like a dick for saythis this but im drunk ....

      Its a hero not an hero
      • sotose, on 07/12/2008, -3/+0Boy will you feel embarassed tomorrow.
  • 1manshow, on 07/12/2008, -2/+2Sure Nazi terror was bad, but people are still overreacting about it. Meanwhile you rarely hear about Soviet terror. They were as bad as Nazis, but because they won their crimes were not as openly revealed.
    • Rudegar, on 07/12/2008, -2/+0they mainly killed their own people
      hitler invaded and killed other countries jews too
      • madroneDorf, on 07/12/2008, -0/+0Err..

        Eastern Europe?

        Certainly not their own people, at least not anymore than the people of Vichy France were Nazi Germany's own people
  • 88chrisb, on 07/12/2008, -1/+2I guess no one told him the war was over ... World War 2 that is.
  • ShootTheCore, on 07/12/2008, -0/+16I bet Madame Tussauds were Führerious about this one...
  • blagoaw, on 07/12/2008, -2/+2His act was more artistic than the waxwork itself. I was appalled by it when I first read about it (few days ago), but now I find it both appropriate and hilarious.
  • Somedude2137, on 07/12/2008, -2/+5LEAVE ADOLF HITLER ALONE!!!!!!!!... LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cries*
  • Vazel, on 07/12/2008, -1/+4A drunk decapitates a work of art and is lauded by the country and even compared to Stauffenberg? Post-WW2 PC guilt has truly reduced Germany to a ***** disgrace.
  • goffy59, on 07/12/2008, -4/+4Hitler may be a spineless prick, but he's achieved more then most people in history. Its hard for me just to blame him. I blame the people who supported him just as much. It wasn't that he was evil, it was greed which is in all of us. Oh wait, I'm not allowed to give Hitler a compliment, its socially unacceptable; now I'll be called a neo Nazi. Here is a quote from Hitler: "What luck rulers have, that man do not think".
  • madroneDorf, on 07/12/2008, -0/+0He should have used a sword.

    btw how can he be receiving a welfare pension at age 41?!
  • derwarnochfrei, on 07/12/2008, -1/+2It is OK to show hitlers wax figure in public - but dead, lying on the floor after he killed himself. Only with an image like that we could be sure that this place will never be a meeting point for Neo-Nazis. The head will now be restored, and it will be a meeting point (even if undercover) for those Nazi assholes. Sad story. The man who tore down Hitlers head should get some punishment, but not too much. The city of Berlin should decide that Hitler will be shown - dead.
  • bobotheking, on 07/12/2008, -0/+3Looks like he caused quite a furor.
  • unitedkronos, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1I like how some people still have a good sense of humor in this day and age, I hope he got plenty of free beer when he returned home.
  • Rotzooi, on 07/12/2008, -1/+11) Don't be upset someone ripped the head off a wax statue. It's a ***** wax statue, not a puppy.
    2) Don't be upset that wax statue was of Hitler. If it were of been Paris Hilton, would your reaction have been different? It shouldn't have.

    This is a non-item.
  • palewook, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2a true drunken dare would have included taking a dump in hitler's skull after you ripped it off..
  • crackberri, on 07/12/2008, -4/+0I don’t understand why Democrats worship this tyrant……..
  • CHANNELOCK, on 07/12/2008, -0/+0What would be a cool Hitler wax stick
    Before
    1930s Hitler preening like a pompous peacock with a map behind him.
    After
    1945 Hitler with a deranged drug addicted Perkinson diseased pasty faced Russian at the gates ***** his pants look.
  • ATLien74, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1SIMPSONS DID IT!!! SIMPSONS DID IT!!!
  • DroppedGT, on 07/12/2008, -0/+2We needed this guy back in 1935. He would have saved us much trouble. Hes about 7 decades to late to be a hero.



    * I fixed it guys ;)
  • artfiend77, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1Wow, you guys have to chill, and remember...it was a drunken dare.
  • maledei, on 07/12/2008, -0/+1This article is bending the facts to make a point. It's just not true that he was lauded by the public at all.

    The quote of the "raving commentator" is of Henryk M.Broder who is known for his sharp criticism of german "vergangenheitsbewältigung". He was making fun of the guy, saying that the longer ago the defeat of Hitler, the more anti-fashist the germans become.
    Comparing him to Stauffenberg was clearly a joke.
  • nickspm, on 07/13/2008, -0/+2Cool, where do they keep the wax figure of Bush?
  • starkistuna, on 07/14/2008, -0/+1I wish George W. Bush would have been a successful painter as well.
  • agush, on 07/18/2008, -0/+1NO MORE WAR! *rips hitler's head off
  •  

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