May 31, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1429

BERLIN, May 30: A new branch of Madame Tussauds in Berlin is to include in its display of German historical figures the most notorious of all — Adolf Hitler, a spokeswoman for the world-famous museum said on Friday.

But in order not to give the impression that Hitler was in any way a figure to be revered, the Nazi leader will be depicted “as a broken man” in a mock-up of the bunker where he spent the final days of World War II, spokeswoman Natalie Ruoss said.

“We did surveys while we were planning the exhibition on the street with Berliners and with tourists, and the result was quite clear that Hitler is one of the figures that they want to see,” Ruoss said.

“Seeing as we are portraying the history of Germany we could hardly have left him out ... we want to show the reality,” she said. The figure will be behind a table, which will prevent visitors to the museum in central Berlin, which opens in July, from posing for photos next to him, Ruoss added.

Stephen Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said some Holocaust survivors might find the exhibition offensive but that he was not opposed as long as it was done properly.

“Hitler should not become a tourist attraction but if this exhibition helps to some extent normalise the way of dealing with Hitler, as a kind of a demystification, let’s try it,” Kramer said.

“Erasing him from history is not going to bring the perished ones back, it’s not going to heal the damage that he did, the crimes that he did. That would be counter-productive,” he said.—AFP