Madame Tussauds, London’s most popular tourist attraction, has hired a new guard to stand next to the wax sculpture of Adolf Hitler and politely ask visitors not to give it the Nazi salute.
The Evening Standard reports that the decision to give Hitler a guard was made after an Israeli family visiting the exhibit witnessed people heiling Hitler and complained, eventually forcing an apology from the museum, which initially said it was “apolitical,” but then apparently decided it was safe to come out against genocide.
Not content to take Madame Tussauds word that the heiling would stoppen, the Standard apparently sent an intrepid reporter to the scene. The reporter, one Laura Roberts, discovered that the inappropriate saluting was still going on.
When confronted with this, the spokesman for the museum told Roberts that despite the guard, “Guests always have to take responsibility.” So, some mixed signals there.
The waxwork Hitler was previous displayed behind glass because people tended to abuse it. Rather fascinatingly, whereas the figure of Hitler in the German Tussauds shows him apparently at the height of his power, the figure at the Berlin branch of the wax museum shows him in defeat. On the day that exhibit opened, a man ripped Hitlers head off.
Oddly, that seems more appropriate that saluting.
