Madame Tussaud's Under Fire For Displaying Hitler Wax Statue In Berlin

Berlin, Germany (AHN) - The new wax museum in Berlin opened an exhibition on Friday that sparked off a row for the display of a statue of Adolf Hitler. The Berlin branch of Madame Tussaud's was forced to banish the statue behind a glass screen to pacify Jewish fears of glorifying of Hitler's reign.

The statue will now be displayed behind a glass to prevent visitors from taking their pictures with it.

A sign near the statue exhorted the visitors to refrain from taking pictures with the display. German law prohibits the display of any Nazi related regalia.

Madame Tussaud's felt that the statue deserved a place in the museum because of his impact on German and world history.

The work on the statue had continued for almost four months. Twenty five workers worked with more than 2000 pictures and archive materials. They also used a model of Hitler in the London branch of Madame Tussaud's displayed along with world leaders like Saddam Hussein and U.S. President George W. Bush.

The figure in the new Berlin museum predicts the dictator in his last days in a bunker looking glum.

German institutions like the Foundation for Germany's central Holocaust memorial site have criticized the display as tasteless and aimed at commercial interests.