Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Springtime for Hitler

Life imitates Mel Brooks, but this time people aren't exactly laughing.
MILLARD, Wis. - A retired farmer who says he served in the German army in World War II is turning part of his land into a battleground of sorts with his memorial to a leader he claims is misunderstood, Adolf Hitler.

Ted Junker, 87, plans a grand opening June 25 and says his goal is to clear up inaccuracies about the war and Hitler's role in it.

In other words, he doesn't accept that Hitler was to blame for starting the war in which 50 million people died, including some 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

"I like the U.S. I can't understand why people don't know the truth. This is for understanding, not hate," Junker said.
Needless to say, the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations is not amused. I can't say I blame them. But the guy is really just some old Nazi crank remembering the bad old days. The article quotes a history professor from Marquette, who sums the whole thing up pretty well.
"I'm sure he looks back and wants to say that he was not serving a super evil man, the most evil man in (the 20th century)," [Rev. John] Donnelly said. "He's looking for some kind of personal sense of redemption, and I don't think he can be taken seriously at all."
The shame of it is, he'll probably attract a bunch of skinheads and other racist kooks who'll enjoy the memorial and his war stories. I bet his neighbors are just going to love that crowd.

Update: This wasn't in the original article, which said Junker "served in the German army." Actually, he didn't serve in the army. If the Hot Air link is correct, he served in the Waffen SS, which was separate from the German army and was fanatically devoted to Hitler himself. That explains a few things.

3 comments:

Muslihoon said...

The strange thing is that in America one can get away with such dreck.

Nevertheless, this is quite disappointing and is a desecration of the memory of millions who died under Hitler's explicit orders.

I think World War II has been studied enough and from so many angles that if Hitler were not responsible, we'd know by now.

Anonymous said...

this guy is just weird. seriously. if he really wanted to do this, why wait till now? why not do it much earlier? creepy.

Muslihoon said...

I agree with andy. I question the timing.