Chop it down

So, some town in Poland discovered that an oak tree planted there has a connection to one of the darkest chapters in the history of the world. A connection to the man who invaded their country and killed thousands of people. You'd think that everyone there would be happy to see that tree cut down, right? Not so much...

Not everybody in this town of 38,000 shared Kurowska's view that the tree must go.

"It was 1942 when the Germans brought a seedling of an oak here and planted it in the center of the town with all honors, an army orchestra and salutes," said Kazimierz Polak, who was present at the planting ceremony as a child 67 years ago.

"My father told me then that it was Hitler's birthday and we found out later the seedling had come from Braunau am Inn (in Austria) where Hitler was born," Polak said.

"It's a historic curiosity. What is the oak really guilty of? It's not the tree's fault that it was planted here to honor the biggest criminal and enemy of Poland."

Um, the oak isn't really "guilty" of anything, but keeping something that was meant to be a monument to "the biggest criminal and enemy" of your country isn't exactly what I'd consider patriotism.

And the whole thing about being there for the ceremony with the "army orchestra and salutes" is, um...yeah. Huh.