Hitler stripped of honorary citizenship of German town, 65 years after death
Telegraph
18 Dicembre 2010
La cittadina tedesca di Dulmen revoca la cittadinanza onoraria ad Adolf Hitler, 65 anni dopo la sua morte. Un coraggioso atto di sfida al regime
In a move designed to remove an embarrassing link to Germany's past Dulmen town council voted to revoke the honour its predecessor once bestowed upon Hitler.
It becomes the latest German town to erase an unwanted memory, with historians estimating that more than 4,000 German towns and cities once granted the Nazi leader honorary citizenship.
"To remove Hitler's title of honorary citizen means that we stand together against racism and nationalism, and for democracy and tolerance," said Walter Bednarz, a councillor from the Social Democratic Party, which tabled the motion.
"We also do not want other honorary citizens of the town to be on the same list as Hitler."
Thomas Schaarschmidt, a historian from Potsdam's Centre for Historical Research, said that towns, with the passing of time, were often unaware of their unfortunate link with their Nazi past, or did not consider it necessary to revoke the award as Hitler was long dead.
by Matthew Day
Source > Telegraph
