Museum’s Hitler selfie display sparks outrage
A life-size figure of Hitler standing against a backdrop of Auschwitz concentration camp has been re..
A life-size figure of Hitler standing against a backdrop of Auschwitz concentration camp has been removed from an Indonesian waxwork museum following international outrage.
The museum in the city of Jogjakarta had allowed visitors to take selfies next to the display since 2014.
The museum's marketing officer defended it in recent days after condemnation from human rights groups.
"No visitors complained about it," he said.
"Most of our visitors are having fun because they know this is just an entertainment museum… Let people judge whether the character is good or bad."
However, the De Mata Trick Eye Museum confirmed on Saturday that the display had been removed.
"We don't want to attract outrage," said operations manager Jamie Misbah. "Our purpose to display the Hitler figure in the museum is to educate."
The exhibit had been positioned next to a figure of Darth Vader and opposite a waxwork of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Human Rights Watch had called the exhibit "sickening" and prominent anti-Semitism group The Simon Wiesenthal Centre demanded it be taken down.
"Everything about it is wrong. It's hard to find words for how contemptible it is," said the centre's Rabbi Abraham Cooper.
"The background is disgusting. It mocks the victims who went in and never came out."
Almost a million Jews were murdered at Auschwitz after being rounded up from around Europe and herded unaware into the gas chambers.
The museum's display featured the Auschwitz entrance with the infamous slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Sets You Free").
A Nazi-themed cafe, where waiters wore SS uniforms and pictures of Hitler adorned the walls, also closed in the Indonesian city of Bandung in January.
It came after years of controversy and reported death threats against the owner.
Human Rights Watch Indonesia researcher Andreas Harsono said the Nazi exhibits showed anti-Jewish sentiment in the world's biggest Muslim nation is more widespread than thought.
Mr Harsono said the Israel-Palestine situation had fed anti-Jewish feelings in the country for decades.
Historians have also pointed to a lack of education in Indonesia about the horrors of the Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews during the war.
