German village votes to keep ‘Hitler bell’

BERLIN: A German village has decided to keep a contentious Naziera church bell that bears a swastika and the words All for the Fatherland Adolf Hitler arguing it serves as a reminder of the countrys dark past

Updated At : 06:09 AM Feb 28, 2018 IST

A Nazi-era church bell that bears a swastika and the words “All for the Fatherland — Adolf Hitler” (“Alles fuer’s Vaterland - Adolf Hitler”) hanging in the steeple of the St Jakob church in Herxheim am Berg. Reuters

Berlin, February 27

A German village has decided to keep a contentious Nazi-era church bell that bears a swastika and the words “All for the Fatherland — Adolf Hitler”, arguing it serves as a reminder of the country’s dark past.

The parish council of Herxheim voted 10-3 yesterday that the bronze bell from 1934 should remain as “an impetus for reconciliation and a memorial against violence and injustice”.

The council rejected an offer by the regional Protestant Church to pay for taking down the 240 kg bell and replacing it. A memorial pointing to the bell’s history will now be fixed on the heritage-listed church, the Jakobskirche. — AFP