'Over-sensitive' museum covers up swastika in WWII exhibition
Organisers of a village museum's Second World War exhibition have covered up a swastika on a flag in case it offends visitors.
The banner, taken from the Olympic stadium in Berlin in 1945 by a local soldier, was one of the most eye-catching exhibits.
But 'one or two people' at a preview of the display complained that it showed a lack of respect to villagers who died in the war.
Not wishing to upset anyone, the museum committee decided to hide the swastika from view by covering it with a Union Flag.
But far from avoiding a row, the move has been condemned by some visitors as 'ridiculous and over-sensitive'.
The exhibition at the Victoria Jubilee Museum in Cawthorne, Barnsley, has been put on to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the role villagers played in the war.
Museum chairman Peter Kilner said: 'If it was upsetting people, we thought it would be better covered up.
'Visitors have been happy and the exhibition is a great success.'
But one visitor said: 'I don't think displaying it should be an embarrassment. Someone brought it back after fighting to defeat the Nazis, after all.'
William Walker, a Battle of Britain pilot, said: 'It's absolutely ridiculous. You have got to face reality, it's part of history.'...
Read entire article at Daily Mail (UK)
The banner, taken from the Olympic stadium in Berlin in 1945 by a local soldier, was one of the most eye-catching exhibits.
But 'one or two people' at a preview of the display complained that it showed a lack of respect to villagers who died in the war.
Not wishing to upset anyone, the museum committee decided to hide the swastika from view by covering it with a Union Flag.
But far from avoiding a row, the move has been condemned by some visitors as 'ridiculous and over-sensitive'.
The exhibition at the Victoria Jubilee Museum in Cawthorne, Barnsley, has been put on to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the role villagers played in the war.
Museum chairman Peter Kilner said: 'If it was upsetting people, we thought it would be better covered up.
'Visitors have been happy and the exhibition is a great success.'
But one visitor said: 'I don't think displaying it should be an embarrassment. Someone brought it back after fighting to defeat the Nazis, after all.'
William Walker, a Battle of Britain pilot, said: 'It's absolutely ridiculous. You have got to face reality, it's part of history.'...