Headless Hitler assailant to escape fine-magazine
BERLIN (Reuters) - A former Berlin police officer who tore off the head of an Adolf Hitler waxwork at a new museum in the German capital will probably not have to pay for damages because he is destitute, a magazine reported on Saturday.
The 41-year-old scuffled with guards and leapt over a rope barrier before tearing off Hitler's head just minutes after Berlin's new Madame Tussauds opened last week. The headless Hitler waxwork worth 200,000 euros was removed for repairs.
"It is not possible to seize anything from anyone with a monthly income of under 985 euros," a spokeswoman for Berlin's Justice Ministry, Katrin-Elena Schoenberg, told Focus magazine.
Madame Tussauds plans to return the waxwork of the Nazi ruler as soon as experts have restored the damaged head.
The man, arrested but later released and placed under investigation for bodily harm and wilful damage to property, said he was angry at the exhibit. He said he carried out the attack to win a bet.
An opinion poll on Saturday found 62 percent of Germans favor a return of the Hitler waxwork and 35 percent against.
The waxwork has unleashed a storm of protest in Germany where public displays of Nazi memorabilia are generally banned.
Critics argue it is tasteless and inappropriate to display a replica of the man who unleashed world war and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews in a place mainly aimed at light-hearted entertainment.
(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Jon Boyle)
