After the Second World War fast-growing trees were planted in the ruins of Adolf Hitler’s Alpine home to hide the remains of his legacy. The authorities wanted to ensure that Nazi acolytes could not find what was left of the Berghof, on Bavaria’s Obersalzberg mountain, to memorialise the dictator. Even today, candles are lit and tributes are left to Hitler on his birthday, April 20, amid its overgrown foundations.
The flickering lights cut to the heart of Germany’s dilemma: how to treat historical sites indelibly associated with the Nazis, knowing that far-right visitors regard them as shrines, while explaining to others the crimes that were committed or conceived there.
Bavaria is grappling with such a dilemma this week as it opens a visitor centre near
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