Would you hang this in your house?

[Floofparty]

My DH has inherited a framed certificate and medal which was presented to a relative in 1937 when she was a British army nurse. She was stationed in Spain when a German battleship was bombed and she helped care for the injured.

The medal was awarded to her by the German Red Cross with the approval of Adolf Hitler, and his name is very prominent on the certificate - it stands out more than any of the other text. Do you think it’s bad taste to hang this in our house, or is it merely an interesting piece of historical memorabilia?

YABU - guests may take offence or think it odd
YANBU - hang the frame

I’d probably sell it. Someone will at some point anyway.

Good luck getting that explanation! 😏

I know, but hope springs eternal!

😆

This is a certificate approved by one of the most evil people in history. The certificate may have been stamped prominently with his name as a bureaucratic seal of approval at a time before he had gained sufficient power to enact his genocide and acts of war but that isn't the point.
If something brings a particular person, era or period in history to mind, it's memorabilia. I stand by my assertion that I would not want to remain on friendly terms with someone who chose to display memorabilia relating to Adolf Hitler no matter what the reason. At best, it demonstrates a lack of social and emotional intelligence.

Ooops!! I’ve got a cartoon poster in the hallway with Hitler on it. Guess I’d be heavily judged by quite a few on this thread.

Yes, most people do not find Hitler funny or joke worthy. He is one of the most heinous individuals in history, responsible for the deaths of up to 50 million people at a high level, and that’s before you start to delve into the holocaust.

On social and emotional intelligence, I’d refer back to a comment early in this thread about the nurse who this certificate brings to mind: that, in acting with undiscriminating compassion, she was doing what the Nazis couldn’t.
IMO it takes a great deal of social and emotional intelligence to reconcile the presence of Hitler’s name with the knowledge of what this nurse did and was commemorated for.

IMO it is not socially or emotionally intelligent to feel that people should be forced to make that reconciliation.
If they were proud of their relative to the point where they wanted to initiate discussions with the people visiting their house about her amazing bravery and undiscriminating compassion then a picture of her or a medal or nursing certificate awarded by the British Army or medical school would be a more appropriate way to do this.

‘forced’ is an interesting choice of word. I tend to feel that anyone I know well enough to have in my house, that would be their response, rather than to accuse me of harbouring Nazi memorabilia/being a neo-Nazi.

In this case, the OP doesn’t have a picture of the relative or another certificate.

It’s mouldy and smelly old tat and of no use just throw it away

I’d hang it. It’s about the relative not Hitler. A very interesting historical piece. My FIL was in a camp before anyone comes for me.

Is it mouldy and smelly?

I'm guessing this is the Deutschland incident? The following day, the Germans bombed the city of Almeria in retaliation. A taste of things to come.
Your choice, the nurse did a humanitarian act of course.

I would not hang anything with the name or signature of Adolf Hitler (or any other Nazi) anywhere in my house.

If there's a photo of your relative, I'd hang that, maybe with a blurb about her bravery and sense of duty as a nurse.

As a PP suggested, I'd offer the document to the War Museum or to the Red Cross or any memorial to nurses who served their fellow humans in the wars of the 20th century.

Old paper is always foxed and smelly, plus it has Shitlers name on it.

It’s behind glass and seems to have been preserved remarkably well.

See the OP's reply below.

i stand corrected - in answer to your question though no, it may give visitors or the casual observer the wrong idea

The word forced is 'interesting' to you, is it? What a meaningless thing to write. I'm 'interested' to see that you made the leap from discussing the moral implications behind displaying a certificate with a prominent connection to the leader of the Nazi party straight to me 'accusing' you of 'harbouring' (that is an interesting and emotive word to use) nazi memorabilia and even of being a Neo Nazi. You seem to be taking this very personally which is a recipe for disaster in debate. I think this interaction should end here.

Gosh, odd response.
I said 'interesting' as I think it suggests a few potential motivations behind it (that a person showing this certificate would sort of march friends up to it and insist on a conversation; that a visitor would not/could not have a think about the certificate and its history proactively and unilaterally, but would need to be 'made' to do so in some way... I would have liked you to engage with what I was saying and used 'interesting' as an invitation to continue the discussion.

On 'accusing', looking at my last post again I'm confident that it's clear that what I was talking about was a hypothetical visitor possibly accusing me of harbouring Nazi memorabilia/being a neo-Nazi. Not you. If we're talking about taking things personally.

Might be time to move on to "Blessed is the man who expects nothing"

I don't continue debate when the other party attempts to use DARVO to score points. This interaction is over.

DARVO??? This gets weirder and weirder.