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

Absolutely this. Did DH know the relative in person? If it was signed by 'Bob Smith' would it still get hung?

Well, your opinion is very clear from your use of terms like 'that cursed piece of shit'.
I didn't say that everyone had to agree, I'm just suggesting that perhaps some posters haven't engaged with some of the more pro-certificate posts. TBH I felt repulsed when I first read about it; I came to my conclusion after reading some other people's thoughts and thinking some more. It's not a simple issue or decision IMO.

I’m curious - why do people “have to engage” with opinions that support the certificate?

If OP didn’t want to hear a range of opinions, surely she shouldn’t have asked for them in the first place? If you’re only looking for responses that confirm your own stance, it’s probably worth making that clear when posting on a public message board. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t need to engage with racist opinions to know that I’m opposed to them, for example. The same principle applies here. If its not a "simple" issue for you then fine, but it is for many of us

There is absolutely no way I’d be hanging a piece of Nazi memorabilia in my house. The fact you even consider it is alarming.

Yabu sorry, i wouldnt hang it

Its not like he was cancelled on twitter for questionable views, he is the original nazi.

I was initially repulsed. Then I read people talking about how it's more of a reflection on her immense compassion than anything else, and on how it was issued by the German Red Cross, and simply rubber-stamped in Hitler's name as he was formally the leader of the organisation, not signed by him.
The comment 'This nurse was capable of doing what the nazis were not.' particularly struck me, as did the post (I've already mentioned this) about someone working in a hospice and caring for a dying man with swastika tattoos and racist opinions.
So an initial response is not always the one I'm going to end up standing by or believing in, once I've listened to other perspectives. That's what I mean by engaging with.

Yes, and plenty of us disagree.

So what is your issue with that?

Why are you suggesting that not wanting something approved/signed by Hitler in your home is unreasonable? You do realise that not everyone has to agree with you, right?

I haven't suggested it's unreasonable
I've just said there are reasons why someone might be OK with hanging it, and tried to explain why I think it's a question that requires and might reward a bit of self-challenging.
I don't know what else to say or how much clearer I can be, sorry.

I’m not going to entertain opinions of people who think hanging something signed by Hitler is acceptable for any reason. I do not have to consider their views.

Well perhaps you could not castigate people for not "engaging in pro certificate" responses.

I am also interested in how you would empathically respond to a visitor to your home who had direct relatives of the holocaust.

Because personally, if I saw that in someone's home, I would assume all sorts of things about them. none of them good.

It's not signed by him.
The OP and others have said that many times.

And I feel like the astonishingly humane and considered views of people like the poster who worked in a hospice are not getting the dues they deserve.

But OK.

id take it to antiques roadshow or similar and get rid of it!

The OP literally says: 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.

So yes, it was approved by Hitler.

Stop trying to minimise the hurt others might feel at seeing this. You have no right to do that. Anyone who dies in a hospice is privileged to die of a natural disease in a controlled environment with drugs and compassionate staff. My own mother died in a hospice. It is not remotely comparable to being murdered and tortured in a concentration camp.

I would call this a curio and talking point, if you have people for dinners? As the first poster said I would probably hang it in the loo which would invite conversation on it as it is clearly there to be wondered over. Of course if you don't know much about it or personally feel too awkward and your husband is shy and wouldn't step in, then obviously you wouldn't want a chat about it, so it's up to you.

I'd either keep it stored privately as a piece of family history, or slide in a photograph (or even a blank piece of paper roughly the same colour) behind the glass and over Hitler's name, if I wanted to include it with a lot of other displayed family memorabilia it fitted in with (like other bravery awards or nursing awards).

In this case, the signature doesn't represent Hitler's personal involvement, it's just his name as the national leader. I wouldn't look at it and see it as an artefact of Hitler, but as an artefact of the German state at a time when Hitler was leader. German households must be full of things like that from the 30s and 40s, that are official in some way and yet nothing at all to do with Nazism or the war.

Despite that, I still wouldn't put it on the wall with that name on it. I wouldn't want to keep reading the name myself, and I wouldn't want to have to explain to people that it was actually just a Red Cross certificate awarded to a British family member.

I think at least half of people seeing it, even friends who know me, might feel a tiny bit uneasy and wonder if I was secretly sympathetic. At the very least they'd rightly see it as insensitive.

Its an interesting piece of history but displaying it in a prominent position would not be a good idea. Bad taste and questionable motivation.

I think it’s the delivery though. Of course people can have an opinion, but does that opinion have to come with phrases such as ‘piece of shit’?

Well I am clearly going to buck the trend here but.....

I’d hang it, maybe not pride of place in the living room, but certainly somewhere where it can be appreciated.

It’s not a celebration of Hitler or the regime, it’s a record of your relative’s compassion and bravery in horrific circumstances. She helped injured people because she was a nurse, and that’s something to be proud of.

Historical items often contain uncomfortable names or symbols, but that doesn’t make the owner sympathetic to them. It’s part of the story. I’d treat it as an interesting piece of family history rather than something to hide away.

And for those saying it would be an insult to those that died at the hands of the Germans i.e. soldiers, civilians, Jews etc, I'm sorry I have a different take. If more people had the compassion of this woman, then the world would be a much better place.

Are you Jewish?

How is this even a question!? If I saw such an item in someone's house I would walk straight out. I am astonished and disturbed that 35% of people on the poll think that this would be ok to display. In some countries it would probably be illegal!

She was saving German lives that were there helping the Fascists with the Condor Legion and testing out new tech.

Guernica.

Yes, it does. The Oxford definition of an opinion is: “A belief or judgement which is not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.”

If I expressed the opinion that Hitler was a great guy, would you not disagree with that opinion?
Surely the fact that something is described as an “opinion” doesn’t mean it’s beyond criticism or that other people aren’t entitled to disagree with it.

But hey, if you want to believe Hitler wasn’t all that bad, that’s entirely up to you. Equally, other people are entitled to form their own opinions about you. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

Surely the point of History is to discuss things from the past - mostly what went wrong and why it shouldn't be repeated. If I were Jewish I would be happy to remind people how I felt about that and all genocide. We have visited plenty of places around the world where they are keen to keep people aware of terrible incidence so people don't forget and perpetuate the same feelings all over again.

Oops I voted the wrong way. I thought YABU was YABU for hanging it.

I mean I thought YANBU meant YANBU for having reservations about hanging it.

Oh god is this freaking menopause? I can't even explain the mistake I made or what I thought. 😆