German Town Strips Hitler’s Honorary Citizenship
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The southern German town of Tegernsee has revoked the honorary citizenship granted 83 years ago to Adolf Hitler.
The 16 members of the Tegernsee city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to strip Hitler of the honor bestowed upon him in 1933, when he was named chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg, the Tegernsee Voice reported Wednesday.
Mayor Johannes Hagn told the newspaper that he does not know why the town is just now withdrawing the honor from the Nazi dictator, but said he is happy to be making up for lost time. The council also voted to withdraw honorary citizenship from von Hindenburg at the meeting.
Some 4,000 German municipalities honored Hitler with honorary citizenship when he served as Nazi dictator.
After World War II, the Allied Control Council in Germany ordered the automatic loss of honorary citizenship for all lawfully convicted war criminals, but Hitler and Hindenburg both died before the end of the war.
A road in the city named for Hitler was changed to “Main Street” in 1947, according to the newspaper.
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