What to do With the "Hitler Bell?"

There has been a dust-up in the remote Austrian village of Wolfpassing this week where the castle that has ruled the skyline of the village for centuries, Wolfpassing Schloss, has been sold to Tobias Hufnagl, an Austrian entrepreneur, castle, guts, feathers and bell.

 

The bell, ensconced in the belfry of the castle, was placed there 80 years ago by Austrian fanatics of Adolf Hitler who had just annexed the entire country of Austria in 1938. Dubbed by some the "Hitler Bell," it has been ringing out its daily message to Wolfpassing inhabitants every day for 80 years.

 

And now, with the sale of the castle, the existence of the bell has resurfaced in the public eye. It bears the name of Adolf Hitler and the year 1939 when it was first emplaced.

 

The bell has become something of an embarrassment for the village, and for good reason: those who knew of its existence were embarrassed by all the hoopla, with everyone looking around at each other, each knowing the truth, but none willing to admit to it.

 

So what to do?

 

The senior official of Vienna's Jewish community, Raimund Fastenbauer, says "I think the best thing would be if the bell disappeared and was buried somewhere." No one else apparently has an opinion other than the government agency who oversaw the castle's sale, who said that "the sale was legal, along with the decision to keep the bell in the belfry as an integral component of the castle."

 

The buyer has "'no interest' in exchanges with the AP [press]."

 

I have a final solution.

 

Crate the bell up and give it to the King Street Patriots.

 

If there is a political group that needs to ring this bell, it should be this particular group of hatemongers.

 

Adolf would be proud.