University Diaries:
Your Number One News Source
For Retired Wisconsin Farmer’s
Hitler Shrine Coverage
[It Might Not Happen]
'A retired farmer who claims he was a Nazi SS officer has agreed not to open a memorial he built to Hitler, local officials say.
Ted Junker, 87, had planned a grand opening for his shrine June 25 on his farm in southeastern Wisconsin. Word of the opening generated a crush of publicity.
But Walworth County officials met with Junker on Thursday morning and persuaded him to keep the shrine closed, said Mike Cotter, county deputy corporation counsel. No one answered the phone at Junker's farm when The Associated Press called Thursday.'
[Bureaucratic Red Tape to Blame]
'Cotter said county officials used bureaucratic issues to discourage the farmer, saying officials classified it as an assembly hall or museum and that Junker would need permits.
He also warned Junker his farm could not accommodate the hundreds of visitors that could show up because of media coverage, and that the shrine would likely provoke retaliation.'
[Reporters Question
County Deputy
Corporation Counsel’s
Choice of Word “Blossomed”]
'"He understood that this had blossomed into something he was never expecting," Cotter said. "When he saw us today, he made the comment again about how famous he'd become. You could hear the phone ringing constantly. Constantly."
Sheriff David Graves said deputies will still step up patrols in the area on June 25 to stop any trespassers.
Cotter said Junker built the shrine into the side of a hill on his property. He has painted tributes to Hitler on the walls, Cotter said, along with the text of the United States Constitution's First Amendment, which guarantees the right to free speech. The top of the building features a granite wall honoring Germans killed in World War II.'
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UPDATE: Bloggers are outdoing themselves on the Junker’s Bunker story (I got this name for it from one of the selfsame wits). Sample post titles:
Get Your Coat, Honey, We’re Goin’ to the Hitler Memorial
America’s Oldest Anne Coulter Fan!
Paging Hutton Gibson
Damn Immigrants
Cheesekopf
Crazy Old Dude Plans a Hitler Memorial in Wisconsin
Go to Google Blog Search for details.
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UPDATE #2: This just in!
Wisconsin Fight Song
Junker’s Bunker Version
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Dear old Judenrein!
Run the tanks clear down the field,
A blitzkrieg sure this time.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Fight on for her fame.
Heil! Fellows! - Heil, heil, heil!
We'll win this game.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Stand up, Badgers, sing!
Achtung is our driving spirit,
Loyal voices ring.
On, Wisconsin! On, Wisconsin!
Raise her glowing flame
Stand, Fellows, let us now
Salute her name!
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