Thai School: Sorry About Hitler Superhero Banner

Dean explains it was meant to be a 'conceptual paradox'
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 15, 2013 2:29 PM CDT
Thai School: Sorry About Hitler Superhero Banner
In this July 31, 1938, file photo, Adolf Hitler salutes a huge crowd at a sports meeting in Breslau, Germany.   (AP Photo/File)

You may have thought Adolf Hitler was (almost) universally reviled, but apparently at least a few people in Thailand aren't aware of just how controversial a figure he is. For two entire days, a billboard outside Chulalongkorn University, the country's premier university, read "Congratulations" alongside superheroes like Superman and Captain America ... and Hitler, doing a Nazi salute. The billboard, meant for graduating students, was finally removed Saturday after criticism, and now the university has apologized, the AP reports.

"(We) would like to formally express our sincere apology for our students' 'Superhero' mural," the art school dean said in a statement. "I can assure you we are taking this matter very seriously." He said the art students who painted the banner wanted to use Hitler "as a conceptual paradox to the superheroes," to show that both good and bad people co-exist in the world. But, he adds, "This kind of thoughtless display will not happen again." The AP notes that Thai schools rarely teach anything about the Holocaust. (Click to see a picture of the offending banner.)

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