The Hitlermobile©

So, yesterday I saw Hitler’s car.
That’s right.
← The Hitlermobile©.
As in, I was not only standing right next to the Hitlermobile, but I even touched it.
I’m sure he had more than one car, and stuff. Plus, he probably took the bus now and then. Or a cab.
But this car, this very one pictured here… this big black Mercedes Benz, brought to Canada in 1945, this exact one, was his favorite parade car and/or promo-convertible!
What with no roof and all there was plenty of room to stand up in the thing and give that big salute deal.
HEIL!

It’s at the War Museum here in the nation’s capital, Ottawa.

[click on image for a swivel-view]

What a fabulous place, I thoroughly enjoyed touring the premises. Spent the entire day, walking around, going through very realistic mock-trenches, where you can peer through holes in the sandbags and actually see frontline battle footage on little screens. And there are guns and bayonets and bombs and grenades and suspended jets and airplanes and helicopters, and every kind of tank imaginable. Tons of neat displays and multi-media presentations.
The architecture of the place is fantastic. There seems to be no wall parallel to another, and the entire thing is set up like a gigantic ship, as evident from outside as within. The entire experience is thought-provoking.
For instance, the Vimy Memorial Gallery is perhaps one of the most artistically beautiful things I’ve seen, museum-wise, ever.
But it was the Hitlermobile that really captivated me.
Because I hate Hitler so much.
I’ve written of this before, HERE and THERE.

So it was startling. 

I was walking around in the War Museum, pretty much minding my own business and then all of a sudden there was Hitler’s car. It gave me pause.
On the explanatory plaque there is a photo of him being motored around in that very car, and he’s doing the salute deal, and there are at least forty million people returning the gesture, in every direction.
I touched it.
It was like for a few moments I heard the roar of history, followed by silence, and the clicking footsteps of others walking away from the exhibit.
And it gave me pause, the Hitlermobile did.

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