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Shrine to Hitler unnerves community (Michigan)

Ted Junker seems like an ordinary, 87-year-old retired farmer until he starts to talk about his passion: Adolf Hitler.

Junker, who says was an SS officer during World War II, believes Hitler was a great leader who was just misunderstood, so he built a memorial to the Führer next to Junker's home near Millard in Walworth County (Michigan)

It's a beautiful location for a memorial to a man who most believe started World War II, in which 50 million people died, including more than 6 million Jewish people in the Holocaust - that's all part of what Junker disputes as bunk.

The memorial is a concrete structure tucked into the side of a tree-lined hill that overlooks a pond filled with geese and swans. Junker said he paid $200,000 to build the memorial.

Now that he has built it, he wants people to come. He is planning a grand opening at 11 a.m. June 25.

Junker said his mission is to clear up what he believes are inaccuracies in the teachings about World War II and Hitler's legacy.

With his still strong German accent, Junker said: "I like the U.S. I can't understand why people don't know the truth. This is for understanding, not hate."


UPDATE: 6-15-06
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

A Hitler memorial will not be open to the public, Walworth County officials said today.

Walworth County Sheriff David Graves and Walworth County Deputy Corporation Counsel Michael Cotter issued a news release stating that Ted Junker, who built a $200,000 memorial to Adolf Hitler, had agreed not to go ahead with a planned public opening on June 25.

"Mr. Junker built a private memorial to Adolf Hitler. He will not open this memorial to the public. This property is privately owned and not open to the public on June 25 or any other day," the news release states.

According to the news release, Graves and Cotter met with Junker, who agreed to cancel the public opening.

"If Mr. Junker desires to open the site to the public in the future, he acknowledges he will need to obtain the proper zoning permits from the Town of Sugar Creek and Walworth County," the press release states.

The Sheriff's Department said it intends to increase the police presence around Junker's farm.