Is it important to memorialize the lives of deplorable historical figures?

[Dave Gray]

I saw a news article today that Adolf Hitler's birth house is going to be demolished.  And I thought "Oh...that's too bad."  But then I kinda checked myself.  Since Hitler is in the running for all-time greatest dickhead, I shouldn't care that some of the memory of him is lost -- it's not like I'd want to visit his hospital on vacation, but I still am attracted to historical sites and artifacts, even if they're horrific.

This goes for serial killers, despots, and sites of great suffering, too.  I don't know if it's to serve as a reminder of wrongs or if it's just because history is to be preserved and not whitewashed, good or bad.

How do you feel about stuff like this?

[Phishfan]

What an interesting question. I don't feel any issue with tearing down Hitler's birth place. On the other hand, I think preserving and making museums out of a site like Auschwitz is important. Hitler himself may be the easiest example for a group to demonize. I'd be really interested if opinions on this topic sway if we discuss less polarizing example.

[Spider-Dan]

I believe this is part of why the Obama Administration researched Muslim funeral rites at sea.  They didn't want Bin Laden's grave to be a rallying point for radical Islamic extremists.  Similarly, I think places like Hitler's birth house would be more likely to serve as a point of significance for neo-Nazis than it would an historic artifact, so I think it's a good idea to demolish it (especially since it looks like worldwide, we may be seeing a resurgence in similar ideology).

[Dave Gray]

I don't know for certain, because I didn't read the whole article, but I don't think it's being demolished BECAUSE it's his birthplace, but just because the hospital building became obsolete. 

[DaLittle B]

I feel,it's being a birth place,it can easily be marked with a plaque.He was born,spent a week or so there,not exactly This is the turning point of pure evil...I feel like a house he lived in as a teenager,or young adult,where he started forming a lot of his hate is probably more significant.I'm fine with it being torn down,I love historical type places,but keeping,maintaining a building like this where he was born,not worth it.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Victims and heros deserve memorials, no assholes.  But then again in this county there are more memorials to traitors who attacked our country to preserve slavery than to the victims of slavery.

[Phishfan]

I read up on it, just to learn a bit more. It is not a hospital. It is an apartment house his parents lived in. The sole purpose is to prevent it from becoming more of a neo-Nazi site than it already has been. Also, now that the announcement was made there seems to be some backtracking. Apparently some of the people involved in the decision say they never agreed to demolition and that it was not specifically mentioned in the proposal. It was instead ambiguously worded so that they thought they were approving architectural redesign.

Interestingly, someone has been paying the rent for years in order to keep the building empty.

[Dave Gray]

I don't care so much about Hitler's birthplace for the reasons that B said.  But, let's say, that his main Nazi war-room was in tact.  That would be of great historical significance and something I'd like to see preserved.  It's not to celebrate him or the Nazi party, but for the same reason that I like to see the Mayan pyramids kept in tact, where horrific human sacrifices were made.