BEIJING, Jun. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Madame Tussauds' plan to include Adolf Hitler in its new Berlin branch is being condemned by German World War II memorial groups, who said displaying the dictator is "tasteless," according to media reports.

     Madame Tussauds, which is due to open its Berlin museum next month, argues Hitler is part of German history and deserves a place in the exhibition near the Brandenburg Gate.

    "Our surveys show people want to see him because he belongs to Germany's past," said spokesman Natalie Ruoss.

    Opponents of the Hitler waxwork, however, expressed fears that the waxwork display would glorify the dictator and lead young people and neo-Nazis to pose for pictures with the faux-Hitler.

    "It's tasteless. A waxworks museum is meant to entertain and to amuse. It's not appropriate to have a Hitler figure there," said Johannes Tuchel, from the Gedenkstaette Deutscher Widerstand, the memorial group for opponents of the Nazis.

    Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit has expressed concern at Madame Tussauds' plans. He wrote a letter to the wax museum's curators urging them to consider carefully whether to include the Nazi dictator and, if they still do, to be careful how they present him, spokesman Guenter Kolodziej said Monday.

    Ruoss said the museum will not allow visitors to take pictures with Hitler and the display will follow German laws that ban artwork glorifying Hitler.

    Hitler would be featured as a broken man in a dark, bunker-like setting, with panels providing explanations on the dictator, according to Ruoss.

    (Agencies)