A bakery in a German city has made a controversial decision to bring back sweets which many in the country associate with the Nazis.
Cafe Lieb in Tübingen used the moulds to create the sweet treats which depict animals riding tanks and firing weapons.
Head confectioner at the cafe in the south-western city Ulrich Buob defended the move, saying older people are nostalgic for the sweets from their childhood.
However, others say the sweets glorify war and have a direct connection back to Germany’s Nazi past.
The cafe is bringing back the sweets
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Reza Schwarz, a member of the Information Centre on Militarisation in the city, told local media: “It is as if people are mourning for the good old war days and I consider that to make a mockery of those who lived through them.”
One woman passing the stand said: “Easter is peace and not tanks, it doesn’t fit at all.”
Another added: “As a mother, I find it unacceptable, especially at a time like this.”
Another commentator writing in the local paper said: “The Nazi past is transfigured into nostalgic confectionery.
“A tank like from the Second World War, nicely decorated and ready for Easter — as if it were all just a harmless gimmick.”
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The molds date back to the Second World War
Buob said: “Older people say they recognise them from their childhood, and many old people simply want to buy them as a souvenir.”
Hermann Leimgruber, the bakery owner, said the Second World War era moulds had been gathering dust in the basement and they decided to bring them back for Easter.
Responding to the backlash, he told local media: “My God, it’s a part of our history…You can’t negate it all, the children got the bunny in the tank at Easter, that’s the way it was.
“One doesn’t have to turn everything into a scandal.”
It comes as the German government issued a warning against Russian efforts to “instrumentalise” events marking the 80th anniversary of World War Two after the Russian ambassador to Berlin attended a local event in the eastern town of Seelow.
The commemoration marked the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the final battles in the war before the Soviet army’s march on Berlin and Germany’s capitulation in May 1945. At least 30,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in one of the hardest-fought battles for Russia’s troops.
Russian ambassador in Berlin Sergey Nechayev laid a flower at the monument to the battle. Military attaches from the embassies of Belarus and Kazakhstan, whose nationals fought in the Soviet army, also laid flowers at the site in Seelow.
Earlier this year, Germany’s Foreign Office issued guidance to be cautious of Russian attempts to use 80th anniversary events for propaganda purposes.
