For almost 70 years, church worshippers in a small town south of Paris have been saying their prayers under a portrait of Adolf Hitler. The Fuhrer's likeness is featured in a stained-glass window - installed in 1941 in the choir of St James' church in Montgeron, in what historians say is a 'quiet act of defiance' in Nazi-occupied France (rather than actually fighting back, one must assume).
Hitler is portrayed as Herod Agrippa, the brutal king of Judea, dressed in a blue Roman tunic and red cloak, wielding a sword that is about to behead the praying figure of St James the Apostle. About two-thirds of Hitler's face is seen - his moustache and mouth are concealed by an uplifted left arm - but his quiff and head shape make him unmistakable. The window was made by two master glaziers, Jose and Carl Maumejean, brothers who crafted two other stained-glass windows in Art Deco style for local churches.
Those darned French... what'll they think of next?
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