German mayor resigns after dispute over 'Hitler bell'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A small-town mayor in Germany is resigning following outrage over comments he made suggesting that the Nazi period wasn't all bad.
Roland Becker, the mayor of Herxheim am Berg, said in a statement Wednesday that he considered himself the victim in a dispute over a so-called 'Hitler bell' hanging in the town church.
The bell carries the inscription "Everything for the Fatherland - Adolf Hitler" above a Nazi swastika. Such bells were widespread during the Nazi era but most were removed after the war. It's unclear why Herxheim's bell remained in the Protestant church to this day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Becker sparked outrage in recent weeks by saying he was proud of the bell and quoting a 95-year-old resident who felt the period of Nazi rule had included "good things."