Petitioners Call For Removal Of Soviet Tanks From Berlin Memorial

BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 22: A child is helped by a tourist to climb down from one of two Soviet T-34 tanks in a Soviet War Memorial on April 22, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. German politicians have condemned a petition launched last week by the B.Z. newspaper as well as the country's best-selling tabloid, Bild, which encouraged readers to send letters of protest to the federal parliament demanding the removal of the tanks located in the Soviet War Memorial in the city's central Tiergarten Park located near the Brandenburg Gate, erected by the Soviet Union to commemorate the 80,000 Soviet Armed Forces soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin in 1945. An extract of the petition reads, in explanation, that the tanks do not belong in such a prominent position 'in an era when Russian tanks are threatening a free and democratic Europe.' (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)