VIDEO CNN's Chris Burns reports on the controversy over 1945 Soviet troop graffiti in Germany's parliament building, or Reichstag, in Berlin Windows Media 28K 80K

July 18, 1999
Web posted at: 8:59 a.m. EDT (1259 GMT)

BERLIN (CNN) -- As the German government continues its move from Bonn to Berlin's Reichstag, remnants of the old parliament building's past have left an imprint many Germans would like to forget.

Soviet troops scrawled graffiti in the Reichstag after they took Berlin in 1945. When the building was refurbished to prepare for returning lawmakers, the graffiti was preserved.

With messages like "Death to Germans" and "Serves you right, you sons of dogs," saving history has prompted yet another moral struggle over how Germany should live with its past and get on with its future.

Berlin Bureau Chief Chris Burns explores the controversy.

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