FIRST OFF . . .

A watercolor of Vienna by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler is up for auction in Louisville, Ky., and a some local organizations--including the Louisville office of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition and the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression--are complaining about it. The Den of Steven Auction House considers the work just another $25,000 painting, but not so the protesters. “We are outraged; we protest this distortion of history,” said J. Mary Sorrell, a protest organizer. “Hitler did not paint a pretty picture of most of Europe. In his prime, he chose to create lamp shades, ashtrays and other objects made out of Jews and other Holocaust victims.” Auction house owner Steven White said he received one telephone call protesting the sale. “We certainly don’t mean to hurt anybody’s feelings, and I can see how some people would take it personally,” he said. The 9-by-15-inch painting is owned by a Michigan man who wants to remain anonymous, White said.