A HUGE POSTER bearing a Nazi symbol and a naked woman with Mickey Mouse’s head is generating huge controversy in Poznan, Poland. The poster was erected on a building in the city centre just steps from a synagogue by Italian artist, Max Papeschi.

Mr Papeschi said the picture is his view on the horrors of the American lifestyle, according to The Huffington Post. An exhibition of the artist’s work, including this picture, is due to be held in an art exhibition in the city in the autumn. The poster has been vandalised and pulled down, but the gallery’s director said she will put it back up.

She said, “Art should be provocative and controversial.” Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and millions of Poles were killed before the war ended. The country’s Jewish population of 3.5 million was nearly wiped out in the war.

“It is a shock for people who still scarred by the hell of the Holocaust,” said the head of Poznan’s Jewish community, Alicja Kobus.

[caption id="attachment_1255" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="A woman stands in front of a artwork by Italian artist Max Papeschi at the exhibition 'Abnormal Nudes' at the alternative art house Tacheles in Berlin on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. Photo: PA"][/caption]