The puppet stands 51 centimetres tall, carved out of wood and hand-painted, its uniform tattered and torn. But for all it has endured over more than 80 years buried in a backyard in Belgium at the outset of World War II; dug up after the war and taken on a nine-day cross-Atlantic journey; stored and almost forgotten in an attic in Oakland, California it remains, with its black toothbrush moustache and right arm raised in a Nazi salute, immediately and chillingly recognisable.
Long before Frank Oz brought many Muppets to life, his father, an amateur Dutch puppeteer, made a Hitler marionette as an act of defiance. He buried it during the war.
The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited, currently showing at the Contemporary Jewish Museum through August 14, brings joy and visual delight to fans of all ages.