What about all the good things Hitler did?
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Too often, people want only to see the world in its simplest terms. They want to see life in black and white, or terms of good and evil. There are no greys, nor wiggle room. Their ideas are clouded by their judgmentalism. This person is “bad” or this person is “good.” There’s no room to see the humanity each of us possesses. Frankly, I’m tired of this climate of hate. I demand change. We need to open our minds and begin to understand that there are two sides to every story, and both positive and negative outcomes to a situation, even the most atrocious.
I would never dream of condoning his actions, but I believe it’s important understand that even someone as vile as Adolf Hitler is also a person. He was a man with a dream, ambitions, and goals that he was willing to fight for. In the same respect, the founding fathers of these United States were fighting for their dreams when they went to war against England. Martin Luther King Jr. was also a man with a dream which he set forth to realize. There was just as much opposition to these men as there was to Hitler. Each side believed its actions were correct, and fought to uphold their beliefs.
Hitler was a painter, and an incredible politician. He was also a madman who helped to perpetrate some of the most horrific forms of torture known to history, but without him the United Nations would not exist. Before WWII, the League of Nations, the U.N.‘s predecessor, was largely regarded as President Wilson’s ludicrous pipe-dream. The events of the war led many to recognize that an international organization was necessary to protect against another event. The United Nations and its subsequent Geneva Conventions were born, providing a framework with which the world could fight back against similar atrocities.
We need to remember that Hitler did not commit genocide single-handedly: every Nazi soldier, sympathizer, and ally played a role. Ordinary people commit genocide, and it takes recognition that that seed lies in all of us to stop its growth. While we may not agree with their actions, it takes understanding, not bigotry, to overcome these issues. Men who die as monsters are born as human beings. Hatred sows little else but more hatred. We are all humans, and that is a tie that transcends all else.
Comment
When someone does something as terrible as Hitler did, it overshadows anything good he may have done. The fact that some good things came out of WWII should not be attributed to Hitler; he doesn’t deserve credit for the existence of the U.N., for example.
— Miranda · Feb 27, 11:12 AM · #
Hitler had a direct hand in starting WWII (We all agree on that one, right?). The U.N. is, in part, a reaction against Hitler’s policies and a byproduct of WWII. Just because he didn’t have a specific hand in its formation doesn’t mean he wasn’t in some way responsible. I don’t believe he deserves “credit” for its existence, but I believe it’s important to acknowledge that he played a very critical role in nudging along the system of international law that was developed post-WWII.
— Amy Dewar · Mar 8, 02:33 PM · #
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