Hitler should be respected in all countries of the world, though loved in none. It honestly doesn't surprise me that Adolf Hitler would be, though, in many parts of the world today. Here's why.
Respect is not necessarily a quality of someone you would want to emulate. Respect is a simple acknowledgment of greatness, and greatness does not mean goodness. Respect is an understanding of someone who achieved something awesome and in Hitler's case he achieved something awesomely terrifying and terrible. He should be respected in the way that we never let his story die, every bit of it, so that future generations don't create another one like him.
What Hitler did was rise from complete failure to become the most powerful man in the world. He once lived on street benches. He was rejected from his college of choice and lived for years as a vagrant. He found his own way and made powerful friends. With his new friends he led many people to do great things. He correctly diagnosed many problems of his nation, or at least found things to blame. He brought together millions of people into one vision.
He built a powerful party that infiltrated all aspects of government. He gained so much influence that he became Germany's most powerful person all without winning a single election.
In a mere decade he led a regime that rebuilt its economy and its military strength after a crushing defeat.
If that had been the end of it, or if that was all there was to tell, he would be one of the most respected and revered people to have ever lived. That isn't, however, the whole story. His regime only became great through the use of intimidation, bribery and murder to suppress its political rivals. They became a world power again only because they employed genocide and human slavery to power their war machine.
In that same decade, however, he set in motion a chain of events that would suffer the world the deaths of over 9,000,000 of his fellow Germans, 28,000,000 Russians, 6,000,000 Jews, and at least 3,000,000 others from all around the world who rose to stop him. His regime built the most successful systematic force to enslave and exterminate millions of people the world has ever known. Germany under Hitler shattered Europe and threw the western world into a war that would change the balance of power for a century to come. He was without a doubt one of the most important people of not just the 20th century, but of all time.
I am willing to bet this may be the picture hanging up that your friend saw in Africa. At face value, it shows a proud man at the height of his power. It shows a man who rose from literally nothing to one of the most recognized names in history. It shows a powerful and charismatic leader. It shows a man who led a nation to believe in themselves enough to rebuild and thrive. I could see anyone wanting to emulate Adolf Hitler if that were all there was to know. What it doesn't show are the fundamental failures of his character. What it doesn't show is that he gained power by channeling hate and fear in his own people. What it doesn't show is that he made evil something that was the rational thing to do. What it doesn't show is a person so charismatic that he could lead millions to unimaginable barbarism without remorse. Finally, what it doesn't show is how one man can be all these things and yet lead his people to such unforgivable sins that their descendants are forced to carry with them for generations to come. What it also doesn't show is how easily his story could be repeated if respect for his true story isn't given. Certainly not respect for the man himself, but respect of the terrible power he eventually commanded. Respect enough that you learn everything there is to know about him, so that we never see another one. For this there must be open knowledge. For this there must be free education and those who are willing to teach the whole story. Most of all, there must be access to this universally to all people everywhere.
As I said before, Hitler should not be loved, honored or revered. Still in many places he probably is. He should, however, be respected. That is to say, not Hitler himself, but that the name Adolf Hitler is a name that should be respected in the way that we never forget what one man can become both in greatness or in the evil he inspires in others.
A question keeps being brought up in the comments that I feel deserves an answer. You don't have to read this to understand the answer, but if you don't understand why I would use the word "respect" it might help you greatly see the full scope of what it is I am trying to convey.
Sharat Chandra asked:
I think just remembering him and his cruel deeds would be fine. Why respect him?
Where I grew up there was a saying I remember that might answer your question. When I was very young I wandered upon a snake. It was a rattlesnake which in my region carries a very lethal venom. I think if this were India a cobra would be a good analog, though even more deadly. My uncle saw that I was curious and stood and stared at this thing in the bushes. He heard the sinister rattle and quickly pulled me away. He taught me then what a rattlesnake was and why I should fear it enough to give it its space rather than think myself in any way superior to it. The word he used was respect. In the Marines the word was used again, this time with the rifles we were trained with. At 18 and in bootcamp, many of us had never fired a real gun before. Some were ignorant of how to handle it. Some foolish and brazen. Some were afraid. Our instructors made a quick lesson to us to know that we shouldn't be afraid of the weapon, but we should respect it. We needed to understand its power and the damage it could do to our enemy if we master it or to ourselves if we were stupid. In both occasions we weren't asked to show the snake or the weapon "admiration", or "reverence", but something more akin to acknowledgment of the power they held and that we took due measures in how we treat them.
Johnmark Glaze found the best definition I think that captures my choice of meaning.
"proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment:"
Respect is often a word that in reality does not mean revere or admire. Sometimes it can mean fear. It is only by the context it is used in that we know what its meaning truly is. My intention in this answer was to elicit the fear in others that I should have given to the snake. I was ignorant then. I thought it was just some oddity. It was just some evil thing and because I was good I could not be harmed. I was big and it was small. I was a thinking thing and it was just a stupid, crazy little snake that hid in the bushes. I was ignorant to its danger. I feel that our understanding of Adolf Hitler is the same sort of ignorance. We have made him into something simple, (evil and crazy) as well as his Nazi party. By doing this we have disassociated ourselves with the real danger that they represent. The Germans weren't an evil people. They couldn't all be crazy. Most would agree that Hitler himself wasn't crazy either. What he accomplished would be unfathomable for someone like Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer. The danger of Hitler was that he gave the people a rational solution to their problems. Everything made sense if you just suspend your humanity long enough to see it. But with all said and done the German people will never be able to disassociate themselves from that terrible time when they were struck by the serpent's venom.
My true fear is that because people have simplified Hitler so much, they have ignored the very real danger that exists that he could happen again. Anywhere where there are people who are economically and culturally depressed there can be a leader who rises out of the bushes to inspire them. Anywhere they can become a great people if motivated by a single vision. This vision could one of goodness or they could be being led by someone evil. Mankind has also shown a unique ability to forget the fundamental difference between right and wrong when presented with the temporary euphoria brought about by prosperity. The true problem is that evil is fundamentally more powerful than good if the good do not stand together to fight it. As I said before, Hitler's regime was able to use intimidation, bribery and murder to suppress its political rivals. It used genocide and human slavery to power its war machine. These are powers the good do not have. But the ugly truth is that the same story could happen anywhere in the world even today if no one really knows what the signs are, to carry on the analogy, they don't know to recognize and respect the sound of rattling for what it means.
Now in the comments below I have been called everything from a person who admires Hitler, to a Nazi-sympathizer to a flat out Neo-Nazi, (to all of which I take great offense), simply for my use of the word respect. You may disagree with the word choice, but that may simply boil down to a difference in culture. So while I will respect these differing views, I hope that the fundamental message is not lost. I want people to respect Hitler in the way we should respect a snake. With fear and with knowledge. We understand its danger and therefore learn all we can about it. We know where to expect danger, but we do not give it the ability to strike at us. To do this we must be able to know how to recognize it and treat it the way it deserves, which where I grew up, usually involved the tip of very sharp shovel.
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