NEWS: God Wins, Hitler Loses...Or is it the Other Way Around?

CULTURE: God Wins, Hitler Loses...Or is it the Other Way Around?

Hmm. Did I miss a memo about this being Hitler week? In the past few days, I've stumbled upon three different Hitler-related stories.

There were the two 18-year old high school seniors who included quotes from Hitler's Mein Kampf beneath their yearbook pictures.

Officials are considering either reprinting that section of the yearbook, or providing "special tape" to people who want to obscure the quotes in their own yearbooks. That sounds like a plan--just "cover it up" and "pretend it's not there." Perhaps they should ask those who are offended by this kind of idiocy to simply wrap their heads in the "special tape." The best part is that Philip Compton's father dismissed the incident as mere childs play.

I love how when it's your 18-year old acting like an asshole, he's just a "child" who doesn't know any better, but when someone else's progeny screws up, we want them tried as adults.

In this week's other Hitler news, the site of Hitler's bunker in Berlin was marked publicly for the first time, an event that has spawned some ambiguous articles about former SS officer Rochus Misch, the 88-year old Berlin resident who faithfully served as a bodyguard to Hitler throughout the war and who "remains a controversial figure in Germany for his dogged faithfulness to the memory of a man who was responsible for the deaths and persecution of millions."

Um--can't imagine drama and tears associated with WWII? Is he serious? I mean, sure--lament the sad fate of the innocent Goebbels children, but really, why is this man being quoted?


Hitler's Bunker, 2003


Hitler's Bunker, 2006

And don't forget the already infamous Hitler farmer who wanted to turn some of his Wisconsin land into a memorial.

Junker's junk of a plan was, of course, met with a blitzkrieg of criticism and protest, and he has allegedly scrapped the idea, although my guess is that it will still happen, just without all of the Hitler hoo-hah and in an underground-bunker-the-war-is-lost sort of way.

Actually, I could see using that second quote, "The masses will swallow a big lie . . ." for my yearbook if I was still in high school. It's a good quote, and I think it's pertinent. And I think that if you get past the whole "OH MY GOD HE QUOTED HITLER OH WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN" thing, I could totally see a liberal-minded and intelligent person using that quote to prove a point. (i.e., motherfucking Hitler said that the masses will swallow one big lie, there's a big lie being perpetrated now, Hitler was right, etc. etc. etc.)

To be fair, quoting Mein Kampf for your high school yearbook, while creepy, irresponsible, and juvenile is nowhere near in the same neighborhood as what those other two kids were being charged with.

I know what you mean, and I agree. Goebbels is actually credited with a similarly apt quote: "If you repeat a lie often enough, the people will believe it." It's true, and relevant, but because it's his, it's kind of hard to use casually. No matter how relevant, quoting from Mein Kampf is just a bad idea...no?

Yes, I know--I didn't mean that those incidents were at all comparable. However my guess is that if Mr. Compton's son had tried to rob a bank, we still would have heard, "He's just a kid, doesn't know what he's doing," and if someone else's kid had quoted Hitler in his high school yearbook, Compton's dad would most likely have been much more inclined to judge him as an adult. Just sort of a human nature thing.

I wonder if the quotes were credited in the yearbook. It doesn't say they were, and if they weren't, not one person in 100 would have known the source. I certainly wouldn't have. If they were credited, it is hard to understand why the editors would have printed it. It would be their mistake, mainly, although of course lame on the part of the students as well. But it still wouldn't be quite clear what their point was. I doubt these kids were actually exposing true Nazi viewpoints. They were probably making a point, or, as likely, a joke. Or both at once.

But I don't know.

Right. I don't know if the quotes had been submitted anonymously or not, but the fact that people "happened to know" they were from Mein Kampf indicates that probably wasn't the case. Attributing a quote -- however relevant -- to Hitler or his book is just in poor taste. Between paraphrasing and just submitting anonymously, there were better ways to go about doing it.

Though, actually proofreading the bloody thing would've helped, too.

And "special tape"? *shakes head*

I take serious issue with this.

"The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."

HOW is quoting THAT mean the 18 year old is being an Asshole? Thats just stupid. Who CARES who said it, why don't you judge it on the content of the words?

It seems like a pretty interesting quote to me, from one of Historys most awful people who USED this very same logic. Its almost as if he was admitting it, and WARNING us for the future.

Sorry Helen, but you're just retarded if you think that was an Assholish thing to quote.

Actually I rather like the second qoute; I've heard it before and agree with it. I also rather agree with the philosophy of the first quote. Honestly I don't think those kids did anything particularly wrong except wanting to twirk the system a little bit. Was is juvinile and needlessly confrontational? Sure. Was it being an asshole? Naw, I really don't think so. After all, if anyone else BESIDES Hitler had said those things, do you think anyone would have a problem with it? Betcha those kids are secretly smiling to themselves at the people they've offended.

As for the guy from Wisconsin....oy. I heard about this in the newspaper last night. You know, Wisconsin has a huge German population and all, so I suppose its not too suprising that someone like this got into the state. He's got the right to do what ever he wants, I suppose, but....what a complete douche bag.

Ummmm, of course not. . . that's sort of the point, isn't it? Why even ask that question?

Call me crazy, but I'm fine for a blanket "Don't quote Hitler in your yearbook quotes" policy in high schools.

Well, not hard to spot the asshole in this thread, is it?

Here's a clue: having a problem with someone quoting Hitler isn't being "retarded," but attacking someone for no reason is.

...I cannot figure out what would be wrong with quoting Hitler; he was another figure in history.Despite his reputation he is still a fascinating person to stud;.and will be studied over and over again. The lie quote is an insiduous warning that history s doomed to repeat itself no matter what side you are on.Because it is not really about good and evil or sides;but about those with power and how it is obtained as well as how the public is always duped by the ruling regime.

Quoting somebody does imply a kind of reverence, such that you're attributing some degree of wisdom to them and their words.

Quoting somebody in a yearbook is hardly the same thing as discussing a person or attempting to learn from them. Putting a Mein Kampf quote in the yearbook forces all the students from that year to have such a thing in their possession and connected to their final year of school. Engaging in a discussion or investigation doesn't affect others in the same way.

Thank you.

Sorry, but some neo nazi asshole quoting Hitler in order to say that yes, fascism is cool, and some thoughtful student using the same quote to say that, "holy shit, wake up people..." is not the same thing.

And since we can't really be sure what the student meant...whether it was ironic, or not...we should, in the interests of free speech, allow for that kind of quotatioin, no?

And even if we could be sure...free speech, you know? I agree it wouldn't be cool to sincerely quote Hitler and there is a line that could be drawn. I just don't think this crosses it.

And some people do use quotations in their yearbook in order to provoke thought.

It's so much easier to just use cover-up tape though, instead of thinking about this rationally. Please, won't somebody think of the cover-up tape.

+1

I wonder what vietnam era yearbook quotes looked like.

Actually, I like the cover up tape idea. Why limit it to yearbooks?

Cover up tape for your TV...for the computer monitor.

For your windshield...

An idea whose time has come...

You simply can't make a point with a quote if you're going to use one attributed to Hitler. The name is too distracting. Given that, I think it's fairly obvious that irritating their classmates and teachers was entirely the point of their decisions.

And I don't think that you should be able to pull a "What about free speech!?!" when it comes to a damn yearbook. Yearbooks are for everyone, not just these two guys. There's no reason their desire to say whatever they want should supercede everyone else's desire to have a decidedly uncontroversial and Hitler-free yearbook.

Yeah, but how are you going to tell the difference when it's just there in a yearbook with no context? That's like me posting a thread that says, "GAY MEN SUCK!" and then when I get flamed for it saying, "What? By and large, gay men engage in fellatio. You guys are so judgmental!"

For all someone could glean from a yearbook quote, maybe the "big lie" kid was referring to an international conspiracy controlled by the ZOG through the Freemasons. Or maybe he was referring to the lies of tyranical dictators. Who would be able to tell in the context of a school yearbook quote page? And the other quote, the one about strength lying in attack... well, that one is even more open to negative interpretations. It's certainly been the motto of Bush since 9/11.

II was surprised and somewhat distressed to learn today that so many SG members possess the ability to interpret what these high school students meant by their quotes. The degree of unfiltered insight is simply astonishing.

There is no explaining away the naiveté' of those who assert these kids were specifically quoting Hitler; or the naiveté of those that think these kids were simply quoting something they read that might have had relevance to their feelings, or the naiveté of the kids who added the quote to their yearbooks.

The fact is that regardless of the author, the quotes are insightful revelations reflecting first hand knowledge of the subject matter. These quotes, just like the quotes of Gandhi, Roosevelt, Churchill, da Vinci, or any number of folklore characters, serve to educate; not as the sole source or even the official record, but as one of many sources of opinion. Well-rounded folks would do well to understand the significance of the quote beyond the notoriety of the attributed author.

Perhaps open to interpretation bothers people more than they would like to admit.

I freely quote the Nazis because it is important to remember how they came to power. They were elected. You see alot of the same tricks being used today. Hermann Göring.

“Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”

And if that makes me a Nazi then type "Format C:" in at the dos prompt to make your computer go faster.

So clearly they are making people think about foreign policy and fascism. Too bad they couldn't find a Jesus quote to say it.

I'd put money behind this product: Glasses with cover-up tape already applied!

Quoting a Nazi doesn't make you a Nazi, but quoting a Nazi in a public forum (yearbook, the internet, on the street, whatever) with no context makes a damned good case for it.

Let me put it this way: if these boys were neo-Nazis and were putting these quotes in the yearbook because they agreed with Hitler, would it be acceptable?