During World War II, an important part of history, Hitler was the dictator of Germany.  He was truly an evil man and an oppressor, not a hero.  Now, Hitler can be seen and remembered in museums, pictures, etc.  Shouldn’t it be considered an honor to be put in a museum?  I believe that Hitler doesn’t deserve such an honor because he was not a great leader, just a tyrant.  Perhaps he shouldn’t be remembered at all because he did such terrible things to the Jews.  He was a racist oppressor who ruled an empire.  He tried to take over the world, but failed.  Should Hitler be taken out of museums and such?  Should Hitler be remembered in history or should he be censored from it?  This paper seeks to address this question by looking at two sources of information: Encyclopedia Britannica and Spartacus Educational. 

            In Germany, the government actually censors Hitler.  It is against the law to have Nazi things like a flag.  Also, it is against the law to deny the Holocaust.  The German government can put you in prison for having Nazi items or denying the Holocaust.  Should the American government also censor Hitler like Germany?  Hitler was a terrible oppressor who used the Jews as scapegoats for Germany’s problems.  He shouldn’t be praised for what he did.  That would be morally wrong.  Unfortunately, Hitler and his Nazis is a big part of history.  Without Hitler, there would not have been World War II.  So forgetting Hitler would be like taking an important part of history out and deleting it.  That also would not be right.

            As a child, Hitler always wanted to succeed in school.  When his father moved him to a bigger secondary school, he was no longer top of his class.  He stopped trying when he wasn’t the best in his class.  He never advanced past secondary education; instead he went to the German army.  Even as a child he had an all-or-nothing mentality.  In the army, Hitler was an isolated figure who would, at random times, jump up and make passionate speeches.  He was very charismatic.  By the end of Hitler’s speeches, the crowd would be willing to do whatever he said.  Usually, Hitler’s speeches revolved around the subjects of Jews and Marxists bringing down Germany or it would be of how great Germany could become.  Hitler saw socialists as a Jewish conspiracy.  Many socialists in Germany were Jews.  Hitler disagreed with the socialist idea of equality.  Hitler also hated Marxists because Karl Marx had been a born Jew.  Jewish people had been joining socialist parties because they wanted equality so it was no coincidence.  On January 30, 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany.  He turned that position into a dictatorship.  Soon after becoming chancellor, he banned all the socialist and communist parties. 

            So how exactly did Hitler deal with his hatred of Jews?  He sent them to concentration camps and death camps.  Also, he had the terrible event known as the Holocaust.  Millions and millions of Jews were slaughtered.  This was genocide.  Jews started being banned from public places.  Hitler also passed a law that made it so Jewish people could not be citizens of Germany.  Another of Hitler’s goals was to expand his territory.  He believed that one of his greatest threats would be Great Britain.  So he sent air raids over there continuously and planned to land 160,000 soldiers on the land.  He eventually abandoned this plan on October 12, 1940.  His next goal was to attack the Soviet Union.  Eventually he would send in a spy to start the communist revolution in Russia.  You can see that these are a few of Hitler’s terrible crimes.  He was racist toward Jewish people, and he wanted to rule the world under a German empire.  These are good reasons for Hitler to be censored and not remembered.

            Although Hitler was a terrible dictator, does that give us an excuse to censor and forget him?  After all, he was an important part of history, and he started World War II.  Doesn’t Hitler deserve a place in history?  Maybe we should remember him so that we can handle future problems easier.  Perhaps we can learn from bad times in history.  By analyzing Hitler, we can be forewarned of terrible leaders.  Hitler was skilled at seeing weaknesses in his opponents.  His greatest achievement was probably holding his German empire for a while before the Allies came and destroyed him and his empire. 

            What is Hitler’s place in history?  There have been theories that Hitler could have been absolutely mad.  He could have not been mentally healthy.  If so, that would absolve him from most or all of his crimes because then it would be known that during World War II, Germany was ruled by a crazy man not an evil ruler.  It is known that Hitler had some good mental abilities like a great memory, and he could also find weaknesses in his enemies.  These abilities increase his responsibility for his cruel acts that he committed.  His great achievement was uniting the German people.  During his ruling, he was actually a popular leader by Germans.  He was popular because Germany’s economy was better during his ruling.  Also, there were more social institutions, prosperity of the masses, and increase of German prestige.  By 1938 he made Germany the most powerful country in Europe. 

            To some people, Hitler will always be a terrible leader who ruled Germany and caused World War II.  To others, Hitler will be the leader who made Germany’s economy great and Germany the most powerful country in Europe during World War II.  Since he holds great importance in history, perhaps he should not be censored and forgotten.  Though in Germany, Hitler is already being censored.  In the end, Hitler was a great and terrible dictator who had the support of Germany during his ruling.