WHY, ADOLF, WHY??

There are ‘why’s” that defy understanding

That challenges our concepts of living and dying

The link between and reasons for doing either

A situation that holds true, not the want of trying

This poem could equally have been titled

WHY, JOSEPH, WHY?. Another Dictator

In power about the same time; equally as murderous

And ruthless. That is another poem

The subject? Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889, 

died April 30, 1945; of Austrian descent; and has become

A symbol of evil in the history that followed. Dead, he is

Boring he is not; the questions are many, revolving around “how”

And “why”. Hundreds of books and articles have been written

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On the subject’ There is no want for research material

“Why did he do it?” The “it’ changes with context. The question

Can be summarised as “why did he believe what he did?’

“Why did he behave as he did?” Those questions produce debate

The biggest question? Why? Why am I, nearly 8 decades later

Asking “why?”. He’s dead, his political philosophy is dead.

Is it? He awakened demons that linger; nationalism, militarism

Hate, all-consuming hate (how many bodies were burnt?)

Demons that stalk every successive generation. We could at least 

try to understand the nature of the beast, and where it sprang from.

That’s the least we can do to combat the disease they spread