Can the name Hitler ever be neutral?

Three cheers for the principled cake-makers of Holland Township, New Jersey, for refusing to waste their icing sugar writing Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler on a birthday cake. Little Adolf Hitler Campbell was apparently given his name because, as his brain-challenged father explained, no one else in the world would have it. And he can't see what the fuss is about: "Other kids get their cake," he complained. "I get a hard time. It's not fair to my children. How can a name be offensive?"

Maybe this'll give you a clue, Mr Campbell. Here's the account of the other Adolf Hitler's birthday celebrations in April, 1939. Along with the ghastly plywood swastikas and papier mache eagles, processions of SS cadets and the wearers of the infamous Blood Order, comes a telling little quote from Goebbels:

   

In a speech to the people broadcast this evening from all German stations the Minister of Propaganda, Dr Goebbels, said that there was no one on the globe who could remain indifferent to the name "Hitler." For some that name meant hope, faith, and future, for others it was the object of distorted hate, base lies, and cowardly calumny ...

Remains to be seen if nominative determinism - the idea that there is a link between people's names and their occupation (read Comment Central's ten examples) - will pay out in little Adolf's case, but with a sister called Aryan Nation you can bet his parents are hoping.

History doesn't relate whether big Hitler got a cake, but he was sung to sleep by the choir of his own SS bodyguard from the courtyard of the Chancery.

Comments

[Bubba Green]

Al Gore along with his stooge Barack Obama, are preparing to commit the greatest genocide on earth, far worse than Hitler and Stalin combined.

http://www.geocities.com/sciliterature/Climate.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=obama+economic+suicide&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

[Randolf Hitler]

Fools.

[vlad darscun]

Harold Reems? Didn't you make "adult" films in the '70s?

The Brits think bush worse than Hitler? That seems rather unlikely.

The good news is, no one will have to care about the bum in 20 more days!!!!

[Harold Reems]

Well, I don't see why not. After all, to all you
Brits, Bush is worse than Hitler.

[Oliver Cowley]

What a ridiculous article! Is it a rhetorical question? Nazi Germany run by Hitler perpetrated some of the worst manifestations of human nature in history. He was the only dictator to manufacture and orchestrate industrial genocide. His name should never be considered neutral.

[L.Willms]

The surname Hitler was used by only seven persons. It was created by Adolf Hitlers father, who actually grew up as Alois Schicklgruber, born out of wedlock. A certain Johann Georg Hiedler married his mother and was later registered as the official father. The younger brother of J.G. Hiedler, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, bequeathed a little sum to his official nephew Alois Schicklgruber, under conditon that Schicklgruber change his last name to the one of the deceased. When registering the changed surname, the name Hiedler was misspelled as Hitler, thus creating a surname not known and not existing before. The only other carriers of the surname Hitler are the descendants of Alois Schicklgruber-Hitler, most of them had no children or children bearing another surname. The name died out, and this is good so. The name Hitler is unique and will stand forever for the leader of German fascism, for war and genocide.

[Max]

I am impressed at your restraint when describing this man. 'brain-challenged' is far more lenient a description than i personally would have given. I feel sorry for his poor children.

[Vanessa Carr]

Here in South America, Hitler is an extremely popular first name.

[Kazuki]

Although nothing is impossible and I like to be thoughtful..

I think this question can be answered simply with:

No!