In an ironic and bitter coincidence, Hitler’s birthday and the start of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, fall on the same day. Technically they overlap. Hitler’s birthday is April 20 and Yom Hashoah begins tonight, which is the beginning of a new day according to the Jewish tradition in which days run from sundown to sundown. But that really is just a technicality.
The truth is that the world over, announcements for memorial events like the one at which I am speaking tonight in Louisville, KY invite people to join together on the 20th. The irony is pretty clear — today being both the 120th anniversary of the birth of the man who sought the total annihilation of the Jewish people and the day upon which we prove his failure by gathering publicly and remembering what he tried to accomplish.
The bitterness of today’s coincidence lies in the fact that even though Hitler didn’t win, it’s hard to speak of either the Jewish people or the human race “winning”.
Of course, the Allies won the war and the slaughter did finally end. But with over six million Jews gassed and burned, and millions more innocent civilians meeting similar fates at the hands of the Nazis, it would be weird to declare that we “won”.
We won the right to end that particular genocide, but in human terms, we all lost and lost big. In fact, we continue to lose given that genocide has threatened communities around the world in virtually every decade since the forties.
No, I am not arguing for the equality of any two genocides. In fact, no two are the same. But I am pretty certain that we ought not to feel genuinely victorious in the fight against any single genocide, when others threaten to continue similar atrocities in new locations.
Perhaps being stuck with our memories of Hitler, with the seeming impossibility of focusing exclusively on those he wanted to destroy and the suffering he caused, we are forced to wrestle with the fact that our victory can never be complete until we can assure ourselves that not only will we never forget the past, but that we can assure that no echoes of it will occur in the future. Perhaps that’s the only way to forget about both Hitler and his birthday.
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted April 20, 2009 at 1:06 pm
This week is also the commemoration of the Armenian Martys. It is impossible to forget the victims and survivors of Oklahoma City and Colombine High School, too. So much sadness in Spring.
posted April 21, 2009 at 10:13 am
I used to get made fun of because I was a Jewish kid born on Hitler’s birthday. But now I realize what a victory and total act of defiance it is to be an April 20 Jewish baby. It means Hitler failed and the Jews survived and then some; my existence defeats Hitler. Here’s a poem I like to say when people make wisecracks:
Roses are reddish
Violets are blueish
On Hitler’s birthday
It’s great to be Jewish
posted April 21, 2009 at 10:52 am
I think it’s wonderful that the remembrance of the Holocaust coincides with Hitler’s birthday this year – I wish we’d do it every year. Think how mad it would’ve made Hitler! Arnie Bernstein has a really great point! On this day, we remember because Hitler failed. We reclaim the day from him.
posted April 21, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Wow, 120. Moses saved his people and lived to be 120. Hitler died long before his 120th. This year, I have decided to be a bit more Jewish. I am wearing a kippah all of the time, except when I sleep. This really separates me from others here in the deep South. Our rabbi was the only one in our conservative congregation who did this. Now, there’s me. I think that wearing a kippah is a spiritual act, and an act of defiance. More Jewish people need to wear kippot. I also have a variety of knitted designs on the kipport that I ordered from Israel, so that I can be fashion conscious. It would be good to write an article on the one year anniversary of wearing a kippah here in the deep South. I had some interesting experiences, particularly since my profession as a psychologist covering four counties for the Department of Public Health Infant and Toddler Program takes me into some extremely rural areas.
posted April 21, 2009 at 2:46 pm
In being God’s chosen people lies the power and the miracle of the survival of the Jews against the atrocities of Hitler. In the covenant God made, it was declared “…you will be my people, and I will be your God!” The Jews didn’t survive just because they were Jews, they survived and celebrate their existance today, their birthdays today, because they are and always shall be God’s chosen people. Let no one forget that while we cannot always prevent the unjust brutality of Hitler against God’s chosen, we can and should always protest against that injustice. By the very fact that we are alive today, that we celebrate our existance today, we are in fact protesting against the likes of Hitler then, now and always. We, as Jews, shall always be victorius because we were chosen by God to be his people, to be loved by God so that we might return our love for the God who brought us through that hell. Our protest guaranties the past we will never forget, and because we were chosen by God to be his people, the future, our future will never be stained by that horrible past.
posted April 21, 2009 at 3:24 pm
God is the Supreme judge and no one has any right to judge others even
if it is evedently He had committed sin.”By grace you are saved not of good works that no man shall boast”,by these words alone,no one has given authority over God to pass judgement.It is very true in
2John1:6…..live a life of love,similar to the greatest commandment
to love your neighbor as yourself…If Hitler had been the worst dictator of Germany in those times,i guess if anyone do wrong to others,that is not any different of how a violent and evil like Hitler.Anyone can be Hitler or Mossolini or Hussein if you don’t love
your neighbor as yourself…but of course,at this present generation,
we were redeemed from any slavery because the light from the man
who have suffered in the cross was spread all over the world and
will continue to spread and we can now resist any violence because
of that good news,we are all redeemed if we claim His blood and no
one who claims the blood will fear death,its sting is taken away by
Jesus.amen(silently)
posted April 21, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Everyone have sinned and fall short to the glory of God.It is a Bible
quote that we should meditate when we committed sin.It is already
written and our sinful nature proves it,but again and again,the blood
of Jesus is always and forever available to cleanse us if we claim it.For it is in receiving that we are saved,by Faith people of God shall live.I just wanted to celebrate this day that once again,any
believer of Jesus Christ shall be proven Free from all kinds of
false accusations,because there shall be no weapon formed against
them shall ever prosper,every mouth shall rise in judgement will show
them wrong.This is a very word provided by God to be claimed by
a believer of God,it is just a word but it is very powerful when a
true believer will utter them,by the power of the Holy Spirit,they
were made manifested.
posted April 21, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Wow…Happy Birthday to Hitler and to another person i know whos name
is almost of the same sound like Hitler himself from Germany too!What
a coincidence!!I would love to celebrate with this friend of mine and
tell him how much his birthday is very precious to me and to his love
ones as well.He is the finest person i know and has great respect of him.To Hitler’s relative,Happy Birthday my dear,God Bless You and
i care about you,always!Wherever you are and if ever i will be away
just remember that once upon a time,there was Alice in Wonderland!
Happy Birthday again,my friend.
posted April 21, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Happy Birthday Annie!
You’re being an April 20 baby is a reminder that God keeps His promises and will never forget His People.
Many, Many More.
posted April 22, 2009 at 10:57 am
Holocaust should never ever be forgotten we must keep it alive.
I just put on a play in our School “can you hear them crying”
posted April 22, 2009 at 10:18 pm
I love to wrap myself into a gift and be given to the children crying
and with me hankerchief!!!and kiss their tears away,and Oh!i’ll bring
my little son with me….to play with the children crying…and
i am sure there will be tears of joy!