I was holding a book entitled “What was the Holocaust?” when Hale noticed the name Adolf Hitler printed in bigger letters being the title of chapter two.

Having read a few pages herself a couple of nights ago, she has gained some knowledge about the brutality this Holocaust had brought forth in the 20th century. She knew that six million lives were killed. She also knew how Adolf was raised when he was a child.

So she pointed while covering with her hand the second syllable of Adolf’s last name, Hit-ler.

“Look Momma at the name. Hit…” pausing while emphasizing this syllable, then continuing to say “ler.”

I get what she was trying to say, so she continued, “It’s hit, like he’s hitting. Then ‘ler’, just like an ‘er’ added to a verb.”

The name itself is forboding, “Adolf Hitler”. I laughed at her suggestion while amazed at how observant my eldest has become even to names. I explained to her that we are never defined by our names. Even if your last name is “Murderer,” but if you are raised correctly by your parents and you have opted to live a righteous life, then there is no way you will become a murderer even if your last name says so.

Hitler did not become a hitter because of his name. Hitler did not lead the killings of millions of Jews and other victims during World War II because of his name. The name may be suggestive, but the name was never the cause of the genocide.

What do you think was the cause?