5-20-10 "Broken Dreams and Living Nighmares"

Here is a true story about a little Austrian boy born in 1889.

Cute kid, huh? Well, aside from the bad haircut. This baby boy lived in Europe a while back. He grew up to be an artist. Art was his passion.  Here are a couple of his pieces. Not bad at all! Quite impressive, actually.  

Mr. Heidler wanted his son to go into government. The boy himself did not. Perhaps this was because his father did. You see, Mr. Heidler was quite abusive and had not had a very good life himself. Here is his picture, taken in 1901:

The boy, Adolphus, fought with his father repeatedly and begged to go to a classical high school.  It wasn’t allowed, and Adophus’ grades went down in his conventional high school. At age 15, he dropped out of school.

But there was still college.

Adolphus applied to an art school, but dropouts were turned down. Adolphus presented his art, thinking that perhaps they would change their minds when they saw his talent.

He was wrong. So Adolphus lived like a waif and ate at soup kitchens.

But his life was not to stay that way! As an adult, Adolphus moved into this gorgeous estate with his true love.  

But the story does not end happily ever after. On April 30, 1945, Adolfus shot himself. There were comparatively few mourners for his death. In fact, most of the world celebrated. The evil genious of the Third Riech, the mastermind behind the holocaust, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, was dead.

 

What would have happened, I wonder, if Adolf Hitler’s life had been different? What would the history of the 40’s be like had Alois Hiedler been a kind father? How many old men would be unscarred by war today had he allowed his son to go to art school? How many Jews would be alive today had a relative supported the impovereshed Adolf? How many Japanese would be whole instead of maimed by nuclear fallout had Hitler been accepted into art school? Would the name "Hitler" fill art class instead of history textbooks? Would we learn about “Adolf Hitler, the great artist- granted, he had some strange ideas, but, hey, his art was awesome!” instead of "Adolf Hitler- the murderous Nazi leader who tried to wipe out an entire race and caused a World War."

How much can one kind and merciful action change a life… a generation… a race…..the  world…the course of history… for the better? People aren't born evil. The baby at the top of this page did not have anti-semetic sentiments. That came later, after a deep wound pierced his heart. The Devil doesn't get newborns- but if they are not cared for and shown the love of God, anyone, even a poor orphaned teen, can become a human monster. Show god's love to everyone, even outcasts. They are the ones who need it the most.