BOTH CHAPLIN AND HITLER WOULD BE 120 YEARS-OLD THIS APRIL

Ever since I first saw a small museum exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany in 1989, an exhibition which compared and contrasted the careers of Charlie Chaplain and Adolf Hitler, I have always approached their common birth dates (April  1889) with a bit of apprehension as to what would happen.

Charles Chaplain was born on April 16, 1889 in England. http://www.time.com/time/time100/artists/profile/chaplin.html

Hitler was born in a tiny town in Austria four days later.

http://www.toy-soldier-gallery.com/Articles/Hitler/Hitler.html

Dates and commemorations certainly due matter in the course of history.  For example,

ten years later in Colorado, the Columbine massacre took place on April 20, 1999—and Hitler’s birthday had quite obviously been chosen for the date of this crime intentionally.  http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/a/columbine.htm

In another ironic twist, during those tragic moments of killings in Columbine, I had been watching a DVD of the classic pacifist and karate film, Billy Jack.  In short, April always brings many contrasts—some of them fairly ironic.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066832/

In review, the fact that both Adolf Hitler, one of the world’s enduring villains, and Charlie Chaplain, one of the world’s more endearing comedians, were born on almost the same date in history reminds us all that each member of humanity has a choice of either choosing (1) to live a life of evil or (2) to live a life which brings joy to all.

http://www.aracnet.com/~wing/05.htm

http://www.ovrlnd.com/Questions/Freewill_Predestination.html

It is certainly true that in 1939-1940 Charlie Chaplin, the comedian, produced and performed in a full-frontal attack on Adolf Hitler in American movie theaters as the world went to war.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2go1l_the-great-dictator-charles-chaplin_shortfilms

The film was called THE GREAT DICTATOR and was a tongue-and-cheek portrayal of how things might have turned out if the simple LITTLE TRAMP character of Chaplin Fame had been allowed to change the course of Central European history by replacing Hitler with a mild-mannered Jew, who looked exactly like him.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/

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