Would you adopt baby Hitler?

[Breathe]

Imagine you travel back in time to see what the past was like, and it breaks. You're stuck there. As you're minding your own business, a woman comes up to you. If you don't speak German, just assume you do.

You've taken some gold with you, too, so you have a nice big chunk of gold; you'll never go hungry. You can live an exceptionally comfortable life even if others struggle.

"Excuse me." she says. You look over at her. She is dishevelled and looks hungry.
"Yes, madam?" You ask politely.
"I haven't eaten for three days. I can barely afford to feed myself and my child."

She looks at you, and then an idea comes into her mind.
"You, will you take my baby?"
"I'm sorry?" You ask, confused. She walks over to you and hands you a child of a few weeks, sleeping soundly.

"Will you please take care of my little Adolf and give him a better life than I can?" She asks.
"Adolf?"
"Yes, Adolf."
"What's your name, madam?" You ask.
"Klara," She says. "Klara Hitler."


So, with that idea set up in your minds, what do you say?
Do you reject and give the baby back, knowing who he will be if he stays there?
Do you accept, hoping to change his destiny?
Do you accept, planning to kill the child, so that he can never grow up to do what he does?
Do you accept the child, hoping to give him someone else to raise?


Why, or why not?

 

[Revoltingest]

Adopt him, & you'll be having more parent-teacher conferences than you want.
[youtube]9-axJTzj0VU[/youtube]
Lil' Hitler - YouTube

I suppose that back in the day, we'd adopt him.
I'd take my chances that he'd turn out better.

 

[LuisDantas]

Do you accept the child, hoping to give him someone else to raise?

This.

I'm very much in the nurture camp of the "nature vs nurture" debacle. And as I understand it, Hitler was largely shaped by his broken family (a father with deep ethnic insecurities and a mother that should not have been).

Actually, I would wonder how come this woman could be Hitler's mother. It seems out of character for her.

In any case, I do not expect that WW II or Nazi Germany would go any better for that. Hitler was far more of a vessel than a cause.

 

[Galen.Iksnudnard]

If I had been alive at the time and known what Hitler would have done, I would have pulled out a revolver and shot the kid on the spot.

 

[Knight of Albion]

Had Hitler received a more loving childhood he would have turned out differently...

If only...

Tips for teaching children about love | Fredericksburg Families

 

[Falvlun]

I would adopt the kid and then change his name.

Take that history!

 

[Caladan]

I would adopt the kid and then change his name.

Take that history!

To Joseph Stalin?

I'll take the child and let a Jewish family raise him.

 

[Breathe]

I'll take the child and let a Jewish family raise him.

Haha, that came to my mind, too.

 

[ChristineES]

You never know, if Hitler had different parenting, maybe he might have been different. Not necessarily, because it's not always the parents' fault if a kid turns out bad.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I myself am an adopted child and I personally would have no issues adopting Hitler when placed in a hypothetical situation.

I would have made him become who he was and become a great political figure and compel him to gain power and end the Filistinian and Israeli conflict fairly.
He would become the face of communism and not the face of authoritarian racism. He would compel nation after nation to join the beautiful ideology of communism and educate people on its benefits instead of thrusting it into the political arena like so many have done before and after him.

Hitler would be a true comrade to the world.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

Being raised in Haiti would have been a weird experience for little Adolf Jean-Luc Frederique Pierre-Marie ....

 

[Caladan]

Being raised in Haiti would have been a weird experience for little Adolf Jean-Luc Frederique Pierre-Marie ....

I was thinking Adolph Cohen. Bar Mitzvahed at 13 years of age, circumcised at 8 days.
Wait till he grows up and hears the sentence: "Well your father wasn't exactly Mr Cohen..."

 

[Aquitaine]

I'd temporarily adopt him with the intention of giving him to a loving family. I'd also pay for him to go to Art school.

 

[Revoltingest]

I would adopt the kid and then change his name.
Take that history!

If he went on to commit great evil, then today we might despise the name "Bernie Schwartz" instead.

 

[Katzpur]

Hmmm. Well, since I wouldn't even have wanted to adopt Mother Teresa, my response would probably be 'no.'

 

[Katzpur]

I'm very much in the nurture camp of the "nature vs nurture" debacle.

You know, I'm still trying to figure out what side of the debate I'm on. While I do believe that young lives can be dramatically influenced by good parents, I almost lean towards aligning with the "nature" camp. It makes it a lot easier for me to accept that my kids didn't turn out the way I'd hoped they would.

 

[Falvlun]

I'll take the child and let a Jewish family raise him.

I dunno. I could see some major angst against parents being turned into an epic revenge.

If he went on to commit great evil, then today we might despise the name "Bernie Schwartz" instead.

Exactly. Muahahaha!

 

[nazz]

Cool question but this gets into the muddy area of whether or not it is possible to change the future. If you go back in time were you already there in the past? If so then the outcome would be the same so it would not matter what you did. But if you could change the outcome then I would say I would adopt him and try to set him on a better course. And then maybe kill him if it seemed he was headed in the direction we know he did in the past.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

If I had been alive at the time and known what Hitler would have done, I would have pulled out a revolver and shot the kid on the spot.

Sounds like a solution Hitler himself would have been proud of.

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

Adopt him and try and change his destiny, I couldn't hurt a child.