I’m not concerned about the rights or wrongs of this, what concerns me is this line;
Is it really necessary to explain who Hitler was? Are there really people out there who read the article and ask, “hmmm, who was this Hitler guy, anyway?”
Gotta reach the minimum word count.
He was Godwin’s lawyer.
d&r
A refresher in history, nothing wrong with that.
How’s the rest of that limerick go?
This one time? At bandcamp?
Hitler? Played the flute?
There once was a man named Hitler.
Towards the Jews, he was very bitter.
He woke up one day.
And decided to do them away.
The European Jew became a very rare critter.
Isn’t that a line from a King Missile song?
They’ve already told us that Jesus was way cool, man. Why not another historical portrait?
Almost every other response was amusing, so I hate to break with the trend…
But I think, while you make a fair point cabdude - and one with which I pretty much agree (It shouldn’t be necessary to give hints as to who someone with the historical relevance of Hitler might actually be) - it’s when they stop doing that - giving the background information - that people will start to actually need to ask for it.
That might not make sense, lemme just recap.
It would only take one or two generations of people refering to Hitler (or anything) with absolutely NO back-up info attached, before it would become an intellectually rousing Trivial Pursuit victory to give the right answer to the questions about him. Of which there are many. I checked. 
And yes, I realise that just about everybody ought to be learning about it in school etc etc. But I think you see my point, anyway. There are always going to be people who just ‘don’t know’ about something. Even things as socially pervasive as Hitler, The Beatles, Google etc etc. Maybe not many, but even so.
It might seem silly to us, and maybe we should just expect anyone who goes ‘huh?’ to go look it up, but not everybody is as totally research orientated as, say, Dopers. 
In fact a lot of people (in my experience), tend towards the ‘I don’t know about that, so I’ll avoid it and move on’ camp.
[sub](sorry, couldn’t resist)[/sub]
Is it true that the only 2 people that The New York Times feels need no first name are 1. Hitler and 2. Freud?
Is news.com.au merely remembering that it has readers in Queensland?
From Queensland, thank you.
From Nabisco.
I’ve seen little blurbs like that explaining who Stalin was, too. It’s a little troubling that things like that are needed.
On the other hand, when I was younger, I would’ve liked a few such blurbs, because writers too often assumed that you knew who they were talking about (implying that, if you didn’t know, you weren’t worth bothering with). So for years I was scratching my head when someone wrote “Dorothy Parker said…” or “As Dean Swift wrote” or “As Bishop Wilberfiorce said…” without a word about who these people were, or when they lived, or what the context even was.
Nowadays I know who Parker was, and have her books, but would it have killed someone back then to note that, besides being a coiner of witty and risque bon mots, she was primarily a writer and critic?
“Lettuce,
Cheese Whiz,
Have Eva get her dog fixed.”
I gotta say I like snickerdoodles much better than Hitler doodles.
[QUOTE=Buckler of Swashing]
There are always going to be people who just ‘don’t know’ about something. Even things as socially pervasive as Hitler, The Beatles, Google etc etc. Maybe not many, but even so.
/QUOTE]
Feeling a bit sheepish here, but who/what are “The Beatles”? 
Some old band? I know the other two, of course.
You know, even with culturely pervasive things, you gotta heard about them first at some point.
Don’t worry - they’re just a guitar group, which are on the way out anyway.
[Charlton Heston]Hitler Doodles are made of…[/CH]
Not every cultural reference is understood by everyone as time goes on. I once heard the facetious line “Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?” but that is already obsolete. The beatles broke up what, 35 years ago? No one is disputing their impact on music but for someone younger it’s probably like listening to grandma talk about the depression.