Who’s This Geezer Hitler? A short musical primer.

Herr Schicklgruber has made a late and unexpected appearance in the presidential campaign 85 years after his German troops invaded Poland. Adolf Hitler’s rhetoric and contempt for much of humanity without blue eyes has been an underlying theme of Donald Trump’s years on the national stage. “Vermin,” “human scum,” and “the enemy within” have long served as reminders of Hitler’s hateful creed.

General John Kelly’s interviews with The New York Times and The Atlantic confirmed what was written and discussed long ago. Many voters may not know much about Hitler. He shot himself in his Berlin bunker 79 years ago as the Allies closed in on the Third Reich.

The 1962 British musical Blitz! included a memorable number, a rousing anthem of defiant Britain standing alone against Hitler after the fall of France in 1940. “Who’s This Geezer Hitler?” captures one of the many attributes the British possessed as they saved civilization: mockery.

For anyone wondering what’s all this talk about Hitler, the song paired with the video above provide a reminder of a monster in power.

Published October 25, 2024.