April 20 is not a date to be celebrated. It is a dark and unsettling mark on the calendar—the birthday of Adolf Hitler, the architect of unimaginable suffering and destruction. Born in 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria, Hitler would go on to lead the Nazi regime, plunging the world into its deadliest conflict and orchestrating the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of six million Jews and millions of others.

This is not a day of honor but a day to remember the depths of human cruelty and the horrors that arise when hatred is given power. Under Hitler’s rule, the Second World War erupted, engulfing Europe and beyond in bloodshed. His rise to power was marked by manipulation, propaganda, and the systematic dismantling of democracy, ultimately resulting in a dictatorship fueled by racism, antisemitism, and totalitarian control.

To this day, small extremist groups still observe April 20, clinging to the hateful ideologies that once tore the world apart. But the date should be a solemn warning for the rest of us. A reminder that tyranny can take root in silence, and that vigilance against hate is never optional. The lives lost under his reign—children, families, soldiers, civilians—deserve more than our memory; they demand our action to ensure such darkness never rises again.

On this day, we do not look to the man, but to the cost of his existence. We mourn what was destroyed, honor those who resisted, and recommit ourselves to the values that stand in eternal opposition to evil. The world still heals from what he wrought. April 20 is not a celebration. It is a lesson written in ash and sorrow.