Some of the crusades to the middle east were basicly organized to stop people from warring with eachother all the time in Europe ((France, Italy). Hey guys, this country and its people have been raped enough. Let's go to some common enemy and wreak havoc on sombody elses soil.
That's true. Another dimension of it was that only oldest sons of nobles stood to inherit land, but mostly all their sons were trained as fighting men. The crusades gave them an opportunity to grab some land and set themselves up as overlords.
There's no question Hitler was deplorable. That said, if you go back far enough I guarantee you that we are all descendants of genocidal maniacs at some point in history. Hitler didn't massacre 6 million Jews single handedly either. It's the brutality of nature, and human nature. Taking this risk to attack another group of people can be very rewarding for your bloodline and culture if you are victorious.
Its no secret the jews have been mistreated in both Europe and the new world for centuries. WO2 was an extreme climax, not a strange occurance or some historic anomaly.
I heard that sexually, Hitler enjoyed masturbating in front of Eva Braun, and nothing else. I also find it humorous that he had a "tea house" to go to on retreats. When he wasn't plotting genocide, he would retire for a nice cozy cup of tea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kehlsteinhaus
War and Peace by Tolstoy's main point is that circumanstances create heroes and villians......interesting insight.....not that I forgive mass murderers ever.....