Excuses, excuses

I had no idea Hitler had a sister (somehow, you don't picture him as a man with a family). Turns out, not only did he have one full sister and two half-siblings, they all kept diaries, which historians are saying are authentic:

Two historians yesterday acclaimed the discovery in Germany of a journal written by Adolf Hitler's sister, saying it offers remarkable insights into the dysfunctional nature of the Führer's family.
Paula Hitler's journal, unearthed at an undisclosed location in Germany, reveals that her brother was a bully in his teens, and would beat her.
Recounting the earliest memories of her childhood, when she was around eight and Adolf was 15, Paula wrote: "Once again I feel my brother's loose hand across my face."...
The two historians have also located a joint memoir by Hitler's half-brother, Alois, and half-sister, Angela.
One excerpt describes the violence exercised by Hitler's father, also called Alois, and how Adolf's mother tried to protect her son from regular beatings.
"Fearing that the father could no longer control himself in his unbridled rage, she [Adolf's mother] decides to put an end to the beating.
"She goes up to the attic, covers Adolf who is lying on the floor, but cannot deflect the father's final blow. Without a sound she absorbs it."

It's only a matter of time before we start hearing leftist do-gooders explaining that Hitler's actions during the war can be blamed on his miserable childhood. No, hold on, that's already happening: One of the historians, Florian Beierl, told the Guardian:

"This is a picture of a completely dysfunctional family that the public has never seen before.
"The terror of the Third Reich was cultivated in Hitler's own home."

Let's be absolutely clear. Being beaten in your childhood explains a lot. It does not explain launching a world war and exterminating 6 million [plus] people (!). Indeed, to imply it does is actually insulting to the many people who have had traumatic childhoods and despite hardship, gone on to live positive, productive and honest lives -- not to mention, to Hitler's victims.
Next up -- how Osama bin Laden planned 9/11 because, as a young child, he got sent to his room without dessert.