Were it not for a quirk in his genealogy, the despot born 118 years ago today would have been named Adolf Schickelgruber. This may have aborted the Austrian-born demagogue's political career, since it would have deprived his followers of the percussive alliteration supplied by the phrase ?Heil Hitler!?

The Nazi Party excelled at mobilizing the masses, and Hitler himself was a master mesmerist. But it was the centralization of power in Germany's chief executive office that made him a genocidal menace.

The pre-Nazi German constitution authorized the executive to declare a temporary state of emergency and rule by decree. This was made permanent after Hitler was appointed chancellor in 1933.

Within the year, Germany's police were brought under federal control and placed at the disposal of the ruling party. And the Nazi regime used gun registration laws enacted by its predecessor to disarm everyone but those loyal to the Party and its Fuhrer.

The key to understanding the nightmare of Nazism is in this architecture of power, rather than Hitler's unique personality.

Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.