Shalom Auslander is the author of the best-selling " Foreskin's Lament" and the critically acclaimed " Hope: A Tragedy " and was the creator/writer of the Showtime series "Happyish."

Trump-Hitler comparisons take off Embed  Copy Share       Play Video 2:08 Several comedians, world leaders and political activists have compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler recently. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) Several comedians, world leaders and political activists have compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler recently. Several comedians, world leaders and political activists have compared Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler recently. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

I am a Jew — a New York Writer Liberal Jew, the scariest Jew of all — and from a very young age, I was taught about an unimaginable horror called the Holocaust and about an evil man named Adolf Hitler. The elderly man who sat beside me every Saturday morning in synagogue was a Holocaust survivor, and his elderly wife was a Holocaust survivor, as well. And so the first reason the comparison of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler bothers me is not because it belittles the deaths of millions of innocents, but because, frankly, it belittles Adolf Hitler.

Hitler believed Jews were the cause of every problem. He believed extermination was the solution. He believed that the “Spear of Destiny,” the spear the Romans used to poke Jesus on the cross, Hitler believed Jews were the cause of every problem. He believed extermination was the solution. He believed that the “Spear of Destiny,” the spear the Romans used to poke Jesus on the cross, would give him magical powers . He had an elaborately developed, hideous, deplorable theory of how things worked, and he believed in it deeply.

Trump doesn’t.

Hitler was a psychopath. Trump is just a con man.

Hitler had some opinions , he had some plans . They were monstrous and evil, and reason enough for even an avowed atheist to consider the existence of Satan. But I don’t recall Hitler flip-flopping. I don’t see him saying one morning, “I’m going to invade Poland,” and then “ Jew — singular , one Jew, not all the Jews. believed in something. Hitler had someopinions, he had someplans. They were monstrous and evil, and reason enough for even an avowed atheist to consider the existence of Satan. But I don’t recall Hitler flip-flopping. I don’t see him saying one morning, “I’m going to invade Poland,” and then “ softening ” his stance that afternoon after meeting with Sean Hannity. He didn’t decide to kill the Jews, then change his mind when his new campaign manager arrived. “I said the kill theJewsingularoneJew, notallthe Jews. Just the bad ones .” Hitler was a megalomaniacal psychopath who should burn in Hell for eternity… who actuallybelievedin something.

There’s a difference. Trump is a two-bit con man. He’s playing the fools.

Citizen Super Pac: 'Heil Trump' | Campaign 2016 Embed  Copy Share       Play Video 1:01 Citizen Super Pac, which has a history of backing the Republican Party, funded this ad comparing GOP front-runner Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. (Citizen Super Pac) Citizen Super Pac, which has a history of backing the Republican Party, funded this ad comparing GOP front-runner Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. Citizen Super Pac, which has a history of backing the Republican Party, funded this ad comparing GOP front-runner Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. (Citizen Super Pac)

And give the man credit, by the way — he’s good at it. He is, as he says, the best. The fantastic con man. And give the man credit, by the way — he’s good at it. He is, as he says, the best. The white nationalists are eating it up , and they are a tough, tough room. The guy is afantasticcon man.

But he’s no Hitler. Not even close.

Am I praising Hitler? No. I’m saying that if you absolutely had to find just one thing to say about Hitler that was positive — if you could somehow siphon out all the festering, maggot-infested sewage that filled his soul to reveal one razor-thin sliver to point to in his favor — you could possibly say, well, at least he believed what he said.

Which you can’t say about Donald Trump.

Is Trump a megalomaniacal Is Trump a megalomaniacal demagogue ? Yes. Is he a sociopath? Undoubtedly. Is he dangerous? Maybe.

Which bring me to the second reason the comparison of Trump to Hitler bothers me: This isn’t the comparison that matters. It’s the easy comparison, the one that leaves us — We The People — safe from criticism.

The comparison that matters is not, “Is Donald Trump like Hitler?” but, “Are we like Hitler’s willing executioners?”

Well? Will we?

Are we that terrified? Are we that hateful? Are we that frightened, that cowardly, that selfish, that helpless, that cold-hearted, that dumb, that easily manipulated, that easily provoked? Are we so bereft of answers, so pathetically hopeless, that all we can come up with is easy scapegoating and blind fealty to Our Great Leader? Are We The People really going to fall for the dumbest, oldest, easiest trick in the book?

Because if we are, then we won’t need an Adolf Hitler to embrace that darkness. Even a two-bit con man like Donald Trump will be enough.

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