Adolf Hitler, the artist

CAIRO – 25 July 2017: In another world, Adolf Hitler could have still been a household name, but not as one of the most evil human beings to have ever lived. Instead, he might have been known as a great artist, as that was his passion as a youth.

The future dictator's artistic beginnings were plagued by poor performance at school and poverty. Refusing to take an office job like his father, Hitler found freedom when his father died at the age of 16, allowing him the freedom he so craved, but at a price; with no solid foundations for his lofty dreams, Hitler wallowed in poverty.

At 18, he slept like a beggar in the same streets that Sigmund Freud would walk, forced to rely on homeless shelters yet none of this stopped him from trying his best to become an artist.

His dream was ultimately futile; however, Hitler failed the entrance exams to two art colleges, and was forced to make drawing for postcards.

It is a remarkable fact that Jews were some of Hitler's best patrons, helping to support him when no one else could.

Alas, Hitler fell victim to the rising anti-Semitic opinions of the time, blinded by his quest for a perfect Germany. In 1914, when Russia declared war on Germany, Hitler fell on his knees, overjoyed to be fighting for his country. This would take him on a path away from art, which he abandoned entirely, and would lead him to become one of history's greatest monsters.

One can only wonder how differently his life could have gone if Hitler's artistry had been allowed to nourish. Would the horrors of the Holocaust have never happened?

Or would Hitler have simply painted scenes for another dictator instead, glorifying alternate history's atrocities?

The world can never know.