BT sez "Heroism doesn't depend on ideology." I think he identified the issue succinctly enough.
The problem for me lies in the distinction between bravery and heroism. Hitler for sure was brave enough to win the Iron Cross (for which it appears he was nominated by a Jewish officer, in one of history's little ironies, no pun intended.)
The reason I don't like to call the man a hero is, obviously, because I don't want to put him on the same level of other heroes who, IMHO, because of the cause to which their heroism was wedded, such as, for example, Winston Churchill or Rosa Parks, are worthy of respect and admiration.
I would say that bravery in itself is just a personal quality like height, corpulence, hair colour; in real life, bravery is a public virtue at times, a threat to one's own existence at others; stand up to the mob and you're a hero on the six o'clock news but maybe what it really gets you is a pair of cement overshoes and a permanent resting place on the bottom of the East River. A smarter guy will let the mob be the mob, marry a well-put-together bit-part actress and at least pass a few genes into the next generation. From a Darwinian perspective, bravery today ain't what it was in Neolithic times, a passport to babes, bread and the good life with many, many descendants, all well-armed with sturdy clubs and ready at any time to do battle for the clan and its progeny.
I'm not going to the dictionary on this one. For me a hero is someone I can look up to and admire, can thank God that they existed and hope that I could be like. On November 11 Canada will be celebrating Remembrance Day, when we gather formally across the country to pay our respects to our veterans both living and dead. It's a day that means a lot to me. I pause, we all stop whatever we're doing at 11:00 AM and pay a one-minute moment of silent tribute to our heroes.
But Adolf Hitler a hero? Not to me. Not in a million years. Not with a hundred Iron Crosses. Physically brave? Sure but so what? I'd blast him out of existence with no more thought than I'd give to a cockroach if given the opportunity. Who gives a shit for his bravery if it's exercised in the wrong cause? We had millions of men who were brave enough to stand up to them and mow them down like grass, raze every home in their country and kill them by the millions. Bravery itself was never in short supply on either side of the line. But heroes? That's our side. Heroes are the good guys, not the bad guys.