Merry Christmas, Nazi style

May you enjoy a wonderful Christmas and appreciate the true meaning of this special time of year.

I will try to do that with my family and give thanks for God’s blessings.

Then, in a time-honored tradition to celebrate the birth of Prince of Peace, we’ll load up the ol’ wagon and head off to the mall for a movie about the most evil man who ever lived.

(Not Tom Cruise. Adolf Hitler.)

If you get close enough to smell the popcorn this month, there’s a good chance you’ll be watching snarling Nazis and heroic Allies too.

There are six — six, count ’em six! — World War II films out this month. Hollywood’s motto seems to be, “When in doubt, show a Kraut.” The list includes:

-- “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” about a strange friendship between the son of a Nazi officer and a Jewish boy in a concentration camp.

-- “The Reader," starring Kate Winslet as a former concentration-camp guard on trial after the war.

-- “Adam Resurrected,” about a Holocaust survivor (Jeff Goldblum) in a mental institution.

They will soon be followed by:

-- “Defiance,” about two brothers fighting the Nazis from a secret hideout in the woods.

-- “Good,” starring Viggo Mortensen as an intellectual lured into the SS.

Then, of course, there’s “Valkyrie,” opening on Christmas Day. Tom Cruise plays the German officer who tried to kill Hitler.

(The one time you wanted the Teutonic types to be as efficient as their stereotypes, they dropped the strudel. Way to go, Claus!)

So far, the reviews of “Valkyrie” seem to range from “stunningly bad” to “not too bad.”

What more endorsement could you want?

See you at the multi-plex, schweinhund!