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ADOLF HITLER
1.The Beginning At half past six on the evening of April 20th, 1889 a child
was born in the small town of Branau, Austria. The name of the child was
Adolf Hitler. He was the son a Customs official Alois Hitler, and his
third wife Klara.
As a young boy Adolf attendated church regulary and sang in the local choir.
One day he carved a symbol into the bench which resembled the Swastika he
later used as the symbol of the Nazi party. He was a pretty good student.
He received good marks in most of his classes. However in his last year of
school he failed German and Mathematics, and only succeeded in Gym and
Drawing. He drooped out of school at the age of 16, spending a total of 10
years in school. From childhood one it was his dream to become an artist
or architect. He was not a bad artist, as his surviving paintings and
drawings show but he never showed any originality or creative imagination.
To fullfil his dream he had moved to Vienna the capital of Austria where
the Academy of arts was located. He failed the first time he tried to get
admission and in the next year, 1907 he tried again and was very sure of
success. To his surprise he failed again. In fact the Dean of the academy
was not very impressed with his performance, and gave him a really hard
time and said to him "You will never be painter." The rejection really
crushed him as he now reached a dead end. He could not apply to the school
of architecture as he had no high-school diploma. During the next 35 years
of his live the young man never forgot the rejection he received in the
dean's office that day. Many Historians like to speculate what would
have happened IF.... perhaps the small town boy would have had a bit more
talent....or IF the Dean had been a little less critical, the world might
have been spared the nightmare into which this boy was eventually to plunge
it.
2.World War 1
While living in Vienna Hitler he made his living by drawing small pictures
of famous landmarks which he sold as post cards. But he was always poor.
He was also a regular reader of a small paper which claimed that the Araban
race was superior to all and was destined to rule the world. The paper
blamed Communists and Jews for all their problems and hitler agreed to
those views. Hitler agree with most of the points made in the publication.
He continued to live a poor live in Vienna and in 1913 decided to move to
Munich. Still living in Vienna and being Austrain by birth, Hitler showed
more loyalty to the Geramny. He thought that the Aryan race was destined
to rule the world. Many believe that he tried to escape the draft but it
was never proven. His live in Munich was not much better then before and
he continued to be poor. Then in 1914 World War I broke out and Hitler saw
this as a great opportunity to show his loyalty to the "fatherland" by
volunteering for the Imperial army. He did not want to fight in the
Austrian Army. Hitler was a good soldier. Many of political opponents
claimed that he was a coward but records clearly show that he was not. He
received to awards of bravery but never achieved a high Rank.
In 1918 Germany surrendered and Hitler was very upset about the loss. He
believed that it was the Jews and the Communists who betrayed the
"fatherland" and it was here that his disliking of the Jews most likely
began. Germany after the war was in chaos. With no real Government to
control the country, many groups tried to take control. One day a big
communist group staged a big riot but another group of ex-soldiers
including Hitler managed to hold them back.
3.The Nazi Party
Since there were not many chances for employment Hitler stayed in the army.
Hitler was assigned the job of going go to various meetings of groups which
sprang up like mushrooms and to report on them. One day September 12, 1919
- a fateful day in history, Hitler was sent to investigate a small group
which called itself the "German Workers Party". Hitler was not to happy
about his assignment. He thought it wouldn't be worth it to even go. At
the group mainly talked about the Countries problem and how the Jews,
communists and others where threatening the master race and offered their
own solutions. Hitler was bored by the meeting but when a man stood up
and claimed that Bavaria should separate from Germany, Hitler got up and
argued that point. He argued that Germany and germans must unite into one
to survive. His natural ability to speak imprest the leader of the group
and at the end of the meeting he gave Hitler a pamphlet and an initiation
the next meeting. He wasn't interested in attending but after reading the
hand out he accepted. He later joined the German Workers Party and was in
charge of Propaganda. The party was small at first but Hitler's great
skill at deliberating speeches attracted more and more listeners and it
soon became a major party with many followers. Eventually Adolf Hitler
became it's leader and the rest as they say....is history.
4.Hitler In Power
While spending time in prison for trying to overthrow the government Adolf
Hitler wrote his famous book "Mein Kampf", in which he describes many
problems and where he states that the Jews and communists were responsible
for those problems. He also decided on the "Final Solution" to the "Jewish
Question". It was his goal to eliminate the Jewish race from the European
continent. It is interesting to look and see how a small time boy from
Austria with no education, money or political background could become
within a few years the leader of big nation such as Germany. Historians
believe that Hitler saw a great opportunity to get his views across to the
German people who have lost all hope. Of course people did not start to
support him right away. After he came into power, the Nazi party took
control over every aspect of every day life. Hitler ordered the creation
of a special police force to make sure that all opponents would be
elimanted, the Gestapo. He also gave orders to set up a special force
which would be used to transport and take care of all political prisioners
and people thought to be inferior. The name of the force was the feared SS.
Mass propaganda was used to persuade the German people that the "Fuhrer"
would make the country strong and powerful again. They also used
propaganda against the Jews and other minority groups which were considered
enemies. Teachers had to belong to the Nazi party, and children were
taught that Jews very the source of all their problems. Since the country
was in chaos after the war, and was forced to pay billions in damages, The
Germans saw hope in Adolf Hitler. In the late 20's the depression hit which
made the situation even worse.
Hitler in his speeches blamed the Jews and Communists for their misfortunes
and many listed. Unemployment was very high at that time standing at about
25%. Hitler also spoke out against the unfairness of the Versailles treaty.
Germany lost a lot of its territory. The Empire was no more. He believed
the pure Araban race is destined to rule the world and wanted to build an
Empire that would last a 1000 years. He preached that all Germans must
unite in order for this goal to succeed.
Hitler publicly stated his views on the Jews. But the Jews of Germany
didn't see Hitler as a great threat at first. However when Hitler became
chancellor and eventually took over totally they changed their mind. The
first thing he did was to take the Jews their right to vote. Soon they
were not allowed to marry with a pure german, they could not hold positions
such as teachers, doctors lawyers,..and so on. Many Jews only then
realized that he was serious and many fled Germany. Why did so many
Germans follow Hitler? When he took power the economy was basically non
existent. Many looked for answers and hope. Hitler was their answer. He
promised to rebuild the Glorious Germany of the past. First he started to
build up the Wehrmacht. Germany was not allowed to have more than 100,000
men, but Hitler broke the treaty and gave orders to increase that number.
Factories started putting out weapons and people now had jobs. To the
Germans this was a very good sign. Mass rallies were held, where Hitler
continued to use his powers of speech on the German people.
5.The Road To War
At first the allies did nothing about the fact that Hitler broke the Treaty.
He gave speeches in which he indicated that the German people needed
living space. Later he Marched into the Reihnland, and area which Germany
lost. Next He moved into Austria, his home country and annexed it without
a shoot being fired into the Reich. Following Austria, he wanted control
of the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia which was mainly German
speaking. He also achieved that goal. The allies didn't want another war
so they led Hitler do what he wanted to, but when he Attacked Poland on
September 1st, 1939 the allies no longer stood by and watched. Britain and
France declared war on Germany a few days after later, World War II began.
6.The Dark Side
After the Wehrmacht conquered and occupied a territory the SS quickly
followed. They would round up Jews, Communists, Gypsies, Homosexuals and
others which were viewed as "Inferior" according to Nazi racial theory and
enemies of the German people and put on trains. They were all sent to
Concentration camps, which were set up to implement the `final solution'.
Camps such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Bergen Belsen were all equipped with
gas chambers to make the killing process quick and efectfull. In those
camps 6 million Jews and many others were killed by the Nazis. Hitler's
army seemed unstoppable but in the end, the allies managed to win many
decisive battles. Eventually on Aril 30th, 1945 Hitler committed suicide
in his bunker by shooting himself in the mouth. His body was burned, but
no ones knows what happened to the "Fuhrer's" ashes. On May 7th, 1945
Germany surrendered unconditionally.
7.The Man
Hitler was one of the most, if not the most cruel man to ever walk the face
of the earth. His believe of the superiorority of the "Aryan" race made
him hate all others. He believed that the slaws to the east should be made
work for the German people. He thought of blacks as being "Sub-human".
And Most of all he hated the Jews. So much that in early 1945, when
equipment and manpower was badly needed on the front Hitler insisited on
man and equipment staying and continuing to tranport Jews to the camps. In
his Testament he left his money to his family. And message to the Germany
people "Above all I charge the leaders of the nation and those under them
to scrupulous observance of the laws of race and to merciless opposition to
the universal poisoner of all peoples, international Jewry."
The only people which would be spared where the Scandinavians to the north,
since they were closely related to the German race. With Hitler's death the
Nazi party quickly fated. But there is still a lot of tension in todays
Germany.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Hitler 3
At 6:30 p.m. on the evening of April 20, 1889, he was born in the small Austrian village of Braunau Am Inn just across t
Adolf Hitler 2
Who was Adolf Hitler? Adolf Hitler was the Führer (Leader) of Nazi Germany, the instigator of World War II and the drivi
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War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in
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War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in
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War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in
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