Adolf Hitler

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 I

     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.