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.
Literature Cited 1. Arthur M. Schlesinger, World Leaders. P. 14 Wepman New York 1985
2. Allan Bullock, Hitler a study in Tyranny. P. 795 Harper New York,
1962
