Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria to Alois and Klara. When he was three years old, his family moved to Passau. Then in 1895 they moved to Hafeld. When he was thirteen, his father passed away leaving his mother, Klara, to raise Adolf and his sister Paula on her own. As a youngster, Hitler went to church regularly. He also spent a lot of time playing cowboys and Indians. His best childhood friend, August Kubizek claimed that Adolf was shy but often busted out in anger. The two became inseparable during their early years. In school, however, Hitler's record wasn't very good, he eventually dropped out before his tuition was over. He dropped out with dreams of becoming an artist. On December 21, 1908, Klara dies from breast cancer. In 1909, Hitler moves into flophouses and hostels in Vienna and stays for four years. Finally in 1913, Hitler leaves Vienna to move to Munich, Germany.

In an attempt to fulfill his dreams of bring an artist, he moved to Vienna. He wanted to go to the Academy of Fine Arts, but was surprised when he wasn't accepted. About a year later, he found himself living in homeless shelters and eating at soup kitchens. Despite this, he refused to take a regular job; instead he would sell a painting or poster for money. Then he moved back to Munich, Germany around the start of World War I. Hitler then volunteered for service in the German army. He was often labeled as brave by fellow soldiers, but only reached the rank corporal. When World War I was coming to an end, Hitler was put in the hospital for temporary blindness, most likely caused by a poison gas attack.

In 1920 Hitler joined the National Socialist German Workers Party or the Nazi party. With his excellent speaking ability, he quickly rose to become the leader of the Nazi party. On November 9, 1923, Hitler led a march of 2,000 people to overthrow the Bavarian government. The police stopped this, but not before more than a dozen people were killed in the fighting. Hitler was then sentenced to five years in jail, which he only served nine months, but he wrote one volume of his book Mein Kampf while he was in jail. Which became very popular when he came to power and was passed out to newlyweds by the government. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by Paul von Hindenburg and quickly worked towards dictatorship. Von Hindenburg died in 1934 and Hitler already had already gained control of Germany.

Hitler quickly drove Germany to "Nazification." In doing so, youth groups were eliminated and put under his power, trade unions were no longer able to trade, and he began his annihilation of Jews. The Nuremberg

laws that happened in September 1935 said that Jews were no longer considered citizens and had no legal rights. He also encouraged people to be hostile towards the Jews and it went as far as them not being allowed into some shops. He put Germany on total war economy and also made industries produce the supplies necessary for war. He also dismissed people from his government if the were not supporters of the Nazi party. After a rebellion that left a German official dead, the Nazis were demonstrating and then violence broke out and lasted for two days. This was known as Kristallnacht, or the night of glass for all the broken glass.

Hitler was always obsessed with the Jews, claiming he wanted a "pure" race. This would involve the total elimination of Jews. It was clear that this is what he wanted, but whenever he spoke he didn't come out and say that he wanted to eliminate all the Jews. Hitler was responsible for the mass killing that happened in Poland in 1939-1940. He also planned to have Jewish reservations in Poland and was constantly thinking about getting rid of the Jews. In 1941 Hitler demanded the execution of any potential enemy in the eastern territories, knowing that this would result in the killing of many Jews. While getting ready for the