Hitler And Hitler Youth

This essay is going to take you back into the times of your grandparents and for some of you maybe even your great-grandparents. Lets go back to the years of Adolf Hitler. Why was he who he was and what made him that way? Did something happen to him in his younger years and why did he have such hatred towards the Jewish? Also what was his purpose for the Hitler Youth? Another question to ask yourself is can one person change the world and if so, how?

I believe that one person can change the world, some for the good and some for the bad. Hitler did change the world in more ways than one. He opened up peoples eyes to things never guessed of and showed cruelty that made him an image of fear. If you are asking how did he change the world, he did simply by doing what he believed was right. Not many people believed his ways, but that is what he believed and by him doing so it has changed things in the world dramatically. By him foreshowing his hatred for the Jews, it did bring about fear, but the survivors showed that no matter what people are strong. I believe that by one man's cruelty, it has helped many people realize that to criticize one for their appearance or background is wrong and that such a horrible event (the holocaust) can bring many people together to see the wrong in one man's doing and helps some people realize that to be mean to one due to race is just plain out wrong and cruel.

Hitler was born in 1889 in a little place called Braunau-am-Inn, Austria. He spent is younger years in Linz, Austria. After his mother's death, Hitler moved to Vienna. He had always wanted to be a painter since he was a young child, but once in Vienna, Hitler was rejected by the Academy of Arts for a lack of talent. He lived homeless for a while. He would sleep in parks and would get his nourishments at the local soup kitchens. Hitler grew to hate Austria as he looked across the border at a place he described as a powerful and energetic place. This place was Germany. Said by the Britannica Encyclopedia, "In 1912 Hitler left "wretched" Vienna for Munich, a "true German town." There he drifted from job to job as carpenter, architect's draftsman, and watercolorist. Always he ranted about his political ideas." (3)

Not many people realize that before Hitler became the dictator that so many people feared, he was a Corporal during the First World War on Germany's side. "Like many other Germans, he was angered by the Treaty of Versailles, and blamed Germany's defeat on the Communist and the Jews." (2) Hitler was wounded in combat during 1916. During his war time he earned an Iron Cross, second class in 1914 and an Iron Cross, first class in 1918. "He began his political career as an army political agent in the German Workers' (later National Socialist, or Nazi) Party in 1919 and became head of propaganda arm in 1920." (1) It was not long after gaining control of propaganda that Hitler became President of that party. Once President, Hitler started his creation of mass movement. Well since germany got the blame for the first world war, needless to say many germans were not happy with that. The was also called for much reconstruction of property and the process to rebuild the economy. Many people gave hitler the credit of Germany's re-birth but that is not 100 percent accurate. In the book Fist of Steel, a statement was made that:

"Germany's phoenixlike rise from the ashes of World War I astounded the world. A testament to what the British historian Wheeler-Bennett referred to Germany's "phenomenal capacity for beating plowshares into swords," the revival owed much to the fanatical will and warped vision of the man on the reviewing stand. But hitler's contribution was only part of the story, because German rearmament began long before he and his National Socialist rose to power in 1933." (4)

In 1923, Hitler was supposed to served five years but only ended up serving nine months in prison where he spent most of his time composing his book Mein Kampf which means "my struggle". He spoke down on the democratic form of government and very poorly of the Jewish and how much he feared and hated them. In The American People, Seventh Edition, Hitler's book is described as, "A long, rambling book spelling out his theories of racial purity, his hopes for Germany, and his venomous hatred of the Jews." (2) In his autobiography, he also spoke of his ideas. "Hitler's ideas included inequality among races, nations, and individuals as part of an unchangeable natural order that exalted the "Aryan race" as the creative element of mankind." (3)

At first, hitler did mean some good, he was going to unite all germans, even the ones who got separated from germany in Austria, Czechoslovakia, other countries with great german populations, and Poland. We all know how it goes though with the good comes the bad.

Not everyone was happy about hitler coming to the chancellor power and they did not even have a vote. Many felt betrayed by their president, Hindenburg. One person, mrs. Metelmann even made the statement, "how can hidenburg do this to us," she said. "Install gangsters in government without giving us a chance to vote on it?" (5) Many people did think that hitler would help Germany, but many did not as well. Somehow hitler won the hearts of many people especially over his radio broadcast when he said, "this time the front lines are at home," hitler told them. "unity is our tool. We are not fighting for ourselves but for Germany." (5)

The unfaithful people did not stop those who did follow hitler though. In 1933, a boycott was formed to stop everyone from buying anything from jews. Guards and children of the hitler youth would stand outside of the business doors and try to keep people from entering. It only lasted about a day because people refused to pay any attention to the guards and pushed their way past them. The question "why the jewish" still floats