Adolph Hitler

Who was Adolf Hitler? He was an Austrian who led Germany from

1933 to his death in 1945. He is responsible for millions of deaths

worldwide. He was leader of the Third Reich. He believed in a “master race” – the Aryan

race: blonde haired, blue eyed.

Hitler’s youth

• Hitler was born in Branau-am-inn, Austria.

• He was born April 20, 1889.

• He had 2 sisters and 2 brothers.

Hitler’s Mother

• Hitler’s mom was named Klara.

• She was his father’s third wife.

• She was his father’s second cousin.

• She died of lung cancer.

Hitler’s Father

• His father was a minor customs official.

• He moved around a lot.

• His original name was Alois Schicklegruber.

• After his mother’s death, Hitler went to Vienna and Munich.

• He learned German Nationalism and anti-semetism.

• He lived in flophouses and made his living selling his art.

World War I

• Hitler fought with the Bavarian Army.

• He was a corporal..• He was a messenger

on the front lines.• He was wounded

when the war ended. He won an “Iron Cross”, Second Class.

• He had a “sixth sense” about death.

• On one occasion, there were a group of messengers sleeping in one area; Hitler got up and moved – 20 seconds later, a mortar round fell in and killed the rest.

Political Career

• He was supposed to keep tabs on the NAZI Party.

• He was a brilliant public speaker. He was made the #7 man of the party.

• He became consumed with the power he gained.

• Nov.8 – 9, 1923 – Hitler attempts a coupe at the Munich Beer Hall Putsch.

• He was injured and arrested for treason.

• He was sentenced to 5 years in jail.

• While in prison, he started writing Mein Kampf, or My Struggle.

• It told of his philosophy for why things were and his future plans.

• He does 9 months.

• Mein Kampf tells of his struggles to gain power and foreshadows 5 events Hitler says will happen: Nazis come to power legally, end to Communism, end to Judaism, “Lebensraum” in Africa, and

Taking the reigns of power

• He and the Nazis gained a majority in the Reichstag legally.

• Hitler was asked to take over Germany.

• He was elected to a seat in government.

• He led Germany to a world power.

• The “Night of the Long Knives” was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political executions, most of those killed being members of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary Brownshirts. Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his power.

• To solidify his power, Hitler benefitted from the burning of the Reichstag building – the German equivalent of Congress.

• A Danish communist, Vonn der Lubbe was blamed.

• When Hindenburg died, Hitler moved quickly to keep his power.

• He abolished all labor unions except the Nazi Party.

• He passed the “Law for the Protection of State and Nation” to make certain groups, non-Aryans, subservient to Aryans.

• The “Hitler Youth” were indoctrinated in anti-Semitism .

• One aim was to instill the motivation that would enable members, as soldiers, to fight faithfully for the Third Reich . They put more emphasis on physical and military training than on academic study.

• Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany on November 9–10, 1938.

• In a coordinated attack on Jewish people and their property, 91 Jews were murdered and 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps. More than 200 synagogues were destroyed and thousands of homes and businesses were ransacked

• Kristallnacht was followed by further economic and political persecutions.

The End of the Third Reich

• Hitler had many loyal to him his cause.

• Hitler oversaw the Holocaust.

• Hitler led Germany to defeat in WW II.

• Hitler had several “nervous breakdowns”and bouts with paranoia near the end of the war.

• Hitler had a mistress who became his wife, Eva Braun.

• She was his second cousin.

• They met when she was 17.

• The German public did not know about the relationship until the end.

• She was 33; he was 56 when they married..

• They married April29, 1945 in Hitler’s bunker.

• They committed suicide together April 30, 1945. She took cyanide, he took cyanide and shot himself in the temple.

• Hitler did not want to be captured.

• He had heard about Mussolini’s execution and public treatment of the remains, he did not want to face a public trial, and he did not want to be touched by non-Aryans.