Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler, (1889-1945). German dictator, whose thirst for power led to World War II and the deaths of some 30 million people. The son of a customs officer, he spent his early years in poverty. After becoming president of the Nazi party in 1921 he made an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government at Munich (1923). During his imprisonment for this offence he began writing Mein Kampf, which stated his nationalistic beliefs and his hatred of Jews. Made chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler transformed the country into a totalitarian state and took the title of `Fuhrer’ (1934). He began a campaign to restore German power in Europe and started a fanatical persecution of the Jews. Ultimately about 12 million people, roughly half of them Jewish, died in Hitler’s concentration and labour camps. In 1937 he annexed Austria and in 1938 overran Czechoslovakia; his invasion of Poland in September 1939 precipitated World War II. A failed assassination attempt, a bomb explosion organized by several high-ranking officers, led to a purge in which thousands were executed (1944). Eventually, knowing that Ger-man defeat was inevitable, Hitler retreated to his bunker in Berlin. There he married his mistress Eva Braun on 29 April 1945; the following day they are believed to have committed suicide together. Their bodies were burned.
“I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker. Adolf Hitler, speech 26 September 1938”
