DER FÜHRER

DER FÜHRER Sophie B.

Have you ever wondered what led this cruel tyrant to become the leader of Germany and kill millions of people? You have probably questioned why nobody stopped him. The answer is that no one knew. Hitler’s specialty is military strategy and the persuasion of masses. He used his skills to become one of the most well known dictators in the world - and the ignition of World War II.

What was Hitler’s Childhood like?

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Braunau, Austria, to the parents of Alois and Klara Poelzl Hitler. Adolf is speculated to have Jewish heritage. He was the fourth of six children.

When he was three, his family moved to Germany. In 1898, the Hitler family moved to Linz. Here, he frequently argued with his father because he was interested in art rather than business. After the death of his brother, Edmund, in 1900, Adolf became detached and introverted.

In primary school, Hitler showed great intellectual potential, was very popular, and was admired for his great leadership skills. Even then, he was very interested in German nationalism and rejecting Austrian-Hungarian authority, which became motivation for his life. He was obsessed with the musical works of Richard Wagner. After seeing one of his plays in 1905, he announced he would embark on a journey to lead his people to freedom, much like in the play.

Teenagehood to Adulthood The competition in secondary school was very tough, and Hitler stopped trying. He lost popularity and decided to reenact battles from the Boer war with younger children. At the age of 15, he began failing his exams. When he was told to repeat the year, he left school. Alois suddenly died in 1903 and Klara allowed Adolf to quit school.

At the age of 18, he inherited money from his father’s death.

Seeing as how art was his best subject in school, he decided to apply to the V i e n n a

Academy of Art. He was rejected. Klara died of breast cancer in 1907. In early 1908, Hitler moved to Vienna. He hoped to renew his chances of gaining acceptance. He was forced to move into a homeless shelter after he went broke, spent all of his inheritance, and refused to enter a civil service career, even though all his relatives badgered him about finding a steady job. This was supposedly when he first “cultivated his anti-Semitism.”* It is assumed that this was when he became interested in politics and how masses would respond to certain themes, in particular, the anti-Semitic Christian-Socialist party. Vienna is very largely occupied by Jews. In 1909, his aunt gave him a gift that allowed him to paint. He made enough money to live off of until he departed for Munich in 1913. Adolf was influenced by many people, particularly Schröner and Lueger. Hitler drew his ideology from Schröner, a racist German nationalist who was comfortable with elitist nationalism and student fraternities*. Hitler drew his strategy and tactics from Lueger, who was very good at channeling protest into political gain.

Gaining Political Power When World War I broke out, Hitler enrolled in the army. He was a dispatch runner and was awarded for his bravery with the Iron Cross First Class and the Black Wound Badge. He was not in the midst of the battle, but he participated in a number of significant battles and was even injured at the Somme. In 1918, he was blinded in a mustard gas attack. The war reinforced his German Patriotism and he was shocked by Germany’s surrender in 1918, which was when he was in a hospital. He felt that the Germans had been betrayed by their civilian leaders and Marxists. He found that the treaty of Versailles was degrading. In particular, Germany’s demilitarization and accepting responsibility of the war. He became a spy for the German army.

While monitoring the German Workers Party (DAP Deutsche Arbeiter Partei), he adopted many of the Anti-Semitic, Anti-Marxist, nationalistic ideas. He was invited by the DAP founder, Anton Drexler, in 1919, and he joined. The DAP changed its name to Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). This means National Socialist German Work Party. Hitler designed the banner himself. It featured a black swastika on a white circle with a red background. In 1921, he replaced Dexler as NSDAP chairman. Hitler’s vitriolic* speeches attracted many audiences. On November 8, 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting in a beer hall, said that it was a revolution, and demanded that a new government be formed. After a short struggle and 20 deaths, he was arrested for high treason. While was serving his one-year sentence, he wrote his book, “Mein Kampf”(My Fight). The book represented Hitler’s plan to transform Germany into a society based on race.

Führer The Great Depression offered a great opportunity for Hitler. The people were in extreme need, which left them open to extreme options. In 1932, Hitler ran against Paul von Hindenburg for presidency. He did well but lost both rounds. In order to promote political balance, Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor on January 30, 1933. Hitler used his power to create a de facto legal dictatorship. This means he can do anything and it would be legal. The Reichstag fire decree suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. This was announced after a suspicious fire at Reichstag. The passage of Enabling Act gave his cabinet full legislative power

for four years and allowed for deviations from the constitution. Having gained full control, he and his party began oppressing any other political dissidents.

By the end of June, all other parties had been disbanded. On March 20, 1933, the first concentration camp, Dachau, was opened. On July 14, 1933, the Nazi party was declared the only legal party in Germany. Military opposition was punished. As the SA demanded more political and military power, the Night of Long Knives began. All the SA leaders, including Ernst Roehm and Hitler’s enemies, were rounded up and killed. The day before Hindenburg’s death in August 1934, the cabinet enacted a law declaring that the president position would be abolished and merged with the chancellor. As Hitler became leader, he became the supreme commander of armed forces. He began to mobilize for war, withdrew from the League of Nations, and expanded Germany’s armed forces. Hitler encouraged all Germans to keep their bodies clean and rid of any intoxicating or unclean substances. He had many antismoking campaigns and believed that people should not eat meat or drink alcohol. Meat, because of the horrible things that are done to animals in slaughterhouses, and alcohol, because it is an impure and intoxicating substance. On August 1, 1936, the Olympic games of 1936 took place in Germany.

Adolf Hitler unwillingly had to shake the hand of a black man. Die Nuernberger Gesetze and Blut Gesetze forbade Jews and non-Jews from marrying to keep the bloodline clean. They also forbade many other interactions between Jews and non-Jews. In 1938, Hitler and other European leaders signed the Munich agreement, which gave Germany Sudetenland back, reversing that part of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler was named Time magazine’s man of the year. On November 9, 1938, the Nazis went around and destroyed Jewish businesses, synagogues, and homes. They arrested and beat Jews. In 1941, a law was passed that forbade Jews to leave Germany.

Downfall On Friday, April 20, 1945, Hitler met for the last time with his team. This was Hitler’s 56th birthday. He had a dreary celebration with his top members, which included Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, heinrich Himmler, Joachim Ribbentrop, Albert Speer, and Martin Bormann, and his military leaders Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Karl Dönitz, and Hans Krebs. At first, those present tried to convince Hitler to escape doomed Berlin for Berchtesgaden where he could then continue the fight.

But Hitler ignored them, knowing that leaving the bunker brought on a great risk of being captured by the enemy. Adolf, above all else, did not want to wind up in the enemies’ hands, particularly the Russians. He gave his personal permission to leave the bunker. Most of his staff left, hoping he would fol-

low. The people who stayed were Martin Bormann, a few SS military aids, two private secretaries, and his long-time girlfriend, Eva Braun. He announced his decision to stay to the German people via radio, hoping that his action would influence others to stay and fight as well. Hitler took pride in knowing that he was not giving up like the Germans had done at the end of World War I. Hitler told General Jodl, “I will fight as long as I have a single soldier. When the last soldier deserts me, I will shoot myself.”

Heinrich Himmler, who would be the post-Hitler leader, proposed an idea to surrender, and join the Americans and English in fighting the Russians. Hitler did not know of this. He discovered it when BBC showed the story of Himmler’s surrender negotiations. According to eyewitnesses he “raged like a madman.” Even though Himmler had served him faithfully since

the beginning, Hitler now wanted to have him shot. But since Himmler was nowhere to be found, he ordered to have SS General Hermann Fegelein shot instead. As the Red Army was advancing, Hitler made preparations for his own death. First, he married Eva Braun. He heard about his oldest political ally, Benito Mussolini, being captured by Italians and brutally murdered and thrown away.

Hitler had glass capsules with liquid cyanide*. Since they were supplied by Himmler, he was worried they might not be real.

He tested them on his favorite dog, Blondi. The animal died immediately. Hitler shot himself with the same gun he used to fire a warning shot in his beer hall protest. Eva Braun died from biting down on a capsule.

For Joseph Göbbels, life without Hitler was not worth living.

First, he and his wife poisoned their six children. Then, they each bit down on a capsule.

“All great movements are popular movements.

They are volcanic eruptions of human passion and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of people.”

- Adolf Hitler Works Cited: "Adolf Hitler Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

"Adolf Hitler." HISTORY. History Channel, 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2016 "Adolf Hitler: Early Years, 1889–1913." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

"German Jewish Refugees, 1933–1939." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

"The Defeat of Adolf Hitler." History Place. The History Place, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.