Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

1889-04-20

Biography

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated NSDAP), commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and served as head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is most remembered for his central leadership role in the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II and the Holocaust. A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the precursor of the Nazi Party (DAP) in 1919, and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. He attempted a coup d'état known as the Beer Hall Putsch, which occurred at the Bürgerbräukeller beer hall in Munich on 8–9 November 1923. Hitler was imprisoned for one year due to the failed coup, and wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf (in English "My Struggle"), while imprisoned. After his release on 20 December 1924, he gained support by promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. He was appointed chancellor on 30 January 1933, and transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. Nazi forces engaged in numerous violent acts during the war, including the systematic murder of as many as 17 million civilians, including an estimated six million Jews targeted in the Holocaust and between 500,000 and 1,500,000 Roma, added to the Poles, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other political and religious opponents. In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time mistress Eva Braun. To avoid capture by Soviet forces, the two committed suicide less than two days later on 30 April 1945 and their corpses were burned.

Also appears in

The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933-1945

The Restless Conscience: Resistance to Hitler Within Germany 1933-1945

5.3

Storm Front in Mayo

Storm Front in Mayo

7.5

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

7.1

The Gestapo: Hitler’s Secret Police

The Gestapo: Hitler’s Secret Police

8.0

The Phoney War

The Phoney War

8.0

Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea

Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea

6.2

The Memory of Justice

The Memory of Justice

7.1

The Most Dangerous Man in Europe: Otto Skorzeny’s After War

The Most Dangerous Man in Europe: Otto Skorzeny’s After War

6.7

JFK to 9/11: Everything is a Rich Man’s Trick

JFK to 9/11: Everything is a Rich Man’s Trick

7.6

The Red Nights of the Gestapo

The Red Nights of the Gestapo

4.5

In Love with Adolf Hitler

In Love with Adolf Hitler

6.3

The Hitler Home Movies

The Hitler Home Movies

Not yet rated

Genocide

Genocide

7.4

The Girls

The Girls

6.1

The Tramp and the Dictator

The Tramp and the Dictator

7.0

George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey

George Stevens: A Filmmaker’s Journey

5.6

In Search of Dr. Seuss

In Search of Dr. Seuss

7.8

Hitler’s Evil Science

Hitler’s Evil Science

7.0

The Four Just Men

The Four Just Men

6.2

Hitler’s Forgotten Victims

Hitler’s Forgotten Victims

10.0