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Hitler, Adolf   Cerca

Nota d'ambito

Use when survivors discuss their experiences with or of Hitler before and during World War II. (en-US)

Definizione

Born in Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary, on April 20, 1889, Adolf Hitler was a politician, leader of the National Socialist Party (NSDAP), and Chancellor Führer (leader) of the Third German Reich from 1933 to 1945. Regarded as the architect of the Holocaust and WWII, Hitler became a leading symbol of brutality and violence in the 20th century. Fiercely anti-Semitic, Hitler's views and opinions about Jews were influenced by the time he spent in Vienna eking out a meager existence as a postcard painter. When WWI began in 1914, Hitler volunteered to serve in the Bavarian Army and by 1918 was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. After being temporarily blinded by a gas attack shortly before the end of the war, Hitler vowed to enter politics to fight against the Jews and left-wing politicians, whom he blamed for Germany's defeat. In 1919 he joined the small German Workers' Party (NSDAP) in Munich and throughout the 1920s, built the Nazi movement through his charismatic public speaking. In 1923 Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government in the Munich Beer-Hall Putsch but was arrested and imprisoned. While in the Landsberg prison he wrote Mein Kampf, a dictation of his anti-Semitic and political views. After his release from prison, Hitler focused on election campaigns. By 1932 the NSDAP became the largest political party in the Reichstag, yet Hitler did not attain his goal of becoming chancellor through an election. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg and began transforming Germany from the Weimar government to Nazi dictatorship in which he ruled through the concept of Führerprinzip (leadership principle) based on authority from above and obedience from below. During WWII, Hitler was personally involved in the planning and strategizing of the invasions of Poland and the western countries. By 1941, Hitler was the supreme commander of the German army to over the invasion of the USSR and the North African campaign. He dismissed those who did not agree with him and in his obsession in to avoid the events of 1918 and his refusal to see the coming defeat led to an assassination attempt by members of the German army in July 1944. After marrying Eva Braun and as the Soviet armed forces approached, Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945. (en-US)

Fonte

Dear, I.C.B., ed. The Oxford Companion to World War II. Oxford and New York : Oxford Univerisity Press, 1995. pp. 534-540

Termini più generici

• Personale tedesco di NSDAP/SS/DS