Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Adolf Hitler Part I

Adolf Hitler (German: [ˈadɔlfˈhɪtlɐ]; 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-bornGerman politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945.He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming Chancellorin 1933 and then assuming the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe byinvading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved inmilitary operations throughout the war and was central to theperpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jewsand millions of other victims.

Hitler was born in Austria, then partof Austria-Hungary, and was raised near Linz. He moved to Germany in1913, and was decorated during his service in the German Army inWorld War I. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), theprecursor of the Nazi Party, and was appointed leader of the NaziParty in 1921. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in afailed coup in Munich and was imprisoned with a sentence of fiveyears. In jail, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography andpolitical manifesto Mein Kampf ("My Struggle").After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support byattacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism,anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazipropaganda. He frequently denounced international capitalism andcommunism as part of a Jewish conspiracy.

By November 1932, the Nazi Party heldthe most seats in the German Reichstag, but did not have a majority.As a result, no party was able to form a majority parliamentarycoalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellorFranz von Papen and other conservative leaders persuaded PresidentPaul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January1933. Shortly after, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into NaziGermany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian andautocratic ideology of Nazism. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews fromGermany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as theinjustice of the post-World War I international order dominated byBritain and France. His first six years in power resulted in rapideconomic recovery from the Great Depression, the abrogation ofrestrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexationof territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which gavehim significant popular support.

Hitler sought Lebensraum (lit. 'livingspace') for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressiveforeign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II inEurope. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939,invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France declaring war onGermany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the SovietUnion. By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powersoccupied most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were graduallyreversed after 1941, and in 1945 the Allied armies defeated theGerman army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime lover EvaBraun in the Führerbunker in Berlin. Less than two days later, thecouple committed suicide to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army.Their corpses were burned.

Historian and biographer Ian Kershawdescribes Hitler as "the embodiment of modern politicalevil". Under Hitler's leadership and racially motivatedideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of aboutsix million Jews and millions of other victims whom he and hisfollowers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable.Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing ofan estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. Inaddition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result ofmilitary action in the European theater. The number of civilianskilled during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and thecasualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history.