Adolf Hitler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Adolf Hitler
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Hitler in 1938
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| Führer of Germany | |
| In office August 2, 1934 – April 30, 1945 |
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| Preceded by | Paul von Hindenburg (President) |
| Succeeded by | Karl Dönitz (President) |
| Chancellor of Germany | |
| In office January 30, 1933 – April 30, 1945 |
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| President | Paul von Hindenburg (1933–1934) |
| Deputy | Franz von Papen (1933–1934) Hermann Göring (1941–1945) |
| Preceded by | Kurt von Schleicher |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Goebbels |
| Führer of the Nazi Party | |
| In office July 29, 1921 – April 30, 1945 |
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| Deputy | Rudolf Hess (1933–1941) |
| Preceded by | Anton Drexler (Chairman) |
| Succeeded by | Martin Bormann (Party Minister) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 20, 1889 Braunau am Inn, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | April 30, 1945 (aged 56) Berlin, Nazi Germany |
| Cause of death | Suicide by gunshot |
| Citizenship |
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| Political party | Nazi Party (1921–1945) |
| Other political affiliations |
German Workers' Party (1919–20) |
| Spouse | |
| Parents |
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| Relatives | Hitler family |
| Cabinet | Hitler cabinet |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | German Empire |
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| Service years | 1914–1920 |
| Rank | Gefreiter |
| Unit | 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment |
| Wars | World War I |
| Awards |
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Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was a German politician and the leader of Nazi Germany. He became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, after a democratic election in 1932. He became Führer (leader) of Nazi Germany in 1934.
Hitler led the Nazi Party NSDAP from 1921. When in power, the Nazis created a dictatorship called the Third Reich. In 1933, they blocked out all other political parties. This gave Hitler absolute power.
Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland in 1939, and this started World War II. Because of Hitler, at least 50 million people died. During World War II, Hitler was the Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces and made all the important decisions. This was part of the so-called Führerprinzip (leader principle). He shot himself in 1945, as the Soviet Army got to Berlin because he did not want to be captured alive by the Soviet Union.
Hitler and the Nazi regime were responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in Europe.
Nazi forces committed many war crimes during the war. They were doing what Hitler told them to do. They killed their enemies or put them in concentration camps and death camps. Hitler and his men persecuted and killed Jews and other ethnic, religious, and political minorities. In what is called the Holocaust, the Nazis killed six million Jews, Roma people, homosexuals, Slavs, and many other groups of people.
Contents
Family background
Hitler's family was born in Waldviertel, in Lower Austria. At the time, the name Hitler changed in this region several times among Hüttler, Hiedler, Hittler, and Hitler. The name was commonly in the German-speaking area of Europe in the 19th century. The literature says that this name is descended from the Czech name Hidlar or Hidlarcek.
Childhood and early adulthood
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, as the fourth child of six in Braunau am Inn. This is a small town near Linz in the province of Upper Austria. It is close to the German border, in what was then Austria-Hungary. His parents were Klara Pölzl and Alois Hitler. Because of his father's job, Hitler moved from Braunau to Passau, later to Lambach, and finally to Leonding. Adolf attended several Volksschules.
Hitler's mother, Klara Pölzl, was his father's cousin and third wife. Hitler's father died in 1903.
Hitler failed high school exams in Linz twice. In 1905, he left school. He became interested in the anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish), Pan-German teachings of Professor Leopold Poetsch. In September 1907, he went to Vienna and took an entrance examination. On October 1 and 2, he failed the second examination. Hitler went back to Linz at the end of October. In December 1907, Hitler's mother died and, because of that, he was depressed. Hitler's mother was Catholic, but Hitler hated Christianity. He also hated Jews.
In 1909, Hitler again went to Vienna to study art. He tried to become a student at the Academy of Arts but failed the first entrance examination. Hitler said he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna. This town had a large Jewish community.
In 1913, Hitler was 24 years old. At that time, all young Austrian men had to join the army. Hitler did not like the Austrian army, so he left Austria for Germany. He lived in the German city of Munich.
Paintings
Hitler was also a painter. He produced hundreds of works and sold his paintings and postcards to try to earn a living during his Vienna years (1908–1913). Despite little success professionally, he continued to paint throughout the whole of his life.
A number of his paintings were recovered after the Second World War and have been sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars. Others were seized by the United States Army and are still held by the US government.
World War I
On August 16, 1914, Hitler joined the Bavarian army. He fought for Germany in World War I. Hitler served in Belgium and France in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment. He spent nearly the whole time on the Western Front. He was a runner, one of the most dangerous jobs on the Front. That means he ran from one position to another one to carry messages. On November 1, 1914, Hitler became a Gefreiter (which was like being a private first-class in the United States Army, or a lance corporal in the British Army). The government awarded him the Iron Cross Second Class on December 2, 1914.
On October 5, 1916, Hitler was hurt by a bullet shell. Between October 9 and December 1, he was in the military hospital Belitz. In March 1917, he went back to the front. There, he fought in a battle and was awarded the Militärverdienstkreuz Third Class with swords.
In March 1918, Hitler participated in the Spring Offensive. On August 4, 1918, Hitler was awarded the Iron Cross First Class by the Jewish Hugo Gutmann. After Germany surrendered, Hitler was shocked, because the German army still held enemy area in November 1918.
Entry into politics
After World War I, Hitler stayed in the army and returned to Munich. There he attended the funeral march of the Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner, who had been killed. In 1919, he participated in a training program for propaganda speakers from June 5 to 12 and June 26 to July 5.
Later that year, Hitler joined a small political party called the German Workers Party. He became member number 555. He soon won the support of the party's members. Two years later, he became the party's leader. He renamed the party the National Socialist German Workers Party. It became known as the Nazi Party.
During the Weimar Republic
In 1923, Hitler got together several hundred other members of the Nazi Party and tried to take over the Weimar Republic government (1918–34) in the Beer Hall Putsch. The coup failed. The government killed 13 of his men (the 13 dead men were later declared saints in Nazi ideology). They also put Hitler in the Landsberg Prison. They said that he would stay in prison for five years, but they let him leave after nine months.
Mein Kampf
While Hitler was in prison, he wrote a book with the help of his close friend Rudolf Hess. At first, Hitler wanted to call the book Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. In the end, he called the book "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle").
Mein Kampf brought together some of Hitler's different ideas and explains where they came from:
- His idea of life as a battle: He got this idea from Social Darwinism, which was influenced by the English evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin.
- His idea that the "Aryan race" was better than everybody else: This came from Arthur de Gobineau's book called The Inequality of the Human Races.
- His plans for an Empire in the East: These plans came from the way Germany had captured farming land in the First World War.
- The idea that Judaism and communism were connected: He got this idea from the Nazi writer Alfred Rosenberg.
Start of the dictatorship
In 1933, Hitler was elected into the German government. He ended freedom of speech and put his enemies in jail or killed them. He did not allow any other political party except the Nazi party. Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, spread extreme nationalism within Germany. All media had to praise the Nazis. Also, more people were born because Hitler wanted more people of the "master race" (those he called "Aryans"). He made Germany a totalitarian Nazi state.
World War II and The Holocaust
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Despite Poland being carved out of former German territory, Hitler is credited with starting World War II by ordering the German Army to invade Poland. His army took over Poland and most of Europe, including France and a large part of the Soviet Union.
During the war, Hitler ordered the Nazis to kill many people, including women and children. The Nazis killed around six million Jews in The Holocaust. Other people that the Nazis killed were Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Slavs such as Russians and Poles, and his political opponents.
Finally, some of the other countries in the world worked together to defeat Germany. Hitler lost all of the land that he had taken. Millions of Germans were killed in the war. At the end of World War II, Hitler gave all people in the Führerbunker (leader bunker) permission to leave it. Many people did and moved to the region of Berchtesgaden. They used planes and truck convoys.
Hitler, the Goebbels family, Martin Bormann, Eva Braun, and some other staff remained in the bunker. Hitler married Eva Braun on April 29, 1945.
Death
Less than 24 hours after Hitler and Eva Braun got married in Berlin, both of them used poison to kill themselves then Hitler shot himself with his gun. Before this, Hitler ordered that their bodies be burned. This prevented him from being captured alive by soldiers of the Red Army, who were closing in on him.
Adolf Hitler quotes
- "The stronger must dominate and not mate with the weaker, which would signify the sacrifice of its own higher nature."
- "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."
- "The victor will never be asked if he told the truth."
- "Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice."
- “Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
- “What good fortune for those in power that people do not think.”
Important facts about Adolf Hitler
- Adolf Hitler was born in Austria.
- Adolf was not a good student. He failed his high school exams twice.
- After leaving school, Adolf became interested in the teachings of Professor Leopold Poetsch, who taught that any race except the German race was inferior (less important or valuable than the German race).
- Hitler was also a painter and produced hundreds of works throughout his life.
- Hitler would never take off his coat in public, no matter how hot it got.
- Adolf Hitler fought for Germany as a soldier during World War I.
- After the War, Hitler joined a small political party called the German Workers Party, which was renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, and finally, the Nazi Party.
- Hitler was put in prison for nine months for trying to take over the Weimar Republic government.
- While Hitler was in prison, he and his close friend Rudolf Hess wrote Mein Kampf, which means "My Struggle."
- In 1933, Hitler was elected into the German government. He got rid of freedom of speech and severely punished or killed anyone who disagreed with him.
- Hitler is given credit for starting World War II when he ordered the German Army to invade Poland.
- During World War II, Hitler ordered the Nazis to kill millions of people.
- Over six million Jews were killed in The Holocaust.
- Hitler also had Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Slavs, and his political opponents killed.
- Hitler ended up losing all of the lands he had conquered when the Allies, a group of other countries who worked together, defeated Germany.
- When Hitler knew he had lost, he hid in a bunker and married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, they both used poison to kill themselves, then Hitler shot himself with his gun so that they could not be captured.
Related pages
Images for kids
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The house in Leonding, Austria where Hitler spent his early adolescence (photo taken in July 2012)
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The Alter Hof in Munich. Watercolour by Adolf Hitler, 1914
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Hitler (far right, seated) with his army comrades of the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (c. 1914–18)
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Hitler and Nazi Party treasurer Franz Xaver Schwarz at the dedication of the renovation of the Palais Barlow on Brienner Straße in Munich into the Brown House headquarters, December 1930
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Hitler, at the window of the Reich Chancellery, receives an ovation on the evening of his inauguration as chancellor, 30 January 1933.
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Hitler and Paul von Hindenburg on the Day of Potsdam, 21 March 1933
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In 1934, Hitler became Germany's head of state with the title of Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor of the Reich).
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Ceremony honouring the dead (Totenehrung) on the terrace in front of the Hall of Honour (Ehrenhalle) at the Nazi party rally grounds, Nuremberg, September 1934
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Benito Mussolini with Hitler on 25 October 1936, when the axis between Italy and Germany was declared
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Hitler and the Japanese foreign minister, Yōsuke Matsuoka, at a meeting in Berlin in March 1941. In the background is Joachim von Ribbentrop.
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October 1938: Hitler is driven through the crowd in Cheb (German: Eger), in the Sudetenland.
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Hitler reviews troops on the march during the campaign against Poland (September 1939).
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Hitler visits Paris with architect Albert Speer (left) and sculptor Arno Breker (right), 23 June 1940.
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Boundaries of the Nazi planned Greater Germanic Reich
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Hitler announcing the declaration of war against the United States to the Reichstag on 11 December 1941
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The destroyed map room at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's eastern command post, after the 20 July plot
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Front page of the US Armed Forces newspaper, Stars and Stripes, 2 May 1945, announcing Hitler's death
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Hitler's order for Aktion T4, dated 1 September 1939
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Hitler during a meeting at the headquarters of Army Group South in June 1942
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Hitler in 1942 with his long-time lover Eva Braun
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Hitler shaking hands with Bishop Ludwig Müller in Germany in the 1930s
See also
In Spanish: Adolf Hitler para niños
