April 20, 1889 - Adolf Hitler
Few figures in modern history bear more direct responsibility for mass atrocity at such scale — the systematic genocide of six million Jews, the deaths of tens of millions across a world war of his instigation, and the near-destruction of European civilization as it had existed. What the historical record makes clear is not only the enormity of the outcome but the deliberateness of the machinery built to achieve it, constructed over years through legal, political, and paramilitary means before the full weight of state violence was unleashed.
From Wikipedia
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 under his leadership marked the outbreak of the Second World War. Throughout the ensuing conflict, Hitler was closely involved in the direction of German military operations and was central to the perpetration of the genocide of about six million Jews in the Holocaust as well as the murders of millions of other victims.
Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in the First World War, receiving the Iron Cross. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921, was appointed the leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year.
Further reading
- Adolf Hitler
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian John Toland delivers what remains one of the most thorough and readable accounts of Hitler's life, drawing on personal interviews with those who knew him.
View on Amazon → - The Hitler of History
Historian John Lukacs examines Hitler through the lens of over a hundred biographers, exploring how diverse interpretations have shaped our understanding of his life and mind.
View on Amazon → - Hitler
This detailed biography reinterprets the known facts about Hitler to construct a nuanced, realistic portrait of the man without glorifying his actions or legacy.
View on Amazon →
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