Download Adolf Hitler`s Childhood

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Born: 20 April 1889
Birthplace: Braunau am Inn, Austria
Died: 30 April 1945 (suicide)
Best Known As: The leader of Nazi Germany during World War II
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Adolf Hitler's 12 years as ruler of Germany, which led to the deaths of millions in World War II, have made him one of
history's most hated villains. A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party in 1919, later
renaming it the National Socialist German Workers Party (which was shortened to the Nazi Party). By 1921 he was the
leader of the group, and in 1923 led an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the ruling German Weimar Republic. Hitler
was sent to prison, where he wrote his manifesto, Mein Kampf (My Struggle), and he emerged from jail less than a
year later as a populist spokesman for poor and nationalistic Germans. Made chancellor in 1933, he suspended the
constitution, forcibly suppressed all political opposition and brought the Nazis to power. He enforced his new rules with
a brutal secret police (the Gestapo) and formed concentration camps for the organized murder of Jews, Gypsies and
political opponents. Hitler's bullying, aggressive foreign policy led to the start of World War II in 1939. Although he had
remarkable early success in the war, by 1942 the tide had turned, and by 1945 Allied troops had crossed into Germany
and were headed for Berlin. Hitler apparently committed suicide in his command bunker in Berlin in 1945, ending both
Nazi rule and the war.
Hitler survived a 1944 assassination attempt led by Claus von Stauffenberg... One of Hitler's concentration camp
victims was Anne Frank... One day before his death, Hitler finally married his longtime girlfriend Eva Braun; she
committed suicide with him by swallowing cyanide on 30 April 1945. Hitler apparently swallowed cyanide and then shot
himself
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Early Days - 1889-1908 Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria. The town is near to the
Austro-German border, and his father, Alois, worked as a customs officer on the border
crossing. His mother, Klara, had previously given birth to two other children by Alois, (Gustav
and Ida) but they both died in their infancy. Adolf attended school from the age of six and the
family lived in various villages around the town of Linz, east of Braunau. By this time Adolf had
a younger brother, Edmund, but he only lived until the age of six. In 1896, Klara gave birth to
Adolf 's sister, Paula, who survived to outlive him. Adolf Hitler grew up with a poor record at
school and left, before completing his tuition, with an ambition to become an artist. Alois Hitler
had died when Adolf was thirteen and Klara brought up Adolf and Paula on her own. Between
the ages of sixteen and nineteen, young Adolf neither worked to earn his keep, nor formally
studied, but had gained an interest in politics and history. During this time he unsuccessfully
applied for admission to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.
The Vagabond - 1909-1913…..Klara Hitler died from cancer when Adolf was nineteen and from then onwards he had
no relatives willing or able to support him. So, in 1909, he moved to Vienna in the hope of somehow earning a living.
Within a year he was living in homeless shelters and eating at charity soup-kitchens. He had declined to take regular
employment and took occasional menial jobs and sold some of his paintings or advertising posters whenever he could
to provide sustenance.
Munich and The Great War - 1913-1918
In 1913 Adolf Hitler, still a penniless vagrant, moved to Munich in southern Germany. Hitler during WW1At the
outbreak of the First World War, in 1914, he volunteered for service in the German army and was accepted into the
16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment . Hitler fought bravely in the war and was promoted to corporal and
decorated with both the Iron Cross Second Class and First Class, the latter of which he wore until his dying day
[ironically the regimental captain who recommended him for the award was Jewish]. The day of the announcement of
the armistice in 1918, Hitler was in hospital recovering from temporary blindness caused by a British gas attack in the
Ypres Salient. In December 1918 he returned to his regiment back in Munich
Early Politics - 1918-1919
Between December 1918 and March 1919 Hitler worked at a prisoner-of-war camp at Traunstein before returning
again to Munich. Shortly after his return he witnessed a takeover bid by local Communists who seized power before
being ousted by the army. After he gave evidence at an investigation into the takeover he was asked to become part of
a local army organization which was responsible for persuading returning soldiers not to turn to communism or
pacifism. During his training for this tasks and during his subsequent duties he was able to hone his oratory skills. As
part of his duties he was also asked to spy on certain local political groups, and during a meeting of the German
Workers' Party in the Sterneckerbrau Beer Hall Munich he became so incensed by one of the speeches that he
delivered a fierce harangue to the speaker. The founder of the party, Anion Drexler, was so impressed by Hitler's tirade
that he asked him to join their organization. Hitler, after some thought, finally agreed to join the committee and became
their seventh official in September 1919.
The First Hofbrauhaus Speech - 1919-1920
Given responsibility for publicity and propaganda, Hitler first succeeded in attracting over a hundred people to a
meeting in held October at which he delivered his first speech to a large audience. The meeting and his oratory were a
great success, and subsequently in February 1920 he organized a much larger event for a crowd of nearly two
thousand in the Munich Hofbrauhaus. Hitler himself was not the main speaker, but when his turn came he succeeded
in calming a rowdy audience and presented a twenty-five point programme of ideas which were to be the basis of the
party. The name of the party was itself changed to the National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi for short) on
April 1st 1920.
Not long after the February speech he was discharged from the army. Hitler continued to expand his influence in the
party and began to form a private group of thugs which he used to quash disorder at party meetings and later to break
up rival party's meetings. This group subsequently became the Sturmabteilung or S.A. - Hitler's brown shirted storm
troopers. He also became the regular main speaker at party events from then onwards, attracting large crowds for
each meeting. During the summer of 1920 Hitler chose the swastika as the Nazi party emblem.
Leader of the Nazi Party - 1921
By 1921 Adolf Hitler had virtually secured total control of the Nazi party, however this was not to the liking of all Nazis.
In July of that year, whilst Hitler was away in Berlin, the discontent members of the party proposed a merger with a likeminded political party in Nuremburg in the hope that this would dilute Hitler's influence. On hearing the news of the
proposed merger, Hitler rushed back to Munich to confront the party and threatened to resign. The other members
were aware that Hitler was bringing in the lion's share of funds into the organization, from the collections following his
speeches at meetings and from other sympathetic sources. Thus they knew they couldn't afford his resignation. Hitler
then proceeded to turn the tables on the committee members and forced them to accept him as formal leader of the
party with dictatorial powers
The Beer Hall Putsch - 1923
Up to November 1923 Hitler continued to build up the strength of the Nazi Party. During this time he also plotted to
overthrow the German Weimar Republic by force. On November 8th 1923 Hitler led an attempt to take over the local
Bavarian Government in Munich in an action that became known as the "Beer Hall Putsch." Despite initially kidnapping
the Bavarian officials in the Buergerbraukeller beer hall in Munich and proclaiming a new regime using their names, the
coup was not successful. The officials were allowed to escape and re-gain control of the police and the armed forces.
The coup was ended on the morning of November 9th, when a column of three thousand SA men headed by Hitler and
General Ludendorff (one of the most senior generals of the First World War) were halted on their way to the centre of
Munich by armed police. After a brief gunfight, only General Ludendorff and his aide had made it through to the central
Plaza, where they were arrested. Hitler had fled the scene and was later arrested and charged with treason. After his
trial for treason he was sentenced to five years in Landsberg prison, however he had successfully used the trial itself to
gain publicity for himself and his ideas. During his term in prison Hitler began dictating his thoughts and philosophies to
Rudolf Hess which became the book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle).
Re-Building the Nazi Party - 1924-1932
Hitler was released from Landsberg prison in December 1924 after serving only six months of his sentence. At that
time, the Nazi Party and its associated newspapers were banned by the government and Hitler himself was forbidden
from making public speeches. The support for National Socialism was waning throughout Germany, their voting figures
in elections fell from almost two million in 1924 to 810,000 by 1928 (this gave them only 12 out of a total of 491
representatives in Parliament). However at the same time, Hitler succeeded in increasing the party membership and
developed the organization of the party throughout Germany with the help of Gregor Strasser who was responsible for
the organization of the Nazi Party in northern Germany. During this period Hitler also created the infamous SS
(Schutzstaffel) which was initially intended to be Hitler's bodyguard under the leadership of Heinrich Himmler.
The collapse of the Wall St. stock exchange in 1929 led to a world wide recession which hit Germany especially hard.
All loans to Germany from foreign countries dried up, German industrial production slumped and millions were made
unemployed. These conditions were beneficial to Hitler and his Nazi campaigning. By July of the following year
Chancellor Bruening, without a parliamentary majority in the Reichstag, was unable to pass a new finance bill and was
forced to ask President Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections for the coming September.
Hitler campaigned hard for the Nazi candidates, promising the public a way out of their current hardship. When the
results of the election were announced, the Nazi Party had won 6.4 million votes which made them the second largest
party in the Reichstag. At this time Hitler also began to win over the support of both the army and the big industrialists,
the latter contributing substantially to the finances of the Nazi Party
Nazis Become the Largest Party - 1932
In the July elections, the Nazi Party won 13,745,000 votes which gave them 230 out of the 608 seats in the Reichstag.
Although the Nazis were the largest party, they were still short of a majority. Hitler, however, demanded that he be
made Chancellor but was offered only the position of Vice-Chancellor in a coalition government, which he refused.
Hitler Versus Hindenburg - 1932
In February 1932 Hitler decided to stand against Hindenburg in the forthcoming Presidential election. In order to do this
he became a German citizen on 25th February 1932. The result of the election on 13th March 1932 gave Hindenburg
49.6 percent of the vote and Hitler 30.1 percent (two other candidates stood). As Hindenburg failed to win a majority a
second election was called. The result of the second election gave Hindenburg 53 percent and Hitler 36.8 percent (one
other candidate stood). Thus Hindenburg was re-elected to office and Hitler was forced to wait for another opportunity
to win power.
Chancellor Bruening lasted in office until June 1932, unable to maintain popular support his government resigned due
to pressure from the President, who had been advised by an influential General called Schleicher. General Schleicher
had plotted the overthrow of the cabinet in conspiracy with the Nazis. Power then passed to a Presidential cabinet
headed by a new Chancellor, Franz von Papen. New Reichstag elections were also set for the end of July.
Hitler Becomes Chancellor - 1932-1933
In September 1932, the Nazi members of the Reichstag, together with support form the Center Party elected the
prominent Nazi Herman Goering as President of the Reichstag (equivalent to House Speaker). Using his new position,
Goering managed to prevent the Chancellor from presenting an order to dissolve the Reichstag, whilst a vote of no
confidence in the Chancellor and his government was passed. Thus having forced the resignation of the new
government, the Reichstag allowed its own dissolution. Although losing 34 of their seats in the following election, the
Nazis retained enough influence to assure that Papen would be unable to form a new Government and the Chancellor
resigned on 17th of November 1932. After Papen's resignation, Hindenburg still refused to appoint Hitler as chancellor
fearing that a Hitler Government would become a dictatorship. The President then tried to re-install Papen as
Chancellor, but Papen was unable to gain the support of his own cabinet, including Schleicher who was Minister of
Defence. President Hindenburg then appointed Schleicher as Chancellor, the latter having assured the President that
he could get the support of the Nazis in the Reichstag. However, Hitler and his Nazi party had other ideas, and
Schleicher found that he was unable to win the support of any of the parties in the Reichstag and was forced to resign
as Chancellor on January 28th 1933. Finally on January 30th, 1933 President Hindenburg decided to appoint Hitler
Chancellor in a coalition government with Papen as Vice-Chancellor
The Burning of the Reichstag - February 1933
The penultimate step towards Adolf Hitler gaining complete control over the destiny of Germany were taken on the
night of 27th February 1933 when the Reichstag was destroyed by fire. The fire was almost certainly planned by the
Nazis, Goebbels and Goering in particular. A Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe, was made scapegoat for the
fire, but the main outcome was that Hitler was given an excuse to have all the Communist deputies of the Reichstag
arrested, and managed to obtain a decree from President Hindenburg giving the Nazi goverment powers to inter
anyone they thought was a threat to the nation. Furthermore the Presidential decree allowed the Nazi government to
suppress the free speech of its political opponents. Despite all these advantages, in the elections of March 5th 1933,
the Nazis only managed to acheive 44 percent of the votes. Even with the suppression of the Communist deputies,
Hitler was still short of an overall majority and nowhere near the two-thirds majority needed for any change in the
German constitution.
The Enabling Act - March 1933
The Enabling Act, placed before the Reichstag on 23rd of March 1933 was to allow the powers of legislation to be
taken away from the Reichstag and transferred to Hitler's cabinet for a period of four years. The act required a twothirds majority, but passed easily with the support of the Center and Nationalist parties and the suppression of all
Communist deputies and several Social Democrats. Thus dictatorial powers were finally conferred, legally, on Adolf
Hitler. By July 14th Hitler had proclaimed a law stating that the Nazi Party was to be the only political party allowed in
Germany. The Nazification of Germany was underway. All non-Nazi organizations were disbanded, including political
parties and trade unions. The individual German states were stripped of any autonomous powers they might have had
and Nazi officials were installed as state governors.
The Night of the Long Knives - 1934
After the initial rise to power of the Nazis, many of them, including the head of the SA Ernst Roehm, wanted to see a
further change in the power structure of Germany by taking over control of big businesses and installing the SA as the
main army of Germany with the existing army subordinate to it. Hitler however thought differently and wanted to keep
the German economy in good shape, reduce unemployment and enable him to quickly re-arm the Wehrmacht. To
Hitler, the SA was purely a political force not a military one. Also the ageing President Hindenburg would not survive
much longer and Hitler needed the support of the Army if he was to be named as Hindenburg's successor. In May of
1934 Hitler proposed to the chiefs of the Army and the Navy that he would suppress the SA and at the same time
expand the Army and Navy if they would support him as the successor to Hindenburg. The chiefs of the forces readily
agreed to Hitler's endorsement. In June Hitler ordered the SA to go on leave for the entire month. However, by that
time the rowdiness and lawlessness perpetrated by Nazi thugs had grown to a point where President Hindenburg and
his senior generals were considering declaring a state of marshal law and Hitler was threatened with this recourse if he
didn't do something to curb these excesses. These threats, coupled with rumours generated by Himmler and Goering
concerning Roehm's loyalty to the Fuehrer and an impending coup against Hitler, finally prompted Hitler to order
Himmler and Goering to take action against the leaders of the SA. On June 30th 1934 Himmler's SS and Goering's
special police arrested and executed the leaders of the SA, including Ernst Roehm, and many others not connected
with the SA, but against whom the Nazi leaders had a score to settle. These others included General von Schleicher,
the former Chancellor.
The Death of Hindenburg August 1934
President Hindenburg died on August 2nd 1934. Hitler had already agreed with the Cabinet that upon Hindenburg's
death the offices of President and Chancellor would be combined. The last wishes of Hindenburg were that upon his
death the monarchy should be restored. Hitler managed to suppress these wishes and did not publish the President's
will. Having already ensured the support of the Army, Hitler went a step further by making the whole of the armed
forces swear an oath of loyalty to him personally. A plebiscite was then held for the public to decide on whether they
approved of the changes already made - 90% of voters gave their approval. Thus Hitler had become "Fuehrer and
Reich Chancellor" and the title of President was then abolished.
"Nazification" - 1934-1937
During the years following Hitler's consolidation of power he set about the "Nazification" of Germany and its release
from the armament restrictions of the Versailles Treaty. Censorship was extreme and covered all aspects of life
including the press, films, radio, books and even art. Trade unions were suppressed and replaced with the centralised
"Labour Front", which didn't actually function as a trade union. The churches were persecuted and ministers who
preached non-Nazi doctrine were frequently arrested by the Gestapo and carted off to concentration camps. All youth
associations were abolished and re-formed as a single entity as the Hitler Youth organisation. The Jewish population
was increasingly persecuted and ostracised from society and under the Nuremburg Laws of September 1935 Jews
were no longer considered to be German citizens and therefore no longer had any legal rights. Jews were no longer
allowed to hold public office, not allowed to work in the civil-service, the media, farming, teaching, the stock exchange
and eventually barred from practising law or medicine. Hostility towards Jews from other Germans was encouraged
and even shops began to deny entry to Jews. From a very early stage, Hitler geared the German economy towards
war. He appointed Dr. Hjalmar Schacht minister of economics with instructions to secretly increase armaments
production. This was financed in various ways, including using confiscated funds, printing bank notes and mostly by
producing government bonds and credit notes.
In September 1936, Goering took over most of Schacht's duties in preparing the war economy and instituted the FourYear Plan, which was intended to make Germany self-sufficient in four years. This put Germany on a total war
economy and entailed strict control of imports, materials prices and wages as well as the creation of factories and
industrial plants to produce essential war materials (e.g. synthetic rubber, fuels and steel). Workers were low paid and
their freedom to move between jobs was increasingly restricted. Even the workers' recreation time was strictly
controlled through the "Strength Through Joy" organisation. Hitler was the law when it came to the judicial system and
had the ultimate say over legal actions of any kind. Any judge who was not favourable to the Nazi regime was
dismissed, and a "Special Court" for political crimes and a "Peoples Court" for accusations of treason were introduced.
Both of these courts were controlled by the Nazi Party and an unfortunate defendant was extremely unlikely to get a
fair trial.
Breaking the Versailles Treaty - 1934-1937…Hitler ordered the army to be trebled in size, from the 100,000 man
Versailles Treaty limit, to 300,000 men by October of 1934. This was initially ordered to be carried out under the utmost
secrecy. Admiral Raeder, the chief of the navy, was given orders to begin the construction of large warships, way
above the maximum size decreed by the Versailles Treaty. The construction of submarines, also forbidden by the
Treaty, had already begun secretly by building parts in foreign dockyards ready for assembly. In addition, Goering had
also been tasked by Hitler with the training of air force pilots and the design of military aircraft.
In March 1935 Hitler decided to take a gamble and test the resolve of Britain and France by authorising Goering to
reveal to a British official the existence of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). Even though this was a direct challenge to
the Versailles Treaty, there was little reaction (its existence was already known anyway). Thus Hitler was given
encouragement to take further steps. A few days later, Hitler took a further gamble and declared openly the
introduction of military service and the creation of an army with 36 divisions (approx. 1/2 million men). Again, a weak
reaction from Britain and France allowed Hitler the comfort of knowing that his gamble had paid off.
At the same time that Hitler was increasing the strength of the armed forces, he was also following a policy of making
speeches proclaiming a desire for peace and the folly of war. He also announced that he had no intention of annexing
Austria or re-militarising the Rhineland and would respect all the territorial clauses of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler also
announced that he was prepared to mutually disarm the heaviest of weapons and limit the strength of the German
Navy. A quote from Hitler at that time: "Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos."
The Re-militarisation of the Rhineland - 1936
On March 7th 1936 a small force of German troops marched across the Rhine bridges into the demilitarised areas of
Germany towards Aachen, Trier and Saarbruecken. Once again neither the French nor British made any move to
counter the flagrant breach of the Locarno Pact of 1925, which had been signed willingly by Germany and was
supposed to keep these areas west of the Rhine free from German military units. The lack of French reaction was in
spite of the fact that the small German force was vastly outnumbered by the French army near the border.
Immediately following the re-militarisation of the Rhineland areas, Hitler once again preached in public his desire for
peace throughout Europe and offered to negotiate new non-aggression pacts with several countries including France
and Belgium. At the same time rapid construction of German defensive fortifications began along the French and
Belgian frontiers. Meanwhile Hitler's popularity within Germany was boosted, his position as leader was strengthened
and his control over the army generals was secured.
Weakening of Austrian Security and the Birth of the Axis - 1936
The security that Hitler had gained for Germany from the military stronghold in the Rhineland meant less security for
those countries in Central Europe (e.g. Austria and Czechoslovakia) who were reliant on a swift response from France
in the event of German aggression. This led the Austrian Government, headed by Dr. Schuschnigg, during the summer
of 1936, to begin a course of appeasement of Hitler by, for example, giving Austrian Nazis influential positions within
the government in return for a pledge from Hitler to confirm his recognition of Austrian sovereignty.
The position of Austria was further undermined in October 1936 when the Italian dictator, Mussolini, who had
previously pledged to maintain Austrian independence, formed an alliance with Hitler. This alliance, which became
known as the Rome-Berlin Axis had been formed following the German and Italian support of fellow fascist, General
Franco, in the Spanish Civil War. The Axis partnership included an agreement on a common foreign policy between
the two countries.
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Adolf Hitler was fascinated by hands. His library contained pictures and drawings of hands belonging to famous people
throughout history.
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Facts About Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler is one of the most notorious figures in history. Here are a few facts about him.
Adolf Hitler, who ruled Germany for 12 years, which resulted in millions of deaths in World War II, including the
holocaust, is regarded as one of the most despicable men in history, with his name becoming synonymous with evil.
Given below are some facts about Adolf Hitler.
Born on the 20th of April, 1889, in Brannau, a town in Austria, Adolf Hitler was the 4th child of Klara Hitler and Alois
Schickelgruber.
Adolf Hitler’s early life was spent in Austria. He liked drawing; however, he was unsuccessful in passing the
examination at the academy of arts. He then went to Munich and joined the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment
of World War I, wherein he was gassed and wounded, and was also given an award for bravery in action.
It was in 1919, after the end of the war, that Hitler joined what was known as the German Workers Party, which he later
renamed as the National Socialist German Workers Party, which in turn was abbreviated to the Nazi Party. Soon, he
took charge of the propaganda of the party and by the year 1921 he was made the leader.
It was in 1923 that the National Socialist German Workers Party, led by Adolf Hitler tried to seize power, from the ruling
German Weimar Republic, in the famous Beer-Hall Putsch. However, Hitler was unsuccessful and was imprisoned.
It was during the nine months that he spent in prison that Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, his
autobiography as well as his manifesto. He then emerged from prison and became a populist spokesman for
nationalistic and poor Germans.
After that, in 1932, Hitler tried to become the chancellor by challenging Paul von Hindenburg in the election that was
held, but could not succeed.
Later, after the death of Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler became the Fuhrer and Chancellor, or Reichskanzler, in 1934. He at
once set about establishing an absolute dictatorship, enforcing his newly formed rules with the help of the Gestapo, the
brutal secret police. Concentration camps were set up for the organized killing of Jews, political opponents, and
Gypsies.
He then went about invading and annexing as much territory as he could in Europe, such as the Sudetenland and
Austria, in 1938, and then invading Poland on the 1st of September, 1939, whereupon France and Britain declared war
on Germany on the 3rd of September, thus beginning World War II.
In the initial years of the war, Adolf Hitler, using the might of the German infantry and tanks to unleash a Blitzkrieg, had
remarkable success, sweeping through large parts of Western Europe, with nations falling one by one to the great
German war machine.
Hitler attacked the U.S.S.R. in 1941, ignoring a non-aggression pact he had earlier signed with them in 1939. After
initial victories, Hitler’s forces suffered crushing defeats, first at Moscow in December 1941, and then later in
Stalingrad, in the winter of 1942 to 1943.
It was in the month of December in 1941 that the United States of America entered the war. The Allies began their
invasion of occupied Europe by landing on the French coast at Normandy Beach, in 1944. Then German cities began
being bombed and destroyed and the allied troops entered Germany and made their way to Berlin by 1945. In the
meantime, Italy, under the rule of the Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, who was an ally of Germany, also fell.
During the war, many high ranking Nazis became desperate, and a number of attempts were made to assassinate
Hitler, all of which were unsuccessful. In the meantime, the forces of the Soviet Union were also closing in on Berlin,
which was the place Hitler had his headquarters.
As it became quite apparent that the war was lost, and his hand-picked lieutenants went against his orders, on
realizing the futility of continuing, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on the 30th of April, 1945. However, on the night
before, he married Eva Braun, his long-term mistress, who also committed suicide with him. Thus came to an end both
the war as well as Nazi rule.
The official name of the Nazi regime was the Third Reich, which Hitler had bragged would last 1000 years, but it
collapsed within a week after the death of Hitler.
However, it can be said the Hitler was the one who was responsible for three of 20th century’s most climactic events:
1) World War II; 2) The Holocaust; and 3) The Cold War, which followed World War II. Plus, Israel would not have
come into existence in the Middle East if the holocaust had not taken place
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Adolf Hitler's Childhood
Adolf Hitler had a troubled childhood. His father was a cruel person. Read on to know about the childhood of Adolf
Hitler.
Hitler was the one who was responsible for three of 20th century’s most climactic events: The World War II, the
Holocaust and the Cold War, which followed World War II. Plus, Israel would not have come into existence in the
Middle East, if the holocaust had not taken place.
Adolf Hitler's Childhood
Born on the 20th of April, 1889, in Brannau, a town in Austria, Adolf Hitler was the 4th child of Klara Hitler and Alois
Schickelgruber. As a child, Adolf Hitler had a troubled childhood. There are evidences that his father was violent
person. Hitler and his mother were often victims of his father’s violent behavior.
Adolf Hitler and his parents moved to Passau, when he was only three years old. After couple of years, his brother
Elmond was born. In 1895, the family moved to Hafeld, southwest of Linz. In 1896, his sister Paula was born. Adolf had
a half sister and a half brother from his father’s previous marriages.
In 1903, Adolf Hitler’s father died of pleural hemorrhage. In 1906, Hitler was granted permission to visit Vienna to get
admitted in an art school. His mother died of breast cancer in 1907.
He spent around six years in Vienna, living on the small inheritance left by his father and also, on his orphan’s pension.
He had a couple of Jewish friends when he was staying in Vienna. Around the same time, Hitler started to develop a
prejudice for Jews.
Hitler, then went to Munich, and joined the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment of World War I, wherein he was
gassed and wounded, and was also given an award for bravery in action.
It was in 1919, after the end of the war, that Hitler joined what was known as the German Workers Party, which he later
renamed as the National Socialist German Workers Party, which in turn was abbreviated to the Nazi Party. Soon, he
took charge of the propaganda of the party, and by the year 1921, he was made the leader
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Adolf Hitler’s Life : Mein Kampf
The German economic distress gave birth to a fierce Nazi, Adolf Hitler, the writer of Mein Kampf. He created the
scenario for the Second World War. Know about German nationalism in the hands of Adolf Hitler and its effects on
world history.
"I dedicate the first volume of this work to them as a common memorial, that the memory of those martyrs (who) may
be a permanent source of light for the followers of our Movement."
- Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf
"Mein Kampf", an autobiography, dedicated to the martyrs that died in front of the Feldhernhalle in 9th 1923, their
common burial was refused by national officials. Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in his nine months imprisonment, afterwards
published in English by name "My struggle". His development as a true patriot, spokesman demanding for Germany’s
independence was mentioned in his two volumes.
Hitler’s assumptions in Mein Kampf:
Hitler assumed that Germany was superior to all human culture in art, science and technical skills. Hitler described it
an ‘Aryan race’ with creative power to control over the world. He desired to dominate the world just as the British
Emperor’s ruled over a quarter of the world. He was haunted by three aims that were to promote pure German Race,
secondly conspiracy theory about Jews and thirdly strive for Germans’ victory over the Russians’.
His true Love for Painting and Music:
Hitler was a painter, earned a living by selling his paintings in early childhood and once dreamt to become an artist. He
had a hobby of drawing Disney characters during World War II. We can analyze Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist
Party in 'The Hitler Historical Museum' where his oil paintings - paintings of great old buildings, floral arrangement,
sketches of dogs are amazing. His more than nineteen watercolors and two sketches were auctioned in Britain two
years ago for a total of £118,000. His architectural ideas were found in Brown House in Munich and he loved the
museums in Berlin. His Nazi group developed canals and airways, along with highways and railroads. Although
habituated of spiritual loneliness, Hitler explored life’s entertainment like taking tea in the afternoon with common men.
Regardless of his hatred for Jews, Hitler couldn’t resist adding their music and paintings in his collection. Although it’s a
controversial issue for historians; many of them point out Hitler’s interest in promoting Wagner and racially pure
German music.
Nazism:
Nazism, the superiority of white German over the democrats was established after recession in First World War. It
flourished in hands of a dictator Adolf Hitler in 1930s. Italy’s Fascism supported Nazism because of its appeal of
socialism, hatred of Jews, revolt against Communism and desire to get back their loss from Western countries. Hitler
followed the conspiracy of Ford represented in ‘The International Jew’ that Jews humiliated Germans. As Hitler said,
"And so I believe to-day that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. In standing guard
against the Jew I am defending the handiwork of the Lord."
His foreign policies:



England: No future deal with England as it would restrict Germany fighting spontaneously in the East and
West.
Third Reich or Nazism: The official name of the Nazism is "National Socialist German Workers’ Party"
bloomed from 1933 to 1945 with several ideas and hatred about Jews established from social needs towards
political dominance after Hitler’s joining in 1921. In 1933 he became the Chancellor of Germany.
Relation with Soviet Russia: Nazi Germany made a pact of military cooperation with Soviet Russia. Germany
tried to hide their product and stored weapons. It was based on the negotiation that Soviet would train
German army technically while Germany would provide polished military information to them. This pact broke
out in 1941 as Germany’s Eastern Front invaded Soviet Russia and moved on for Second World War.
Adolf Hitler’s ideas about racism brought unhealthy competition among all European countries lead to chaos of Second
World War (1939 to 1945). Despite great disagreement about the ideology of Nazism, Mein Kampf became a universal
book of political affairs
http://www.answers.com/topic/ghetto
History……The corresponding German term was Judengasse (lit. Jew's Lane) known as the Jewish Quarter. The term
came into widespread use in Ghettos in occupied Europe 1939-1944 where the Jews were required to live prior to their
transportation to concentration and death camps.
The term "ghetto" still has a similar meaning, but referring to broader range of social situations, such as any povertystricken urban area.
A Ghetto is formed in three ways:[4]

As ports of entry for racial minorities, and immigrant racial minorities.


When the majority uses compulsion (typically violence, hostility, or legal barriers) to force minorities into
particular areas.
When economic conditions make it difficult for minority members to live in non-minority areas.
Jewish Ghettos
Main articles: Jewish Quarter (diaspora) , Jewish ghettos in Europe , Mellah , and Ghettos in occupied
Europe 1939-1944
In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the
Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian
authorities or in World War Two, the Nazis. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is "Di yiddishe gas"
(Yiddish: ‫) סַא ג ִִי דדִיי ד י‬, or "The Jewish street". Many European and Middle Eastern cities once had a historical
Jewish quarter and some still have it.
Jewish ghettos in Europe existed because Jews were viewed as alien due to being a cultural minority and due to their
non-Christian beliefs in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, Jews were placed under strict regulations
throughout many European cities.[5] The character of ghettos has varied through times. In some cases, the ghetto was
a Jewish quarter with a relatively affluent population (for instance the Jewish ghetto in Venice). In other cases, ghettos
were places of terrible poverty and during periods of population growth, ghettos had narrow streets and tall, crowded
houses. Residents had their own justice system. Around the ghetto stood walls that, during pogroms, were closed from
inside to protect the community, but from the outside during Christmas, Pesach, and Easter Week to prevent the Jews
from leaving during those times.
A mellah (Arabic ‫م الح‬, probably from the word ‫م لح‬, Arabic for "salt") is a walled Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco,
an analogue of the European ghetto. Jewish populations were confined to mellahs in Morocco beginning from the 15th
century and especially since the early 19th century. In cities, a mellah was surrounded by a wall with a fortified
gateway. Usually, the Jewish quarter was situated near the royal palace or the residence of the governor, in order to
protect its inhabitants from recurring riots. In contrast, rural mellahs were separate villages inhabited solely by the
Jews.
During World War II, ghettos in occupied Europe 1939-1944 were established by the Nazis to confine Jews and
sometimes Gypsies into tightly packed areas of the cities of Eastern Europe, turning them into de-facto concentration
camps and death camps in the Holocaust. Though the common usage is ghetto, the Nazis most often referred to these
areas in documents and signage at their entrances as Judischer Wohnberzirk or Wohngebiet der Juden (German);
both translate as Jewish Quarter. These Nazi ghettos used to concentrate Jews before extermination sometimes
coincided with traditional Jewish ghettos and Jewish quarters, but not always. Expediency was the key factor for the
Nazis in the Final Solution. Nazi ghettos as stepping stones on the road to the extermination of European Jewry
existed for varying amounts of time, usually the function of the number of Jews who remained to be killed but also
because of the employment of Jews as slave labor by the Wehrmacht and other German institutions, until Heinrich
Himmler's decree issued on June 21, 1943, ordering the dissolution of all ghettos in the East and their transformation
into concentration camps.[6]
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
^ ghetto - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
^ http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=ghetto&searchmode=none
^ Ghettos: The Changing Consequences of Ethnic Isolation
^ GHETTO Kim Pearson
^ Ghetto in Flames Yitzhak Arad, pp. 436-437
^ a b c d e Ghettos: The Changing Consequences of Ethnic Isolation
^ Inequality and Segregation R Sethi, R Somanathan - Journal of Political Economy, 2004
http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/history/history/timelinehitler.html
Timeline of Rise of Hitler and Nazis
The great masses of the people will more easily fall victims
to a big lie than to a small one. ~ Hitler
1889

Hitler is born April 20 in Austria
1907

Hitler’s mom dies of cancer. Hitler blames a Jewish doctor who treated her
1909
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Hitler moves to Vienna and is rejected twice at the Academy of Art in Vienna
Hitler develops his prejudices about Jews, his interest in politics, and debating skills.
WWI breaks out; Hitler living in Munich submits a petition to enlist in the Bavarian army
Hitler fights bravely and is promoted to corporal; wins two Iron Cross for bravery


Hitler was in hospital recovering from mustard gas attack when armistice is signed
Hitler joins the Free Corps, an organization of war veterans in opposition to those who “lost the war”:
profiteers, politicians and Jews were blamed as those who “stabbed the army in the back.”
Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler was asked by the army to investigate the German Workers Party which had tried to join
workers and nationalists. He joined the group as party member seven.
1914
1918
1919
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
1920


Hitler transformed the party to the National Socialist German Workers Party (National Sozialistiche
Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei- SMDAP)
Nazi Twenty-five Point Program announced: revoking the Versailles Treaty, confiscating war
profits, revoking civil rights for Jews, blaming the Jews for inflation, political instability,
unemployment, and the defeat of Germany in WWI
1921


Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party
Hitler criticizes the German democratic government (Weimar Republic) and supports the theory that
all Germans were part of an Aryan superhuman race and all others (Jews, gypsies, Slavs) were to
be eliminated
1923

1925

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NOV. 8 / 9- Beer Hall Putsch: Nazi attempt to overthrow the Munich government fails, and Hitler
sentenced to prison for 5 years where he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
-Hitler if freed after 9 months
Mein Kampf is published; the book sold 9473 copies that year.
Mein Kampf outlines: Hitler’s plan for attaining power; blames Jews for all the problems and evils of
the world and for defeat of Germany in WWI; proclaims Germans or Aryans as the “master race” of
highest racial purity and Jews as the “anti-race”; calls for Germany to stop the Jews from
conquering the world only by eliminating them and find “Lebensraum” (living space) for all pure
Germans; eliminating democracy and calling upon a "Fuhrer" to rebuild the German Reich.
1926

Nazi Party membership reaches 17 000 members
1928




vast increase in Nazi power in German parliament (Reichstag)
Nazi Party membership reaches 60 000 members
Germans 1930 elect Nazis making them the 2nd largest political party in Germany
Hitler ran for President and won 30% of the vote, forcing the eventual victor, Paul von Hindenburg,
into a runoff election.
1930
1932






A political deal was made to make Hitler chancellor in exchange for his political support.
JANUARY 30 - Hitler appointed Chancellor (Prime Minister) of Germany by President Hindenburg
FEBRUARY 27 - a week before the election, the Reichstag burns. Hitler blames it on the
Communists. Hitler granted emergency powers
Nazi party only had a small majority in the Reichstag (parliament), but arrests his opponents, has
another vote to and gains the power to re-write Germany’s constitution
MARCH 23 - Hitler passes the Enabling Act (power to make own laws, abolish political parties, and
open concentration camps), establishing himself as dictator
APRIL 1 – Nazi boycott of Jewish owned shops; first concentration camps open
JULY 14 – Nazi party declared only party in Germany
OCTOBER 14 – Germany resigns from League of Nations
1934



JUNE 30-“Night of the Long Knives”
AUGUST 2- President Hindenberg dies
AUGUST 19 - Hitler names himself Furher (dictator) of Germany
1935


MARCH 16 – Hitler violates the Treaty of Versailles by introducing military conscription
SEPTEMBER 15- German Jews stripped of rights by Nuremberg Race Laws
1936


FEBRUARY 10 – German Gestapo (SS) is placed above the law
MARCH 7 - Germany marches into Rhineland (violation of Treaty of Versailles) and League of
Nations takes no action
Non-aggression treaty signed between Italy, Germany and Japan = AXIS powers
Olympics hosted in Berlin, Germany
1933
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1938
1939
1942
1945
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MARCH 12 / 13 - Germany invades Austria (Anschluss = union)
SEPTEMBER 30 – British Prime Minister Chamberlain appeases Hitler at Munich
OCTOBER 15 - Sudetenland (northwest part of Czechoslovakia) occupied by Germany
NOVEMBER 9 / 10 – “Night of the Broken Glass” (also called Kristallnacht or Night of the Broken
Crystals) -Nazis fine Jews one billion marks for damages







MARCH 15/16. – Germany takes rest of Czechoslovakia (violation of Munich Agreement)
MAY 22- formal treaty “Pact of Steel” signed between Italy and Germany (Rome-Berlin Axis)
AUGUST 23- Soviet Union signs Non-Aggression Pact with Germany
SEPTEMBER 1- Nazis invades Poland
SEPTEMBER 3 – Britain, France / Austria / New Zealand declare war on Germany
SEPTEMBER 10 – Canada declares war on Germany; Battle on Atlantic begins
Mein Kampf -sold over 5 million copies




“Final Solution” (complete extermination of Jews)is co-ordinated at Wannsee Conference
APRIL 30-Hitler’s long-term mistress and new bride, Eva Braun, joined him in suicide
MAY 7 –Germany surrenders unconditionally = VE DAY
However, one of Hitler’s chief objectives was achieved-- the annihilation of two-thirds of European
Jews (6 000 000 Jews, 11 000 000 total deaths in Holocaust)
How fortunate for leaders that men do not think. ~ Adolf Hitler
The victor will never be asked if he told the truth. ~ Adolf Hitler
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/holocaust/timeline.html
June 22, 1940 - France signs an armistice with Hitler.
Dec 11, 1941 - Hitler declares war on the United States. Roosevelt then declares war on Germany saying, "Never
before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization." The U.S.A. then enters the war in
Europe and will concentrate nearly 90 percent of its military resources to defeat Hitler
April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker.
April 30, 1945 - Americans free 33,000 inmates from concentration camps.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/holocaust.htm
It began with a simple boycott of Jewish shops and ended in the gas chambers at Auschwitz as Adolf Hitler and his
Nazi followers attempted to exterminate the entire Jewish population of Europe.
In January 1933, after a bitter ten-year political struggle, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. During his rise to
power, Hitler had repeatedly blamed the Jews for Germany's defeat in World War I and subsequent economic
hardships. Hitler also put forward racial theories asserting that Germans with fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes were
the supreme form of human, or master race. The Jews, according to Hitler, were the racial opposite, and were actively
engaged in an international conspiracy to keep this master race from assuming its rightful position as rulers of the
world.
Jews at this time composed only about one percent of Germany's population of 55 million persons. German Jews were
mostly cosmopolitan in nature and proudly considered themselves to be Germans by nationality and Jews only by
religion. They had lived in Germany for centuries, fought bravely for the Fatherland in its wars and prospered in
numerous professions.
But they were gradually shut out of German society by the Nazis through a never-ending series of laws and decrees,
culminating in the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 which deprived them of their German citizenship and forbade
intermarriage with non-Jews. They were removed from schools, banned from the professions, excluded from military
service, and were even forbidden to share a park bench with a non-Jew.
In March 1938, Hitler expanded the borders of the Nazi Reich by forcibly annexing Austria. A brutal crackdown
immediately began on Austria's Jews. They also lost everything and were even forced to perform public acts of
humiliation such as scrubbing sidewalks clean amid jeering pro-Nazi crowds.
Back in Germany, years of pent-up hatred toward the Jews was finally let loose on the night that marks the actual
beginning of the Holocaust. The Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht) occurred on November 9/10 after 17-year-old
Herschel Grynszpan shot and killed Ernst vom Rath, a German embassy official in Paris, in retaliation for the harsh
treatment his Jewish parents had received from Nazis
Many German and Austrian Jews now attempted to flee Hitler's Reich. However, most Western countries maintained
strict immigration quotas and showed little interest in receiving large numbers of Jewish refugees. This was exemplified
by the plight of the St. Louis, a ship crowded with 930 Jews that was turned away by Cuba, the United States and other
countries and returned back to Europe, soon to be under Hitler's control.
Hitler intended to blame the Jews for the new world war he was soon to provoke. That war began in September 1939
as German troops stormed into Poland, a country that was home to over three million Jews. After Poland's quick
defeat, Polish Jews were rounded up and forced into newly established ghettos at Lodz, Krakow, and Warsaw, to await
future plans. Inside these overcrowded walled-in ghettos, tens of thousands died a slow death from hunger and
disease amid squalid living conditions. The ghettos soon came under the jurisdiction of Heinrich Himmler, leader of the
Nazi SS, Hitler's most trusted and loyal organization, composed of fanatical young men considered racially pure
according to Nazi standards.
Meanwhile, Hitler continued his conquest of Europe, invading Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and France, placing everincreasing numbers of Jews under Nazi control. The Nazis then began carefully tallying up the actual figures and also
required Jews to register all of their assets. But the overall question remained as to what to do with the millions of Jews
now under Nazi control - referred to by the Nazis themselves as the Judenfrage (Jewish question).
The following year, 1941, would be the turning point. In June, Hitler took a tremendous military gamble by invading the
Soviet Union. Before the invasion he had summoned his top generals and told them the attack on Russia would be a
ruthless "war of annihilation" targeting Communists and Jews and that normal rules of military conflict were to be utterly
ignored
“””””””The actual fact about da thing.
Every detail of the actual extermination process was meticulously planned. Jews arriving in trains at Belzec, Sobibor,
and Treblinka were falsely informed by the SS that they had come to a transit stop and would be moving on to their
true destination after delousing. They were told their clothes were going to be disinfected and that they would all be
taken to shower rooms for a good washing. Men were then split up from the women and children. Everyone was taken
to undressing barracks and told to remove all of their clothing. Women and girls next had their hair cut off. First the
men, and then the women and children, were hustled in the nude along a narrow fenced-in pathway nicknamed by the
SS as the Himmelstrasse (road to Heaven). At the end of the path was a bathhouse with tiled shower rooms. As soon
as the people were all crammed inside, the main door was slammed shut, creating an air-tight seal. Deadly carbon
monoxide fumes were then fed in from a stationary diesel engine located outside the chamber.
At Auschwitz-Birkenau, new arrivals were told to carefully hang their clothing on numbered hooks in the undressing
room and were instructed to remember the numbers for later. They were given a piece of soap and taken into the
adjacent gas chamber disguised as a large shower room. In place of carbon monoxide, pellets of the commercial
pesticide Zyklon-B (prussic acid) were poured into openings located above the chamber upon the cynical SS command
- Na, gib ihnen shon zu fressen (All right, give 'em something to chew on). The gas pellets fell into hollow shafts made
of perforated sheet metal and vaporized upon contact with air, giving off lethal cyanide fumes inside the chamber which
oozed out at floor level then rose up toward the ceiling. Children died first since they were closer to the floor.
Pandemonium usually erupted as the bitter almond-like odor of the gas spread upwards with adults climbing on top of
each other forming a tangled heap of dead bodies all the way up to the ceiling.
At each of the death camps, special squads of Jewish slave laborers called Sonderkommandos were utilized to
untangle the victims and remove them from the gas chamber. Next they extracted any gold fillings from teeth and
searched body orifices for hidden valuables. The corpses were disposed of by various methods including mass burials,
cremation in open fire pits or in specially designed crematory ovens such as those used at Auschwitz. All clothing,
money, gold, jewelry, watches, eyeglasses and other valuables were sorted out then shipped back to Germany for reuse. Women's hair was sent to a firm in Bavaria for the manufacture of felt.
Young adults considered fit for slave labor were allowed to live and had an ID number tattooed on their left forearm.
Everyone else went to the gas chambers. A few inmates, including twin children, were occasionally set aside for
participation in human medical experiments.
By 1944…Throughout Hitler's crumbling Reich, the SS now began conducting death marches of surviving
concentration camp inmates away from outlying areas, including some 66,000 from Auschwitz. Most of the inmates on
these marches either dropped dead from exertion or were shot by the SS when they failed to keep up with the column.
On April 30, 1945, surrounded by the Soviet Army in Berlin, Adolf Hitler committed suicide and his Reich soon
collapsed. By now, most of Europe's Jews had been killed. Four million had been gassed in the death camps while
another two million had been shot dead or died in the ghettos. The victorious Allies; Britain, the United States, and the
Soviet Union, then began the daunting task of sorting through the carnage to determine exactly who was responsible.
Seven months later, the Nuremberg War Crime Trials began, with 22 surviving top Nazis charged with crimes against
humanity.
http://www.adolfthegreat.com/Trails-Friends/friend-EvaBraun-maxi.html
Adolf decided that he could never have children of his own,
because the burden of following in his footsteps would be too harsh on them.
Eva Anna Paula Braun was from a Bavarian family, the second daughter of schoolteacher Friedrich Braun and and
Franziska Kronberger. At age 17 she took a job as an office and lab assistant and photographer's model for Heinrich
Hoffman, the official photographer for the NSDAP, Hitler's National Socialist German Worker's Party. It was at
Hoffman's studio where she met Hitler in 1929. Clearly infatuated by Hitler Eva would slip letters into his pocket.
Gradually a relationship developed between them which remained secret except to close family and Hitler's closest
associates.
It was a lonely relationship for Eva who attempted suicide several times; however Hitler's personal staff looked down
on her as self-centered and spoilt. She gradually improved her stature and nature over the years until she was viewed
with approval by Hitler's staff and close friends.
http://who2.com/ask/evabraun.html
Eva Braun was the mistress of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler from 1932 until their deaths in a suicide pact at the end of
World War II. She was working as a photographer's assistant when she met Hitler in 1929, the year she turned
17; in the following years they were rarely seen in public together, and few knew of their relationship. She is most
famous for her final days in April of 1945, when she joined Hitler in his bunker in Berlin. Though given the chance
to flee, she loyally remained with Hitler even as the war was clearly lost. They were married in the bunker on 29
April 1945; the next day they committed suicide together, she by swallowing cyanide and he by shooting himself
with a pistol.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
^ a b c d Guido Knopp, Hitler's Women. Consulted on August 14, 2007.
^ a b c Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. Consulted on 14 August 2007.
^ a b Out of the Jewish Virtual Library [1]
^ "The Eva Braun story: Behind every evil man...". IOL (2000-02-27).
Hitler's final witness", BBC News (2002-02-04). Retrieved on 10 August 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Braun#Marriage_and_suicide
Marriage and suicide…In early April 1945 Braun travelled by car from Munich to Berlin to be with Hitler at the
Führerbunker. She refused to leave as the Red Army closed in, insisting she was one of the few people loyal to him left
in the world. Hitler and Braun were married on 29 April 1945 during a brief civil ceremony which was witnessed by
Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann. The bride wore a black (some accounts say dark blue) silk dress.
With Braun's marriage her legal name changed to Eva Hitler. When she signed her marriage certificate she wrote the
letter B for her family name, then lined this out and replaced it with Hitler. Although bunker personnel were instructed to
call her Frau Hitler, her new husband continued to call his wife Fräulein Braun.[14]
There was gossip among the Führerbunker staff that she was carrying Hitler's child, but there is no evidence she was
ever pregnant.
Braun and Hitler committed suicide together on 30 April 1945 at around 3:30 p.m. The occupants of the bunker heard a
gunshot and the bodies were soon discovered. She had bitten onto a cyanide capsule (most historians have concluded
Hitler used a combination method, shooting himself in the right temple immediately after biting a cyanide capsule).
Braun was 33 years old when she died. Their corpses were burned in the Reich Chancellery garden just outside the
bunker's emergency exit.
The charred remains were found by the Russians and secretly buried at the SMERSH compound in Magdeburg, East
Germany along with the bodies of Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their six children. All of these remains were
exhumed in April 1970, completely cremated and dispersed in the Elbe river.[15]
Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was 17 years old while working as an assistant and model for his personal
photographer and began seeing him often about two years later. She attempted suicide twice during their early
relationship. By 1936 she was a part of his household at the Berghof near Berchtesgaden and by all accounts lived a
materially luxurious and sheltered life throughout the Second World War.
Braun kept up habits which met Hitler's disapproval, such as smoking, wearing make up and nude sunbathing.