Rise and Fall Adolf Hitler Birth Hitler was

Rise and Fall Adolf Hitler

Birth • Hitler was born on the 20 th of April 1889 in Braunnau, Austria. • He was the fourth of six children. • Four of whom died while they were young.

Childhood • Hitler’s family moved to Passau Germany when he was three. • When Hitler was nine his family moved again this time to Hafeld in Germany. • Hitler started school when he was 6. • Odd but true Hitler wanted to be a priest when he was young!

Parents Alois Schickelgruber was a customs official. His father, Adolf’s grandfather, may have been Jewish. He died when Adolf was 14. Klara Hitler was very young when she married. Adolf carried a picture of his mom until the day he died. She died of breast cancer when Adolf was 18 years old.

Education • He attended a Benedictine monastery school where he took part in the choir. ( the swastika was on the monastery that is where he got the symbol). • When it was time to choose a secondary school, Adolf wanted to become an artist. • His father wanted him to become a civil servant, but after his father died, he dropped out of high school and attempted to get into the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. • The following slides are examples of Adolf’s artwork.

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Young Adult • Adolf (now 18) decided to move to Austria to pursue his dream of becoming a great artist. He failed. • He became a homeless drifter who slept on park benches. • Adolf did manage to sell some paintings and postcards, but he still remained poor. • While he was in Vienna he became interested in German nationalism.

Young Adult • Hitler left Austria at the age of 24 to avoid the military service that was required of all men. • But he did sign up for military service at the start of WW I. • This is a picture of Hitler listening to an enlistment speech.

World War I • He was excited to fight for Germany. • For what he called the Fatherland. • The highest rank that he held was corporal.

W. W. I • He was awarded the Iron Cross twice. (5 medals overall)-this was the highest military honor in the German Army. • He single handedly captured 4 French soldiers. • He was blinded by a gas attack towards end of war.

Life after WW I • Hitler lectured about the dangers of Communism and Jews. • He became a member of the German Workers Party which later became the NAZI party.

NAZI Party is Formed • Hitler began to think big for the German Worker’s Party. • He began placing ads for meetings in anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) newspapers. • He changed the name to National Socialist German Worker’s Party or the NAZIS.

Hitlers beliefs • He wanted to revoke civil rights of Jews. • He had a dislike of communism and democracy. • He thought that Besides changing the party name, Germans are the red flag with the SWASTIKA superior. was adopted as the party symbol.

Revolution October 30, 1923 • Hitler held a rally in Munich beer hall and declared revolution. • He led 2000 men in a take over of the Bavarian Government. • It failed and Hitler was imprisoned.

Trial and Jail • At his trial (Hitler was charged with treason), he used the opportunity to speak about the NAZI beliefs and spread his popularity. • The whole nation suddenly knew who Adolf Hitler was and what he stood for. • He was sentenced to five years, but actually only served about 9 months. • When he left prison, he was ready to go into action again.

Mein Kampf • Hitler wrote the book “My Struggle” while he was in jail. • It sold 5 million copies, and made him rich. • It was a mixture of his beliefs, his life and the failings of the government. • Later he had his editor killed during the ‘night of the long knives’.

Rise to Power • He used the popularity from his failed revolution and book to seize power legally. • Hitler became the Chancellor in 1933.

Violent methods • He created the “Brownshirts” or SA (Stormtroopers). • The SA was used to put down opposition parties. • They threatened and beat up Jews and anti. Nazi voters. • They wore brown shirts, pants and boots. • There were 400, 000 by 1932.

First year in Power • “Reichstag fire” gives Hitler total power. • In 1933, all parties were outlawed except the Nazi party. • People’s civil rights were suspended. • “Night of the Long Knives” Over 2 days many of the leaders in the opposition parties were killed. • The first concentration camp was opened. • He grows the army to prepare for invading other countries • People are happy as the economy is growing

1933 -1939 • All media is censored in Germany so only positive things about Hitler are published. • Churches were persecuted and priests were killed or taken to concentration camps. • Under the Nuremburg laws Jews were no longer German citizens and were no longer allowed to work or have legal rights. • Germans were encouraged to be nasty to Jews, even barring them from shops.

1933 -1939 • Secretly, against the Versailles Treaty Hitler builds his army and makes weapons larger than are allowed. • …. While making speeches about peace and against war. "Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos. " • Hitler controlled the courts and dismissed people who didn’t support him.

1933 -1939 • Hitler puts a German army on the French border – there is no reaction from the French. • England finds out about the German air force- they have no reaction. • Germany forms an alliance with Italy Mussolini is the dictator. • Hitler sends troops into de-militarised parts of Germany and yet again the French and the British take no notice.

Invasion of Russia • In August 1939 Germany and Russia signed an agreement that they wouldn’t attack each other and to conquer Poland. • June 22 1941 the Germans launched a surprise attack on the Russians (operation Barbarossa). • The Germans moved quickly and came within 15 km of Moscow. • Hundreds of Thousands of Russian soldiers were killed or captured. • A wet Autumn and the start of winter stopped the Germans in their tracks.

Start of W. W. II • Hitler invaded Poland on the 1 st of September 1939 starting World War 2. • France and England declared war on Germany but did nothing to help Poland. • Russia as an ally of Germany attacked Poland on the 17 th of September. • There were no further attacks between October 1939 and March 1940 that was known as the phoney war.

Next stage of the war. • Germany attacked Denmark and Norway in April 1940. • On the 10 th of May 1940 Germany attacked Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg and France. • On the 4 th of June British and French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk. • On the 13 th of June Paris is captured by the Germans.

Battle of Britain. • Hitler ordered preparations to invade Britain in July 1940(Operation Sea lion). • The German air force needed to destroy the British air force (RAF) but was unable to do so. • On the 17 th of September operation Sea Lion was postponed and never carried out.

Invasion of Russia • After the cold winter 1941 -1942 the Germans again attacked the Russians. • Huge areas of Russia were taken. • The Russians fiercely defended Stalingrad (now Volgograd). • Hitler didn’t allow his soldiers to retreat. • In January 1943 the Germans were forced to surrender in Stalingrad. • THIS WAS THE TURNING POINT IN EUROPE.

Invasion of Russia • In August 1943 the Russians defeated the Germans at the battle of Kursk. It was the largest tank battle ever fought, with thousands of tanks on each side. • After this Hitlers army was defeated and forced out of Russia. • Hitler wouldn’t let his army retreat and that led to the death and capture of millions of his men.

Extermination of Jews • Hitler was extremely anti- Semitic. In 1942 his deputy proposed to kill all the Jews it was called “Final solution of the Jewish question” • Hitler had a special group following the army called Einsatzgrupen, their job was to kill communists, intellectuals, and Jews. • At first Jews were shot and buried in mass graves, outside Kiev 30, 000 Jews were killed in four days.

Extermination of Jews • In many cities and towns in Poland Russia Jews were gathered and forced to live in small areas called ghettos, to separate them from the Germans. • They were fenced with walls and barbed wire, and guarded. • They didn’t have enough food or water, many people died of starvation or disease. • Some had workshops to produce things for the Germans. • Gradually the ghettos were emptied and the Jews were sent to concentration camps. • Many other people Hitler thought were undesirable were also killed in concentration camps.

The Rest of Europe • The Nazis occupied most of Europe from 19411944. • On June 6 th 1944 American, British, French and Canadian troops landed in Normandy. • After many bloody and intense battles Paris was freed- September 25 th. • The allies then moved towards Germany. • The battle of Bulge in Luxembourg and Belgium began on the 16 Dec 1944. This was the last attempt by the Germans to stop the west. The battle was over by the end of 1944.

The End of the War • By the beginning of 1945 Germany was being attacked in the East by the Russians and in the West by the Allies. • Germany was being bombed day and night by the American and British air forces, many cities were completely destroyed. • Hitler still wouldn’t let his army retreat. In the end he was recruiting old men and young boys to continue fighting. • In April 1945 the Russians entered Berlin. Fierce fighting took place in the city. • On April 30 1945 Hitler killed himself and his wife in an underground bunker. • On 7 th May Germany surrendered ending the war.

Hitler’s Death. • There had been attempts by his own party to assassinate him before, but they had failed. • His wife Eva Braun had attempted suicide twice in their early relationship. • Hitler and Eva both died by suicide. Hitler shot him self and Eva poisoned herself in a bunker in Germany on the 30 th of April 1945. Later that afternoon the bodies were covered in petrol and burned.

My Connections • My Grandfathers parents lived through the occupation in Holland. • My grandfather was named Jacob after an uncle who was captured by the NAZIs and died during the war. • Jacob didn’t want to be forced into labour in Germany so he joined the Dutch resistance, then he was captured and died in a concentration camp called Westerbork the only one in Holland. • Anne Frank was also held there and then brought to Auschwitz.

What can we Learn from This? • I hope it wont happen again. • People can do crazy things when they are scared. • We need to think about how we treat people no matter what religion or beliefs they have. • I hope that this would be picked up on quicker nowadays. • We need to have a quicker response from the UN in other parts of the world because a lot can be achieved by intervening early.

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