Hitler
Extra Info
Close Calls
Hitler recalls a time during World War I when he was the sole survivor of an attack: "I was eating my dinner in a trench with several comrades. Suddenly a voice seemed to be saying to me, ‘Get up and go over there.’… I rose at once to my feet and walked twenty yards along the trench… Hardly had I done so when a flash and deafening report came from the part of the trench I had just left. A stray shell had burst over the group in which I had been sitting, and every member of it was killed.”
It was war experiences like these that led Hitler to believe that he was "destined" to complete his mission of Jewish genocide.
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a decade-long depression that affected not only the US, but countries across the world as well, including Germany. It took place during the 1930s, but the timing of the Great Depression varied across different countries. During this time, unemployment was common, banks failed, and many businesses and factories had to close. People waited hours in breadlines for free food, and families were forced out of their homes. The Great Depression came to an end with the beginning of World War II, which ultimately ended in 1945.
A Brief Chronology of Hitler
- April 20, 1889 - Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria to Klara and Alois Hitler
- March 24, 1894 - Edmund Hitler is born
- January 21, 1896 - Paula Hitler is born
- February 29, 1900 - Edmund Hitler dies
- January 3, 1903 - Alois Hitler dies suddenly in a tavern
- 1905 - Hitler moves to Vienna to pursue his dream of becoming a great artist
- January 14, 1907 - Klara Hitler dies
- 1909-1913 - Hitler lives in Vienna, some of which he is homeless, and where he developed his anti-Semitic views
- 1914-1918 - Hitler serves in World War I as a runner
- 1919 - Hitler joins the German Workers' Party, later known as the Nazi Party
- July 1921 - Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazis
- November 8, 1923 - the Beer Hall Putsch
- April 1, 1924 - Hitler is sentenced to 5 years at Landsberg prison for high treason
- 1925 - Mein Kampf, Hitler's autobiography, is published
- February 26, 1925 - Hitler is released from prison
- January 30, 1933 - Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany
- August 2, 1934 - Hitler becomes führer of Germany following Paul von Hindenburg's death
- September 1, 1939 - World War II commences
- April 29, 1945 - Hitler and Eva Braun marry
- April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide with his wife in his bunker in Berlin, Germany
Sources
Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
Hasday, Judy L. The Holocaust. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, 2002. Print.
"The Holocaust." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
Hook, Sue Vander. Adolf Hitler: German Dictator. Edina, MN: ABDO Pub., 2011. Print.
"Introduction to the Holocaust." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.
"What Was the Holocaust?" - Key Stage 3. Web. 18 Jan. 2016.