Historical Figure
Adolf Hitler
1889–1945
Dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945
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Biography
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany during the Nazi era, which lasted 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 as well as the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.
In Their Own Words (5)
For over five years this man has been chasing around Europe like a madman in search of something he could set on fire. Unfortunately he again and again finds hirelings who open the gates of their country to this international incendiary.
speaking about Winston Churchill at the Reichstag, 4 May 1941 . , 1941
It shall always be only a fraction of the people who stand out as truly active fighters, and more is expected from them than from the millions of their fellow countrymen. For them, the mere pledge of "I believe" is not enough, but rather the oath: "I fight!"
Speech from the Sixth Nazi Party Congress, Nuremberg (8 September 1934) .Video footage of this quotation can be found in the film Triumph of the Will , 1934
The blood of every single Englishman is too valuable to shed. Our two peoples belong together racially and traditionally. That is and always has been my aim, even if our generals can't grasp it.
Said when the Dunkirk halt order was given, quoted in Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish Question" by Sarah Ann Gordon, May 1940 , 1940
There is a difference between the theoretical knowledge of socialism and the practical life of socialism. People are not born socialists, but must first be taught how to become them.
"German Volksgenossen!" Hitler's opening speech at the new Winterhilfswerk, Deutschlandhalle, Berlin (October 5, 1937). Also quoted in '''' by , 1937
Abolition of work-free and effortless income. Breaking of interest-slavery.
"The Nazi 25-point Programme," Hitler's speech on party's program (February 24, 1920) in Munich, Germany. Nazi Ideology Before 1933: A Documentation, Barbara Miller Lane, Leila J. Rupp, introduction and translation, Manchester University Press (1978) p. 43. , 1920
Timeline
The story of Adolf Hitler, told in moments.
Rejected twice by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. The admissions committee tells him his figure drawing is weak. He stays in Vienna for five years, selling postcards of buildings and sleeping in homeless shelters. He never applies to art school again.
Leads the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. He fires a pistol into the ceiling of the Burgerbraukeller to get attention. The coup collapses the next day when police open fire on the marchers. Sixteen Nazis and four police officers die. Hitler dislocates his shoulder fleeing the scene.
Sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison for high treason. Serves nine months. His cell is comfortable, with a view of the river. Visitors bring wine and food. He dictates the first volume of Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess.
Sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Not by revolution. Not by coup. By appointment. President Hindenburg and conservative politicians believe they can control him. Franz von Papen, the man who brokered the deal, tells a colleague: "We've hired him."
Orders the Night of the Long Knives. In 48 hours, the SS murders at least 85 people, including Ernst Rohm, the leader of the SA and one of his oldest allies. Rohm helped build the movement. Now he is a threat. The German cabinet retroactively legalizes the killings as "emergency defense of the state."
Orders the invasion of Poland. Britain and France declare war two days later. The Blitzkrieg takes five weeks. Warsaw surrenders on September 27. Over the next six years, the war he starts will kill between 70 and 85 million people.
Launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Three million German soldiers cross the border in the largest military operation in history. By December, German forces can see the spires of Moscow. They never take the city. The Eastern Front will consume 80% of German military casualties.
Shoots himself in his underground bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. Eva Braun, his wife of less than 40 hours, takes cyanide beside him. Their bodies are carried up to the Chancellery garden and burned. Soviet troops are less than 500 meters away. He is 56.
The Nuremberg trials begin. Twenty-four of his closest associates sit in the dock. Twelve will be sentenced to death. Hitler himself is absent, referred to in proceedings only as "the Fuhrer." The tribunal establishes, for the first time in international law, that "following orders" is not a defense.
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