Introduction
Adolf Hitler is a famous leader who for a very long time been the primary figure in several debates. It is precise to classify him under the category of some of the most controversial leaders. He is depicted as a cruel and inhuman character who became the leader of one of the most illustrious nations in the world. Throughout his career, he used his ideologies and coercion to rise to a position of utmost power. His ideas were based on the creation of a better, superior and productive Germany. This essay will analyse the life of Adolf Hitler and his contribution to the Second World War. The essay will analyse how this shaped his thoughts on Jews and why he hated them with such fervour.
Hitler experienced both the good and the bad throughout his life. For instance; his father was a heavy drinker spending most of his days and nights in a stupor. As a result, he had violent tendencies beating his wife, kids, servants and sometimes even his dog. Hitler’s older brother acted as the punching box, receiving most of the beatings especially since he was older.
Biography
Adolf Hitler was born April 1889. This was in Austria the town of Braunau which is along the German border. His father was an illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber. The issue of his biological father remains a mystery with some scholars suggesting that he was fathered by nineteen year old Leopold Frankenberger. He adopted the name Hitler from his step father through a church baptism. His parents Klara and Alois Hitler came from poor peasant families. His father worked for the government as a customs agent. He had been previously married. Alois Junior and Angela Hitler were the children from this marriage. He married Adolf’s mother, and they had three more children; Hitler, Edmund, and Paula.
Hitler’s parents had six children with Hitler being the fourth. Apparently, Hilter lost three of his brothers and sisters in infancy. Hitler and his family moved to Passau when he was three. His clashes with his father began at an early age. His father retired from his government job when Hitler was only six years old. The environment at home became unbearable due to his father’s alcoholism, violence and strictness. In Passau, he acquired the language of the people around him. Consequently, instead of speaking Austrian German, he developed the lower Bavarian dialect which marked became his mode of speech. He schooled his lower education in Passau until their family relocated to Leonding in 1894. In 1895, they relocated again to Lambach, Hafeld where his father started farming vegetables and rearing bees.
During this period, Hitler attended school in Fischlham. At some point in his lifetime, he even considered on being a priest. He loved fine art but later developed the love for warfare. He intensively studied the book on Franco Prussian War which he found in his father’s belongings. This further increased his curiosity in war related topics. Initially, Adolf Hitler worked hard in school and outperformed most of his colleagues. In fact, he won several awards in elementary school. However, he started failing in his examinations. This was as a rebellious move against his father’s decisions.
His younger brother Edmund died in the year 1900. In 1903, Alois Hitler died. Hitler was now free to pursue his passion for fine art, a move his mother supported. He moved to Vienna to enroll into an institution of Fine Arts. Pointedly, Hitler’s application for admission into this school was rejected twice. He became broke to the extent of living in a homeless shelter in vagabond existence. Apart from fine art, he developed a love for nationalism. It is reported that his hatred for the jews can be traced back to the various years that he spent in homeless shelter. During this time, he lived as a hawker and spent most of his free time in political harangues. He also engaged in grandiose dreams of a better Germany. Klara Hitler died in 1907 as a result of cancer associated complications. He started receiving his father’s pension, and this reduced his time of employment.
It is during his time in Vienna that he acquired his first education in politics. He took advantage of his free time and studied the demagogic techniques of the Mayor, Karl Lueger. He adopted the stereotyped, obsessive anti Jewish beliefs. He believed in the brutal and violent slogans against Jews and all Semites. His favourite slogan was "purity of blood" that he adopted from his beliefs. Furthermore, he adored racial theorists like the monk, defrocked, Lanz von Liebenfels, and Georg von Schoenerer. Hitler associated the Jewish religion with chaos, corruption and destruction in culture. According to him, the Jews exploited some aspects of the economy and politics contributing to the creation of a vague German race.
Hitler’s Rise to Power
In 1909, Hitler like other young men was expected to have registered for military service. He hated Austria, and he was thus unwilling to serve his country. Consequentially, he ignored his call-up papers. After four years, the authorities unexplainably caught him, and he was forced to participate in military activities. When trying for the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1914 he was rejected as being medically unfit. He was stated as being unable to handle arms and weapons.
The First World War presented him with an opportunity to serve his country. Indubitably, this war gave him the much needed chance to prove the superiority of Germany. In fact, he described this as his chance to show the rest of the world that Germany was a natural ruler, and the other countries were to follow. He adored Germany more than Australia. It is reported that he thanked heavens for such a chance. The fact that medical examinations were not rigorously done during such times increased his chances of serving in the army. He felt like he was fighting for a common goal. The thrill provided by being in a war compounded with the fact that he could impress commanders in the army increased his enthusiasm. However, he approached the whole concept with a lot of caution.
He was described as an odd and peculiar kind of soldier. For instance; he could spend hours at a time holding his head in deep thought. To many who knew him, he was an introvert who seldom talked to anyone about his thoughts and take on various matters. He would then suddenly come out of this trance and depict a wholly dissimilar side of him. He would talk enthusiastically about the war, all the time blaming the Jews and the Marxists for the failure. He spent his time behind the main frontlines. He was applauded for his bravery during the war, receiving various awards such as the iron cross. This was rare and stupendous as people of his rank did not receive such awards. This was ascribed to the fact that he related with the commanders with a lot of ease. In 1918, he received another award that brought him to the attention of most commanders and generals in the army.
He was wounded severally during the war and spent quite a considerably long time at the hospital. He appraised the war and spread his firm ideologies in a better Germany. According to him, the Marxists had stabbed them in the back thus the relapse of the First World War. He maintained his status in the army and was later promoted to an intelligence agent. He was given the mandate to monitor the activities of the German Workers Party (DAP) where he forged a deep friendship with Anton Drexler.
Anton Drexler was one who was deeply involved an anti-jew movement called anti Semitic movement. He favored a non- Jewish version of socialism, and he invited Hitler to join DAP. It was during this time that he met other people with similar ideologies. Hitler left the army in 1920 and concentrated more on his political career. He used populist themes and engaged the public in his ideologies. He was criticized for being over bearing by some of the members. He was later accused of treason, and he escaped to another town. After several trials to join power, he declared himself the leader of Germany from the period of 1933. He did this under the party of National Socialist German Workers Party. He also called this party the Nazi Party. Hitler’s Policies
Hitler pledged to rebuild Germany especially after the economic depression that had seized it after a while. He wanted to ensure that Germany was completely rebuilt from obscurity to significance. He also wanted to rebuild the economic sector of Germany. He believed that Germany could do much better with economic improvement. As such, he eliminated the measures that were previously used for economic improvement. Instead, he targeted the farmers and a few veterans as a way of guaranteeing that economic development is ensured. Generally, he thought that improving the economic system of Germany would ensure that the country became the super power that it was.
Animosity against the Jews
Hitler’s hate for the Jews began with his roots as a Nazi. Naturally, they hated the Jews. In the whole of Europe, there had been anti Jewish prejudice of which came in varying degrees. Hitler interacted with people whose hate for the Jews was of great intensity. Furthermore, a lot of conspiracy theories were developed in hate for the Jews. Most of them were believed by many of the Jews. One significant theory was the fact that Jews stabbed other nations in the back. As such, they were hated by many other nations. They were seen as supporters of Germany’s rivals. For instance; they supported the liberalists, socialists and Communists leading to German’s defeat during the First World War. Consequently, this made anti- Semitism explosive in Germany.
Communism was associated with the Jewish communities. The policies of communism were associated with hatred and everything negative. Communism was associated with oppression, an aspect that decreased its popularity worldwide. The relation of Jews with communism was another reason for the hate of the Jews. Moreover, the success of the Jews in the 1920’s made them hold high positions in almost all aspects of the economy. This caused a problem that led to jealousy.
A study into most of the Jew culture led to the belief that the hate was only used as a scapegoat for economic problems. It was claimed that the Jews took advantage of the economic situation to gain more profits in their business ventures. The widespread book titled "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" was responsible for the spread of anti- Semitic slogans. Hitler also believed that the professors in the Vienna school of artistry were responsible for his being rejected more than once.
His roots in the Nazi and its beliefs were staunch believers of a nation without Jews in it. Such beliefs fuelled the already intense hate for the Jews. Hitler, in some of his political outbursts, insisted that the Jews were robbers, and that they destroyed civilisations. Apparently, his incitement of the hatred of the Jews was the means the only means to an end. Apparently, Hitler and the Nazis used hatred of the Jews as a way of unifying the German people in order to construct an entirely newfangled and superior German empire. The belief that they were fighting a common enemy was a beneficial way of seeing to it that they were unified for a common goal. This was the only way that the Nazis would ensure that they come to power. This became an excuse to abuse the Jews. Before the end of the Nazi regime, anti- Semitism was a deeply rooted in the Europeans and the American cultures.
The Jews have remained to be a large, conspicuous and distinct group that did not integrate easily. This made anti- Semitism has been rife throughout European history. As such, it was not difficult to isolate and hate them. The Jews who really wanted to integrate were forced to convert into another religion. It should be noted that diversity was considered a virtue and a necessity during the inter war period. Because of the fact that the Jews were too affrighted to do anything at the time fuelled this hatred. All these were reasons why Hitler hated the Jews.
Plans Regarding the Elimination of the Jewish Race
Hitler thought that he would eliminate the Jews through holocaust0002. Hitler was said to be very secretive in ensuring that this had happened. He never wrote down his thoughts about the Holocaust. He conceived his ideas and used secret agents. He never issued orders on paper ensuring that the secrets did not reach unwanted people. He spoke to his trusted underlings who were in turn expected to carry out the orders. However, a lot of evidence was inevitably left behind. For instance; quite a number of murders were left behind as suspect mass murders among others.
He also planned forced migration of the Jews from Germany to other areas. This would be achieved through oppression in various ways. For instance, they would impose heavy taxes, close up their businesses, raid their farms, and persecute them and even burn down their properties. The hate was so extreme that in some instances, some policies were placed on some of the Jews. A distinctive exemplar in this case is the forceful sterilization of the Jews. Any member of that community who refused to undergo the ritual would be forced out of Europe.
In extreme situations, mass murders of Jews were conducted as a way of eliminating them from the face of the earth. The plans did not end there. Hitler and his aides came up with a slogan termed as ‘the final solution to the Jew problem’, where they would be completely gotten rid of. They were placed in extermination camps. Various conferences were held on the same efforts.
The final plan was the consummate obliteration of the Jews in a holocaust. Until today, it has not been possible to ascertain the number of Germans and Europeans that were involved in the Holocaust. It should be observed that not all of them were Nazis. Anybody who felt that they had severe hate for the Jews was welcome to harass them in a bid to ensure their exit. Some of the Europeans secretly helped in saving the Jews. Anybody found doing so should be forced to undergo the same experiences that the jews were being subjected to. Generally, the atmosphere was one meant to eliminate the Jews. Hitler also went ahead to ensure that the Jews were not accepted in any neighboring countries. This and many other factors is what fuelled the Second World War. The rest of the nations could not just sit and watch these inhuman practices taking place.
Germany had previously entered into a pact with china to trade arms. His aim was to ensure that Germany retained most of its weapons. He recalled all the German soldiers working in China. In return, China stopped all its shipments of raw materials to Germany. Hitler’s aim was to ensure that he captured nations progressively until the whole world was under the German rule. He declared Britain an enemy and vowed to ensure its elimination.
Adolf Hitler was a man who underwent a lot of problems during his childhood. In fact, his childhood was full of depression and pain. Were it not for his mother, Adolf Hitler would have probably lost hope in this world. His doting mother was the light of his life. He is a man who is applauded for being a go getter. He always ensured that he accomplished his goals. Many psychologists insist that his oppressive and overbearing behaviour was probably a reflection of his childhood. He was sometimes described as a selfish and cruel person. All this is a reflection of the bitterness he underwent while growing up. Regardless of his negative aspects, Adolf Hitler will remain a significant figure in the history of the world. whether or not to applaud his methods of ruling remains a personal choice.
Reference List
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