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134-1027: The AHS should not be confused with numerous schools renamed "Adolf Hitler School" after Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, such as the former Martin Luther School in Marburg , the Werner Heisenberg High School in Heide , the Nordstadt School in Pforzheim , the Paul Werner High School in Cottbus , or the Goethe School in Flensburg . There was also a similar network of boarding schools called

268-449: A Walther PPK [chambered in] 7.65 mm ." The gun lay at his feet. Hitler's dripping blood had made a large stain on the right arm of the sofa and was pooling on the rug. According to Linge, Braun's body had no visible wounds, and her face showed how she had died – from cyanide poisoning . Günsche and SS- Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke stated "unequivocally" that all outsiders and those performing duties and work in

402-482: A death certificate in 1956. Conspiracy theories about Hitler's death continue to attract interest. By early 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of total military collapse. Poland had fallen to the advancing Soviet Red Army , which was preparing to cross the Oder between Küstrin and Frankfurt-an-der-Oder with the objective of capturing Berlin 82 kilometres (51 mi) to the west. German forces had recently lost to

536-485: A "spectacle" of, as he had earlier recorded in his testament. Hitler had been given some capsules of prussic acid by Himmler through SS physician Ludwig Stumpfegger , and initially had intended to use them for his suicide. When he received the news that Himmler had contacted the Allies through a Swedish diplomat to arrange for an end to the war, Hitler was outraged. With this betrayal in his mind, Hitler began to doubt whether

670-463: A blanket, and then, in accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions, his and Braun's bodies were carried up the stairs and through the bunker's emergency exit to the garden behind the Reich Chancellery, where they were to be burned with petrol . Although Hitler's corpse was partially covered by the blanket, numerous witnesses testified to recognising him, as the top of his head

804-402: A breakout that night. Hitler, two secretaries, and his personal cook then had lunch, after which Hitler and Braun said goodbye to members of the bunker staff and fellow occupants, including Bormann, Goebbels, the secretaries, and several military officers. At around 14:30 Adolf and Eva Hitler went into his personal study. Hitler's adjutant SS- Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche stood guard outside

938-544: A casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances of Lohengrin , his favourite Wagner opera. In Vienna, Hitler was first exposed to racist rhetoric. Populists such as mayor Karl Lueger exploited the city's prevalent anti-Semitic sentiment, occasionally also espousing German nationalist notions for political benefit. German nationalism

1072-545: A challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of Staatskommissar (State Commissioner) Gustav Ritter von Kahr , Bavaria's de facto ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow , wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler. On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in

1206-656: A classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the Realschule in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in Mein Kampf states that he intentionally performed poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream". Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from

1340-466: A crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews. In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin , a mutiny broke out within

1474-530: A declaration – for the first time – that the war was lost. Hitler announced that he would stay in Berlin until the end and then shoot himself. Later that day, he asked SS physician Werner Haase about the most reliable method of suicide. Haase suggested the "pistol-and-poison method" of combining a dose of cyanide with a gunshot to the head. Luftwaffe chief Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring learned about Hitler's admission of defeat and declaration of his intended suicide and sent

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1608-566: A deliberate disinformation campaign by Joseph Stalin to sow confusion regarding Hitler's death, or have attempted to reconcile them. Soviet records allege that the burnt remains of Hitler and Braun were recovered, despite eyewitness accounts that they were almost completely reduced to ashes. In June 1945, the Soviets began seeding two contradictory narratives: that Hitler died by taking cyanide or that he had survived and fled to another country. Following extensive review, West Germany issued

1742-658: A diploma and the Education Ministry certified students for university study following matriculation from AHS. Some AHS graduates took up leadership positions in the Children's Country Evacuation, and after 1943, many were assigned as flak helpers. Some portion of the training at the AHS explicitly remained military in nomenclature, designed to prepare the AHS graduates for a future role in the Nazi military apparatus—training that endured until

1876-464: A fake", citing their significant wear. No gunpowder residue was detected, indicating that Hitler did not die by a gunshot wound through the mouth, as Axmann contended. In early June 1945, SMERSH moved the remains of several individuals, including the Goebbels family (Joseph, Magda , and their children ), from Buch to Finow. Hitler and Braun's remains were alleged to have been moved as well, but this

2010-563: A gunshot to the head on 30 April 1945 in the Führerbunker in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin , which led to the end of World War II in Europe . Eva Braun , his wife of one day, also committed suicide by cyanide poisoning . In accordance with Hitler's prior written and verbal instructions , that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs and through

2144-504: A hero defending the capital of the Reich. Hoping to save the army and the nation by negotiating a partial surrender to the British and Americans, Dönitz authorised a fighting withdrawal to the west. His tactic was somewhat successful: it enabled about 1.8 million German soldiers to avoid capture by the Soviets, but came at a high cost in bloodshed, as troops continued to fight until 8 May. In

2278-457: A jawbone, to be in "perfect agreement" with X-rays taken of Hitler in 1944. Charlier used electron microscopy to examine the tartar , which contained only plant fibres, a detail consistent with Hitler's vegetarianism . In May 2018, the European Journal of Internal Medicine published a paper co-authored by Charlier and four other researchers, which concluded that these remains "cannot be

2412-469: A letter to Hindenburg. The signers urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as leader of a government "independent from parliamentary parties", which could turn into a movement that would "enrapture millions of people". Hindenburg reluctantly agreed to appoint Hitler as chancellor after two further parliamentary elections—in July and November 1932—had not resulted in the formation of a majority government. Hitler headed

2546-616: A male. On 29 December 1949, a secret dossier on Hitler was presented to Stalin, which was based upon the interrogation of Nazis who had been present in the Führerbunker , including Günsche and Linge. Western historians were allowed into the archives of the former Soviet Union beginning in 1991, but the dossier remained undiscovered for twelve years; in 2005, it was published as The Hitler Book . In 1968, Soviet journalist Lev Bezymenski published his book, The Death of Adolf Hitler , which includes previously unreleased photographs of

2680-690: A matter of debate. His friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz. However, historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical". While Hitler states in Mein Kampf that he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, Reinhold Hanisch , who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna. Historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as

2814-515: A meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria, Heinrich Held , on 4 January 1925, Hitler agreed to respect the state's authority and promised that he would seek political power only through the democratic process. The meeting paved the way for the ban on the Nazi Party to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by

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2948-534: A product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe". Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich , Germany. When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , he journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve

3082-665: A recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann , his Jewish superior, Hitler received the Iron Cross, First Class, a decoration rarely awarded at Hitler's Gefreiter rank. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk . While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and, by his own account, suffered a second bout of blindness after receiving this news. Hitler described his role in World War I as "the greatest of all experiences", and

3216-544: A result of military action in the European theatre . The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history . Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber . The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois

3350-625: A short-lived coalition government formed by the Nazi Party (which had the most seats in the Reichstag) and Hugenberg's party, the German National People's Party (DNVP). On 30 January 1933, the new cabinet was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Hindenburg's office. The Nazi Party gained three posts: Hitler was named chancellor, Wilhelm Frick Minister of the Interior, and Hermann Göring Minister of

3484-515: A special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute power as party chairman, succeeding Drexler, by a vote of 533 to 1. Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. A demagogue , he became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats , who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships. Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted

3618-472: A summary of its findings of fact in a 1958 press release. On 11 December 1945, the Soviets allowed a limited investigation of the bunker complex grounds by the other Allied powers (Britain, France, and the US). Two representatives from each nation watched several Germans dig up soil down to the concrete roof of the bunker; the excavation included the bomb crater where Hitler's burnt remains had been buried. Found during

3752-705: A telegram to Hitler , asking for permission to take over the leadership of the Reich in accordance with Hitler's 1941 decree naming him as his successor. Hitler's secretary Martin Bormann convinced Hitler that the letter from Göring was an attempt to overthrow the dictator. In response, Hitler informed Göring that he would be executed unless he resigned all of his posts. Later that day, he sacked Göring from all of his offices and ordered his arrest. Hitler also ordered his chief aide and adjutant, Julius Schaub , to destroy safeguarded documents and his personal train . By 27 April, Berlin's communication had been all but cut off from

3886-473: A young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining Habsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically diverse empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the " Deutschlandlied " instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem . After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. He enrolled at

4020-651: Is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe . He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, causing Britain and France to declare war on Germany . In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union . In December 1941, he declared war on the United States . By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa . These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945

4154-587: Is most likely Soviet disinformation. There is no evidence that any bodily remains of Hitler or Braun – with the exception of the dental remains – were found by the Soviets. The remains of the Goebbels family and others were buried in a forest in Brandenburg on 3 June 1945, then exhumed and moved to SMERSH's new facility in Magdeburg , where they were re-buried in February 1946. By 1970,

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4288-587: Is that van der Lubbe set the fire alone. At Hitler's urging, Hindenburg responded by signing the Reichstag Fire Decree of 28 February, drafted by the Nazis, which suspended basic rights and allowed detention without trial. The decree was permitted under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which gave the president the power to take emergency measures to protect public safety and order. Activities of

4422-529: Is undeniable", according to Ian Kershaw . Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, Mein Kampf sold 228,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. One million copies were sold in 1933, Hitler's first year in office. Shortly before Hitler was eligible for parole, the Bavarian government attempted to have him deported to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in

4556-741: The Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act) to a vote in the newly elected Reichstag. The Act—officially titled the Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich ("Law to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich")—gave Hitler's cabinet the power to enact laws without the consent of the Reichstag for four years. These laws could (with certain exceptions) deviate from the constitution. Death of Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler , chancellor and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide via

4690-567: The 1932 presidential elections . A speech to the Industry Club in Düsseldorf on 27 January 1932 won him support from many of Germany's most powerful industrialists. Hindenburg had support from various nationalist, monarchist, Catholic, and republican parties, and some Social Democrats . Hitler used the campaign slogan " Hitler über Deutschland " ("Hitler over Germany"), a reference to his political ambitions and his campaigning by aircraft. He

4824-608: The Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime partner, Eva Braun , in the Führerbunker in Berlin. The couple committed suicide the next day to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army . In accordance with Hitler's wishes, their corpses were burned. The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw described Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology ,

4958-778: The Allies in the Ardennes Offensive , with British and Canadian forces crossing the Rhine into the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr . US forces in the south had captured Lorraine and were advancing towards Mainz , Mannheim , and the Rhine. German forces in Italy were withdrawing north, as they were pressed by United States and Commonwealth forces as part of the Spring Offensive to advance across

5092-626: The Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months recovering in hospital at Beelitz , returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. He was present at the Battle of Arras of 1917 and the Battle of Passchendaele . He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918. Three months later, in August 1918, on

5226-951: The Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in Fournes-en-Weppes , well behind the front lines. In 1914, he was present at the First Battle of Ypres and in that year was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross , Second Class. During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During

5360-592: The Bürgerbräukeller , a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with his pistol drawn, demanded and subsequently received the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither

5494-457: The Centre Party , governed through emergency decrees from President Paul von Hindenburg . Governance by decree became the new norm and paved the way for authoritarian forms of government. The Nazi Party rose from obscurity to win 18.3 per cent of the vote and 107 parliamentary seats in the 1930 election, becoming the second-largest party in parliament. Hitler made a prominent appearance at

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5628-579: The German Communist Party (KPD) were suppressed, and some 4,000 KPD members were arrested. In addition to political campaigning, the Nazi Party engaged in paramilitary violence and the spread of anti-communist propaganda in the days preceding the election . On election day, 6 March 1933, the Nazi Party's share of the vote increased to 43.9 per cent, and the party acquired the largest number of seats in parliament. Hitler's party failed to secure an absolute majority, necessitating another coalition with

5762-517: The Great Depression , the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support. One of Hitler's key goals was Lebensraum ( lit.   ' living space ' ) for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive, expansionist foreign policy

5896-580: The Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent. In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I , Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army . According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was most likely an administrative error, because as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria. Posted to

6030-518: The National Political Institutes of Education ("Napolas"). The founding was based on plans laid out by Hitler Youth leader, Baldur von Schirach and Robert Ley . It was Ley's intention to erect a "Gauburg" ( citadel ) in every Gau , and subsequently create an entire NSDAP school system, transforming the state-supported National-Political Educational Institutes. Resistance to this plan from education minister Bernhard Rust stalled

6164-420: The Po and into the foothills of the Alps . Hitler retreated to the Führerbunker in Berlin on 16 January 1945. It was clear to the Nazi leadership that the Battle of Berlin would be the final battle of the war in Europe. Some 325,000 soldiers of Germany's Army Group B were surrounded and captured in the Ruhr Pocket on 18 April, leaving the path open for US forces to reach Berlin. By 11 April,

6298-830: The Potsdamer Platz , roughly a kilometre away from the bunker, and all indications were that they were preparing to storm the Reich Chancellery. This report and Himmler's betrayal prompted Hitler to make the last decisions of his life. Shortly after midnight on 29 April, he married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the Führerbunker . The two then hosted a modest wedding breakfast, after which Hitler took his secretary Traudl Junge to another room and dictated his last will and testament . It left instructions to be carried out immediately following his death, with Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and Joseph Goebbels assuming Hitler's roles as head of state and chancellor , respectively. Hitler signed these documents at 04:00 and then went to bed. Some sources say that he dictated

6432-434: The Realschule in Steyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved. In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career. In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna , financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but

6566-404: The Reichstag building was set on fire . Göring blamed a communist plot, as Dutch communist Marinus van der Lubbe was found in incriminating circumstances inside the burning building. Until the 1960s, some historians, including William L. Shirer and Alan Bullock , thought the Nazi Party itself was responsible; according to Ian Kershaw, writing in 1998, the view of nearly all modern historians

6700-421: The ampoules would be effective. He ordered Haase to test one on his dog Blondi . The capsule worked – the dog died instantly. Hitler and Braun lived together as husband and wife in the bunker for less than 40 hours. By 01:00 on 30 April, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel had reported that all of the forces on which Hitler had been depending to rescue Berlin had either been encircled or forced onto

6834-524: The end of World War II in Europe , the occupying Allies divided Germany into four zones. This led to the start of the Cold War between the Western Bloc , supported by the US, and the Eastern Bloc , supported by the Soviet Union. From 1961 until 1989, the divide was physically manifested via the Berlin Wall , followed by Germany's reunification in 1990 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Following Hitler's death, war veteran and future US president John F. Kennedy wrote in his diary that

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6968-421: The parliamentary republic , which faced challenges from right- and left-wing extremists . The moderate political parties were increasingly unable to stem the tide of extremism, and the German referendum of 1929 helped to elevate Nazi ideology. The elections of September 1930 resulted in the break-up of a grand coalition and its replacement with a minority cabinet. Its leader, chancellor Heinrich Brüning of

7102-444: The "Nazi Party"). Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background. Hitler was discharged from the Army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party. The party headquarters was in Munich, a centre for anti-government German nationalists determined to eliminate Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic . In February 1921—already highly effective at crowd manipulation —he spoke to

7236-446: The Americans crossed the Elbe , 100 kilometres (62 mi) to the west of the city. On 16 April, Soviet forces to the east crossed the Oder and commenced the battle for the Seelow Heights , the last major defensive line protecting Berlin on that side. By 19 April, the Germans were in full retreat from the Seelow Heights, leaving no front line. Berlin was bombarded by Soviet artillery for the first time on 20 April, Hitler's birthday. By

7370-403: The Army nor the state police joined forces with Hitler. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup. Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He

7504-518: The Army. In July 1919, he was appointed Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance unit) of the Reichswehr , assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed by Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphlet My Political Awakening , which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist , and anti-Marxist ideas. On

7638-549: The Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison. While at Landsberg, Hitler dictated most of the first volume of Mein Kampf ( lit.   ' My Struggle ' ); originally titled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice ) at first to his chauffeur, Emil Maurice , and then to his deputy, Rudolf Hess . The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart,

7772-404: The Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927. To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed Gregor Strasser , Otto Strasser , and Joseph Goebbels to organise and enlarge the Nazi Party in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme. The stock market in

7906-455: The Chancellery by his own hand, by means of a shot into his right temple." A death certificate was issued on 25 February 1956, with an attached report of more than 1,500 pages. An 80-page expert criminological report was prepared in mid-1956, focusing on the "substantial discrepancies" between eyewitness testimonies and serving as a springboard for photographic reconstructions. Ballistic experiments were arranged to determine which interpretation of

8040-402: The Chancellery garden, where it was placed on the ground and burned. The Red Army shelled the area in and around the Reich Chancellery on and off during the afternoon. SS guards brought over additional cans of petrol to further burn the corpses. Although the corpses were being burned in the open, where the distribution of heat varies (as opposed to in a crematorium ), according to eyewitnesses,

8174-437: The DNVP. On 21 March 1933, the new Reichstag was constituted with an opening ceremony at the Garrison Church in Potsdam . This "Day of Potsdam" was held to demonstrate unity between the Nazi movement and the old Prussian elite and military. Hitler appeared in a morning coat and humbly greeted Hindenburg. To achieve full political control despite not having an absolute majority in parliament, Hitler's government brought

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8308-433: The German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925. At the time of Hitler's release from prison, politics in Germany had become less combative and the economy had improved, limiting Hitler's opportunities for political agitation. As a result of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi Party and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In

8442-403: The Interior for Prussia. Hitler had insisted on the ministerial positions as a way to gain control over the police in much of Germany. As chancellor, Hitler worked against attempts by the Nazi Party's opponents to build a majority government. Because of the political stalemate, he asked Hindenburg to again dissolve the Reichstag, and elections were scheduled for early March. On 27 February 1933,

8576-513: The NKVD's successor, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD), found part of a skull in the crater where Hitler's remains had been exhumed. The remnant consists of part of the occipital bone and part of both parietal bones . The nearly complete left parietal bone has a bullet hole, apparently an exit wound. This remained uncatalogued until 1975, and was rediscovered in the Russian State Archives in 1993. In 2009, University of Connecticut archaeologist and bone specialist Nick Bellantoni examined

8710-420: The Nazi Party held the most seats in the Reichstag , but not a majority. No political parties were able to form a majority coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. Former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly thereafter, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 , which began

8844-446: The Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-based German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that

8978-508: The Nazi educational revolution. Only pupils who were pre-selected from the Hitler Youth were admitted. This was followed by a two-week selection process at a camp, where the candidates were evaluated according to specified criteria, standards that included but were not limited to: The first AHS opened on 20 April 1937 (Hitler's forty-eighth birthday) in Pomeranian Crössinsee, and while the Hitler Youth 's (HJ) leadership envisioned fifty such schools with in excess of 15,000 students, as late as

9112-404: The Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of an estimated six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed Untermenschen (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the deliberate killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as

9246-400: The Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the Sturmabteilung (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was the Aufbau Vereinigung , a conspiratorial group of White Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to

9380-433: The Soviet Union presented various versions of Hitler's fate. On 5 June, the Soviets claimed that his body had been examined and that he had died by cyanide poisoning. At a press conference on 9 June, the Soviets said they had not actually identified the body and that Hitler had likely escaped. When asked in July 1945 how Hitler had died, Stalin said he was living "in Spain or Argentina". In November 1945, Dick White ,

9514-437: The United States crashed on 24 October 1929 . The impact in Germany was dire: millions became unemployed and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the Nazi Party prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their party. They promised to repudiate the Versailles Treaty, strengthen the economy, and provide jobs. The Great Depression provided a political opportunity for Hitler. Germans were ambivalent about

9648-664: The aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether". At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart , one of the party's founders and a member of the occult Thule Society . Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei ( National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), now known as

9782-445: The bunker "did not have any access" to Hitler's private living quarters during the time of death (between 15:00 and 16:00). Günsche left the study and announced that Hitler was dead to a group in the briefing room, which included Goebbels and Generals Hans Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf . These three, in addition to others including Hitler Youth leader Artur Axmann , viewed the bodies. Linge and another man rolled up Hitler's body in

9916-466: The bunker and returned with a thick roll of papers. Bormann lit the papers and threw them onto the bodies. As the two corpses caught fire, a group including Bormann, Günsche, Linge, Goebbels, Erich Kempka , Peter Högl , Ewald Lindloff , and Hans Reisser raised their arms in salute as they stood just inside the bunker doorway. At around 16:15, Linge ordered SS- Untersturmführer Heinz Krüger and SS- Oberscharführer Werner Schwiedel to roll up

10050-611: The bunker's emergency exit to the Reich Chancellery garden, where they were doused in petrol and burned. The news of Hitler's death was announced on German radio the next day, 1 May. Eyewitnesses who saw Hitler's body immediately after his suicide testified that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot, presumably to the temple . Otto Günsche , Hitler's personal adjutant, who handled both bodies, testified that while Braun's smelled strongly of burnt almonds – an indication of cyanide poisoning – there

10184-555: The circumstances surrounding Hitler's death, quotes a German pathologist as saying about the purported autopsy: "Bezemensky's report is ridiculous... Any one of my assistants would have done better... the whole thing is a farce... it is intolerably bad work... the transcript of the post-mortem section of 8 [May] 1945 describes anything but Hitler." Journalist James P. O'Donnell corrects the book's claim that cyanide acts instantaneously, saying Hitler could have taken poison and still had enough time to shoot himself. After Hitler's death and

10318-660: The claim that Alois's father was Jewish. Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn , a town in Austria-Hungary (present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire . He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl . Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy. Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) and Angela (born 1883). When Hitler

10452-586: The commander of the Berlin Defence Area. Weidling told Hitler that the garrison would probably run out of ammunition that night, and that the fighting in Berlin would inevitably come to an end within the next 24 hours. Weidling asked for permission for a breakout ; this was a request he had unsuccessfully made before. Hitler did not answer, and Weidling went back to his headquarters in the Bendlerblock . At about 13:00, he received Hitler's permission to attempt

10586-412: The copious amount of fuel applied from about 16:00 to 18:30 reduced the remains to something between charred bones and piles of ashes which fell apart to the touch. At approximately 18:30, Lindloff (and perhaps Reisser) covered up the ashen remains in a shallow bomb crater. The shelling and a fire from napalm incendiary bombs continued until 2 May. During this period it was difficult to spend any time in

10720-489: The country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231 , which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war. The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain. After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich. Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in

10854-456: The defensive. At around 02:30, Hitler appeared in the corridor where about twenty people, mostly women, were assembled to give their farewells. He went down the line, shaking hands and speaking with each of them, before retiring to his quarters. Late in the morning, with the Soviets less than 500 metres (1,600 ft) from the Führerbunker , Hitler had a meeting with General Helmuth Weidling ,

10988-475: The dental remains of Hitler and Braun. Both would spend years in Soviet prisons. An alleged Soviet autopsy of Hitler made public in 1968 was used by forensic odontologists Reidar F. Sognnaes and Ferdinand Strøm to confirm the authenticity of Hitler's dental remains in 1972. In 2017, French forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier also found the dental remains in the Soviet archives, including teeth on part of

11122-488: The dental remains. The book transcribes a purported Soviet forensic examination led by Faust Shkaravsky , which concluded that Hitler died by cyanide poisoning. Bezymenski further theorised that Hitler requested a coup de grâce to ensure his quick death, but later admitted that his work included "deliberate lies", such as the manner of Hitler's death. The book and alleged autopsy have been widely derided by Western historians. Joachimsthaler, in his extensive analysis of

11256-499: The dictator "had a mystery about him in the way he lived and in the manner of his death that will live and grow after him". Historian Joachim Fest opines that the almost "traceless" death of Hitler allowed him to stay in the public eye, granting him a "bizarre afterlife"; conspiracy theories – rooted in Soviet disinformation alleging his survival – bolstered continued doubts and speculation, including outlandish tabloid and journalistic reports published into

11390-488: The dig were two hats identified as Hitler's, an undergarment with Braun's initials, and some reports to Hitler from Goebbels. The Soviet People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) barred further excavation on the accusation that the representatives had removed documents from the Reich Chancellery. At the end of 1945, Stalin ordered the NKVD to form a second commission to investigate Hitler's death. On 30 May 1946, agents of

11524-555: The early morning hours of 2 May, the Soviets captured the Reich Chancellery. Inside the Führerbunker , Krebs and Burgdorf shot themselves in the head. In early May, Hitler's and Braun's dental remains were extracted from the soil. Stalin was wary of believing Hitler was dead and restricted the release of information to the public. By 11 May, dental assistant Käthe Heusermann and dental technician Fritz Echtmann, both of whom had worked for Hitler's dentist Hugo Blaschke , identified

11658-419: The end of 1943 only ten schools were operational with a meager 2,027 pupils in attendance. Economic considerations related to the war effort strained the planned budget for the schools. Overall the curriculum at the AHS represented an outright rejection of previous educational ideas since it was anti-traditional, anti-knowledge, anti-Gymnasium, and anti-parent in disposition. While the AHS original educational plan

11792-546: The end of the Third Reich itself. Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party , becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked

11926-467: The evening of 21 April, Red Army tanks reached the outskirts of the city. On 21 April, Hitler ordered a special detachment commanded by SS - Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner to counterattack the Soviets. At the next day's afternoon situation conference, Hitler suffered a nervous collapse when he was informed that these orders had not been obeyed. He launched into a tirade against his generals, calling them treacherous and incompetent, culminating in

12060-481: The facility was under KGB control and scheduled to be relinquished to East Germany . Concerned that a known Nazi burial site might become a neo-Nazi shrine, KGB director Yuri Andropov authorised an operation to exhume and destroy the decaying remains. On 4 April 1970, a KGB team thoroughly cremated them and cast the ashes into the Biederitz river, a tributary of the nearby Elbe. For politically motivated reasons,

12194-468: The family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest. In 1898, the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund in 1900 from measles . Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers. Paula Hitler recalled how Adolf

12328-433: The fatal gunshot was most likely. The declaration became public and legally binding by the year's end. Hitler's demise was entered as an assumption of death on the basis that none of the witnesses had seen his body, which German historian Anton Joachimsthaler  – who cites some of the testimonies in his book on the dictator's death – points out is incorrect. The federal court went on to publish

12462-457: The field", had been "stabbed in the back" on the home front by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists , and those who signed the armistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals". The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories and demilitarise the Rhineland . The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on

12596-480: The first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto Mein Kampf ( My Struggle ). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism , antisemitism , and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda . He frequently denounced communism as being part of an international Jewish conspiracy . By November 1932,

12730-464: The garden because of the continuous shelling. Krebs met Soviet general Vasily Chuikov just prior to 04:00 on 1 May, giving him the news of Hitler's death, while attempting to negotiate a ceasefire and open "peace negotiations". Joseph Stalin was informed of Hitler's suicide around 04:05 Berlin time, thirteen hours after the event. He demanded unconditional surrender , which Krebs lacked authorisation to give. Stalin wanted confirmation that Hitler

12864-499: The ghost of Hitler alive" to motivate its Communist forces to continue fighting against fascism. Until the mid-1950s, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency received many leads claiming that Hitler might still be alive, while giving none of them credence. The documents remained classified until the early 2010s, as authorised by the 1998 Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act . The secrecy in which

12998-618: The head of counter-intelligence in the British sector of Berlin, had their agent Hugh Trevor-Roper investigate. His report was expanded and published in 1947 as The Last Days of Hitler . In the years immediately after the war, the Soviets maintained that Hitler was not dead, but had escaped and was either being sheltered by the former western Allies, was in Francoist Spain , or was somewhere in South America. The 1947 American book Who Killed Hitler? suggests that Soviet leadership "[kept]

13132-661: The hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Alfons Heck , a former member of the Hitler Youth, recalled: We erupted into a frenzy of nationalistic pride that bordered on hysteria. For minutes on end, we shouted at the top of our lungs, with tears streaming down our faces: Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil! From that moment on, I belonged to Adolf Hitler body and soul. Early followers included Rudolf Hess , former air force ace Hermann Göring , and army captain Ernst Röhm . Röhm became head of

13266-477: The idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism . The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their 25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in the völkisch Pan-Germanic movement, such as ultranationalism , opposition to the Treaty of Versailles , distrust of capitalism , as well as some socialist ideas. For Hitler,

13400-533: The investigation was shrouded helped fuel conspiracy theories asserting Hitler's survival. Presiding judge at the Einsatzgruppen trial at Nuremberg Michael Musmanno considered all such claims contrary to the evidence. Between 1948 and 1952, amid denazification proceedings in West Germany , legal disputes over Hitler's former property (including The Art of Painting by Johannes Vermeer ) were hindered by

13534-463: The lack of an official death declaration. Beginning in 1952, a federal court in Berchtesgaden interviewed 42 witnesses about Hitler's suicide – behind closed doors to avoid testimonies influencing one another. After four years of extensive review, Judge Heinrich Stephanus concluded: "There can no longer be the slightest doubt that on 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler put an end to his life in

13668-525: The last will and testament immediately before the wedding, but all agree on the timing of the signing. On the afternoon of 29 April, Hitler learned that his ally, Benito Mussolini , had been executed by Italian partisans. The bodies of Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci , had been strung up by their heels. The corpses were later cut down and thrown into the gutter, where they were mocked by Italian dissidents. These events may have strengthened Hitler's resolve not to allow himself or his wife to be made

13802-603: The meaning "one who lives in a hut". Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz , and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as the Frankenberger thesis . No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, so historians dismiss

13936-573: The most important aspect of it was its strong anti-Semitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party. In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the " Beer Hall Putsch ". The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini 's " March on Rome " of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by

14070-525: The officer corps. Brüning's austerity measures brought little economic improvement and were extremely unpopular. Hitler exploited this by targeting his political messages specifically at people who had been affected by the inflation of the 1920s and the Depression, such as farmers, war veterans, and the middle class. Although Hitler had terminated his Austrian citizenship in 1925, he did not acquire German citizenship for almost seven years. This meant that he

14204-413: The onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. Alois tried to browbeat his son into obedience, while Adolf did his best to be the opposite of whatever his father wanted. Alois would also beat his son, although his mother tried to protect him from regular beatings. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897

14338-514: The orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party). Hitler made his earliest known written statement about the Jewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as the Gemlich letter ). In the letter, Hitler argues that

14472-668: The original project until 1941, when the Adolf Hitler Schools gained the support of the German Labor Front . Until 1941, the schools were collocated with the similarly financed Order Fortresses and oversight for the schools' structure was provided by the Reich Youth Leadership . At the behest of Reichsführer-SS , Heinrich Himmler , some of the training methods at certain Adolf Hitler Schools were blanketed in secrecy. The AHS were expected to provide an example for

14606-518: The party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership had Hermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several large audiences and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at

14740-456: The presence of hydrogen cyanide . Linge saw the bodies of Hitler and Braun sitting upright on the sofa, with Hitler to Braun's right. His head was canted to his right. Günsche entered the study shortly afterwards. He described Braun's corpse as being on Hitler's left, with her legs drawn up and slumped away from him. Günsche stated that Hitler "sat... sunken over, with blood dripping out of his right temple. He had shot himself with his own pistol,

14874-536: The process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism . Upon Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler succeeded him, becoming simultaneously the head of state and government, with absolute power. Domestically, Hitler implemented numerous racist policies and sought to deport or kill German Jews . His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from

15008-424: The rest of Germany. Secure radio contact with defending units had been lost; the command staff in the Führerbunker had to depend on telephone lines for passing instructions and orders, and on public radio for news and information. On 28 April, Hitler received a BBC report originating from Reuters : it stated that Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler had offered to surrender to the western Allies. The offer

15142-461: The rug in Hitler's study to burn it. Schwiedel later stated that upon entering the study, he saw a pool of blood the size of a "large dinner plate" by the arm-rest of the sofa. Noticing a spent cartridge case, he bent down and picked it up from where it lay on the rug about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) from a 7.65 pistol. The two men removed the blood-stained rug and carried it up the stairs and outside to

15276-417: The skull fragment, which Soviet officials believed to be Hitler's. According to Bellantoni, "The bone seemed very thin" for a male, and "the sutures where the skull plates come together seemed to correspond to someone under 40". A small piece detached from the skull was DNA -tested, as was blood from Hitler's sofa. The skull was determined to be that of a woman, while the blood was confirmed to belong to

15410-570: The start of the Second World War . He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust : the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims . Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz . He lived in Vienna in the first decade of the 1900s before moving to Germany in 1913. He

15544-414: The study door. After some time, Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge , entered the antechamber to Hitler's quarters, where he discovered the door closed and could smell gunpowder smoke. Linge went back out to the corridor where Bormann was standing, and the two then entered the study together. Linge later stated that while in the room he immediately noted a scent of burnt almonds, which is a common observation in

15678-490: The trial of two Reichswehr officers, Lieutenants Richard Scheringer and Hanns Ludin , in late 1930. Both were charged with membership in the Nazi Party, at that time illegal for Reichswehr personnel. The prosecution argued that the Nazi Party was an extremist party, prompting defence lawyer Hans Frank to call on Hitler to testify. On 25 September 1930, Hitler testified that his party would pursue political power solely through democratic elections, which won him many supporters in

15812-452: Was stateless , legally unable to run for public office, and still faced the risk of deportation. On 25 February 1932, the interior minister of Brunswick , Dietrich Klagges , who was a member of the Nazi Party, appointed Hitler as administrator for the state's delegation to the Reichsrat in Berlin, making Hitler a citizen of Brunswick, and thus of Germany. Hitler ran against Hindenburg in

15946-418: Was a teenage bully who would often slap her. Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed. Ignoring his son's desire to attend

16080-428: Was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Throughout the book, Jews are equated with "germs" and presented as the "international poisoners" of society. According to Hitler's ideology, the only solution was their extermination. While Hitler did not describe exactly how this was to be accomplished, his "inherent genocidal thrust

16214-437: Was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler . In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled "Hiedler", "Hüttler" , or "Huettler" . The name is probably based on the German word Hütte ( lit.   ' hut ' ), and has

16348-622: Was dead and ordered the Red Army's counterespionage unit, SMERSH , to find his corpse. The first inkling to the outside world that Hitler was dead came from the Germans themselves. On the night of 1 May, the Reichssender Hamburg radio station interrupted their normal program to announce that Hitler had died that afternoon, and introduced his successor, Dönitz. Dönitz called upon the German people to mourn their Führer , whom he stated had died

16482-421: Was declined. Himmler had implied to the Allies that he had the authority to negotiate a surrender, which Hitler considered to be treason. That afternoon, Hitler's anger and bitterness escalated into a rage against Himmler. He ordered Himmler's arrest and had SS- Gruppenführer Hermann Fegelein (Himmler's SS representative at Hitler's headquarters) shot for desertion. By this time, the Red Army had advanced to

16616-588: Was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I , receiving the Iron Cross . In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and in 1921 was appointed leader of the Nazi Party. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was sentenced to five years in prison, serving just over a year of his sentence. While there, he dictated

16750-451: Was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason . His trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February 1924, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison . There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by

16884-793: Was even more widespread in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler then lived. Georg Ritter von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler, and he developed an admiration for Martin Luther . Hitler read local newspapers that promoted prejudice and utilised Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews as well as pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain , Charles Darwin , Friedrich Nietzsche , Gustave Le Bon , and Arthur Schopenhauer . During his life in Vienna, Hitler also developed fervent anti-Slavic sentiments . The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains

17018-725: Was given to Hitler Youth commanders. Hitler described the aims of the AHS in the following terms: Scholarship lagged significantly behind as a criterion for success at these schools, namely since time-honored curricula and teacher qualifications were sacrificed for Nazi commitment. Starting in 1941, the AHS became the "Reich Schools of the NSDAP"; thereafter, several AHS were housed in emptied sanatoriums or other available cloister schools, and strict regional student assignments ceased with German-speaking pupils from Nazi-occupied territories being admitted. Proving oneself as "the best" superseded educational success, but despite this fact, pupils received

17152-550: Was intended to entirely transform schooling in Nazi Germany, it proved not much more than a duplicate model to the Education Institutes' boarding schools. HJ leaders and Order Fortress teachers operated as overseers and despite the rigid discipline at the schools, all HJ ranks addressed one another using the informal/familiar "Du", and instead of regional Gauleiter supervising schools in their respective territories, authority

17286-407: Was no such odour about Hitler's body, which smelled of gunpowder. Dental remains extracted from the soil in the garden were matched with Hitler's dental records in May 1945. The dental remains were later confirmed as being Hitler's. The Soviet Union restricted the release of information and released many conflicting reports about Hitler's death. Historians have largely rejected these as part of

17420-416: Was not covered, nor were his lower legs and feet. The bunker telephone operator SS- Oberscharführer Rochus Misch reported Hitler's death to Führerbegleitkommando ( Führer Escort Command) chief Franz Schädle and returned to the switchboard, later recalling someone shouting that Hitler's body was being burned. After the first attempts to ignite the petrol did not work, Linge went back inside

17554-510: Was one of the first politicians to use aircraft travel for campaigning and used it effectively. Hitler came in second in both rounds of the election, garnering more than 35 per cent of the vote in the final election. Although he lost to Hindenburg, this election established Hitler as a strong force in German politics. The absence of an effective government prompted two influential politicians, Franz von Papen and Alfred Hugenberg , along with several other industrialists and businessmen, to write

17688-514: Was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. His displeasure with the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the Dolchstoßlegende ( stab-in-the-back myth ), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in

17822-555: Was rejected twice. The director suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school. On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47; Hitler was 18 at the time. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a bohemian life in homeless shelters and the Meldemannstraße dormitory . He earned money as

17956-569: Was three, the family moved to Passau , Germany. There he acquired the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect , rather than Austrian German , which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in Leonding in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near Lambach , where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended Volksschule (a state-funded primary school) in nearby Fischlham . The move to Hafeld coincided with

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