salut_hitler.jpgWorld War II impacted millions of lives, many still living today. This website is to help other's understand what happened during this time period. It all began when Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933. This brought on a whole new meaning to the word power. He was born on August 20, 1889 in Austria. His father was 52, and his mother was poor. He was raised in an unconventional life style. He was moody, arrogant, and ignorant. He wanted to become a painter and went to Vienna for inspiration. He later regretted going to Vienna, it was a time of parties and everything but the inspiration he was looking for.

In August 1914, he joined the army. He served as a runner in the Sixteenth Bavarian Infantry Regiment. He eventually made it to the Corporal level and received an Iron Cross for bravery. Hitler's hate for jews grew worse after the Treaty of Versailles

In 1921he was elected as chairman of the NSDAP - National Socialist German Workers' Party. The "Swastika" was given to the group as a symbol of recognition. The SA - Storm Troopers and the SS - the Schutzstaffel were created out of the NSDAP. Hitler was Fuhrer to this group of followers.

In 1923 Hitler became worried with the Weimar Republic. With a rocky government, Hitler felt he had to do something. In Munich, Hitler ran into a beer hall, shot his gun off and hollered that "he was heading a new provisional government which would carry through a revolution against "Red Berlin." " (Jewish Virtual Library) He marched through Munich with thousands of men only to be met by a police force. The police opened fire on the rioting crowd which left sixteen dead. For this, He was sentenced to five years in prison, being released after nine months.

After his jail time, he came out with the book, "Mein Kampf" which translates to "My Struggles" in English.

He began to pick up politics.The Great Depression effected the lives of many middle class families. Hitler took advantage of this and began making promises to these poor and desperate people.During the election of 1928, 12 Nazi won seats in the government. They helped Hitler win over big industry and business. This gave Hitler the power he wanted to become an absolute leader. Two years later, the Reichstag went from 12 Nazi participants, to 107 participants.

Hitler now had followers and believers. He decided to run for president in 1931. He figured with so many middle class followers and businesses following him, he could win. He recieved 13,418,011 votes, while the opposite, von Hindenburg won 19,359,650 votes, making him president. And, in 1932, the Nazi were the largest party in Germany. They held nearly 230 seats in the Reichstang.

With the help of Franz Von Papen, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. "virtually ousting the conservatives from any real participation in government by July 1933, abolishing the free trade unions, eliminating the communists, Social Democrats and Jews from any role in political life and sweeping opponents into concentration camps." (Jewish Virtual Library)