Hitler

Abby Dorton

Dr. Penner

IDC Holocaust

22 February 2011

Hitler and Hate

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1989, in the small Austrian town of Braunau, located near the German border. He did very well in primary school and while in secondary school he discovered that his main interest in school was art. His father was extremely angry when Hitler announced his plans to become an artist rather than serve as a soldier in the Austrian military (Simkin). When Hitler was eighteen he received and inheritance from his father’s will. He used the money to move to Vienna where he planned to become an art student. Hitler loved art and had a high opinion of his artistic abilities. However, he was not accepted into the Vienna Academy of art. This devastated Hitler and marked the first major failure that led the way to his path of hate and destruction (Simkin).

Hitler was not willing to serve Austria in the military, but when World War I began he did join the German military. He joined because he wanted to become involved in the effort to prove that Germany was superior to other European countries (Simkin). Hitler narrowly escaped death while in battle on several occasions. He was eventually awarded five medals, including the Iron Cross, for bravery during World War I. Although highly decorated during his tour, he merely reached the rank of corporal. This was most likely due to the fact that the other soldiers considered Hitler extremely odd and, therefore, might not obey his commands (Meier).

In October 1918, Hitler was blinded in a British mustard gas attack. He was sent to a military hospital where he gradually regained his sight. During his time in the hospital, Germany surrendered. The surrender caused Hitler to fall into a deep state of depression. He spent most of his time turned towards the hospital wall, refusing to speak with anyone. Once again, something he felt so strongly about ended in failure (Meier).

On November 8, 1923, Hitler held a rally at a...