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Book Home  Books Information Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography
Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography
The Biography of Adolf Hitler was written by John Toland.
Adolf Hitler(April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was
the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler
(Leader and Chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. He
was leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP),
better known as the Nazi Party.
Under Hitler's leadership Germany ascended from the
depths of post World War I defeat to rebuild its economy and decimated
military. At the height of their power during World War II, the armies
of Nazi Germany and its Axis Powers dominated much of Europe. The
racial policies that Hitler directed culminated in a massive number
of deaths, commonly cited as at least 11 million people – including
6 million Jews – in a genocide now known as the Holocaust.
Ultimately, Germany was defeated by the Allied powers
in 1945 and during the final days of the war Hitler committed suicide
in his underground bunker in Berlin together with his newly wed wife,
Eva Braun, and other high-ranking Nazi officials. The Third Reich,
which he had said would last a thousand years, collapsed shortly thereafter.
Legacy
I would have preferred it if he'd followed his
original ambition and become an architect. —Paula Hitler (his
younger sister), during an interview with a U.S. intelligence operative
in late 1945.
At the time of Hitler's death most of Germany's infrastructure and
major cities were in ruins and he had left explicit orders to complete
the destruction. Millions of Germans were dead with millions more
wounded or homeless. In his will he dismissed other Nazi leaders and
appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Reichspräsident (President
of Germany) and Goebbels as Reichskanzler (Chancellor of Germany).
However, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide on 1 May 1945.
On 8 May 1945, in Reims, France the German armed forces surrendered
unconditionally ending the war in Europe and with the creation of
the Allied Control Council on 5 June 1945, the Four Powers assumed
"supreme authority with respect to Germany." Adolf Hitler's
proclaimed Thousand Year Reich had lasted 12 years.
Since the defeat of Germany in World War II, Hitler,
the Nazi Party and the results of Nazism have been regarded in most
of the world as synonymous with evil. Historical and cultural portrayals
of Hitler in the west are almost uniformly negative, often neglecting
to mention the adulation the German people bestowed on Hitler during
his lifetime, though the majority of present-day Germans share a negative
view of Hitler.
The copyright of Hitler's book Mein Kampf is held by
the Free State of Bavaria and will expire in 2015. Reproductions in
Germany are generally authorized only for scholarly purposes and in
heavily commented form. The display of swastikas or other Nazi symbols
is prohibited in Germany and political extremists are generally under
surveillance by the Verfassungsschutz, the federal office for the
protection of the constitution.
Despite this there have been instances of public figures
referring to his legacy in neutral or even favourable terms, particularly
in South America, the Islamic World and parts of Asia. Future Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat wrote favourably of Hitler in 1953. Bal Thackeray,
leader of the right-wing Shiv Sena party in the Indian state of Maharashtra,
declared in 1995 that he was an admirer of Hitler.
While some Revisionist historians note Hitler's attempts
to improve the economic and political standing and conditions of his
people and claim his tactics were in essence no different from those
of many other leaders in history, his methods and legacy, as interpreted
by most historians, have caused him to be one of the most despised
leaders in history.
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