. Adolf Hitler ( German: ( ); 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was a German politician who was the leader of the ( Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; NSDAP), from 1933 to 1945 and ('Leader') of from 1934 to 1945. As, Hitler initiated with the in September 1939, and was central to. Hitler was born in Austria—then part of —and was raised near.

• How Many Pages Is Mein Kampf
• Mein Kampf English Translation

2 A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler He would bend over forward and comb his hair down before his eyes just like a woman does. 2 A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler He would bend over forward and comb his hair down before his eyes just like a woman does. Adolf Hitler - Kavgam.pdf - Google Drive.

He moved to Germany in 1913 and was decorated during his in. In 1919, he joined the (DAP), the precursor of the NSDAP, and was appointed leader of the NSDAP in 1921.

In 1923, he attempted to seize power in and was imprisoned. While in jail he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto ('My Struggle'). Released in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the and promoting, and with oratory and. He frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a. By 1933, the Nazi Party was the largest elected party in the German, but did not have a majority, and no party was able to form a majority parliamentary coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor.

This led to former chancellor and other conservative leaders persuading President to appoint Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly after, the Reichstag passed the, which began the process of transforming the into Nazi Germany, a dictatorship based on the and ideology of. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I and the annexation of territories that were home to millions of which gave him significant popular support. Hitler sought ('living space') for the German people in Eastern Europe and his aggressive foreign policy is considered to be the primary cause of the outbreak of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and on 1 September 1939 invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an.

By the end of 1941, German forces and the European occupied most of Europe and. In December 1941, he formally declared war on the United States, bringing them directly into the conflict. Failure to defeat the Soviets and the entry of the United States into the war forced Germany onto the defensive and it suffered a series of escalating defeats. In the final days of the war during the in 1945, he married his long-time lover. Less than two days later on 30 April 1945, the two to avoid capture by the Soviet and their corpses were burned. Under Hitler's leadership and, the Nazi regime was responsible for the of whom he and his followers deemed (sub-humans) or socially undesirable.

Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 29 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in warfare and the casualties constituted the.

Adolf Hitler as an infant (c. 1889–90) Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in, a town in (in present-day Austria), close to the border with the. He was as 'Adolphus Hitler'. He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife,. 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 (born 1883).

When Hitler was three, the family moved to, Germany. There he acquired the distinctive, rather than, which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near, where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended (a state-owned school) in nearby. The move to Hafeld coincided with the onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897 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, who died in 1900 from. Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers. 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 a classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in states that he intentionally did 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 ideas from a young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining and its rule over an ethnically variegated empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting 'Heil', and sang the ' instead of the. 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 the Realschule in 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. Early adulthood in Vienna and Munich.

The house in in Austria where Hitler spent his early adolescence (photo taken in July 2012) In 1907 Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in, financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the but was rejected twice. The director explained his drawings showed 'unfitness for painting' and suggested Hitler was better suited to studying architecture. Though this was an interest of his, he lacked the academic credentials as he had not finished secondary school. On 21 December 1907, his mother died of at the age of 47.

In 1909 Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a life in homeless shelters and a men's hostel. He earned money as a casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. Watercolour by Adolf Hitler, 1914 During his time in Vienna he pursued a growing passion for two interests, architecture and music, attending ten performances of, his favorite opera. It was here that Hitler first became exposed to rhetoric. Such as mayor exploited the climate of virulent and occasionally espoused German nationalist notions for political effect. German nationalism had a particularly widespread following in the district, where Hitler lived.

Became a major influence on Hitler. He also developed an admiration for. Hitler read local newspapers such as Deutsches Volksblatt that fanned prejudice and played on Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews. He read newspapers and pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as, and.

The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains a matter of debate. His friend, 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, who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna.

Historian states that 'historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat in World War I, as a product of the paranoid for the catastrophe'. Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to, Germany. Hitler was called up for conscription into the, so he journeyed to on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed by the medical examiners as unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve the because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent. Hitler ( far right, seated) with his army comrades of the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (c. 1914–18) In August 1914, at the outbreak of, Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the. According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was almost certainly an administrative error, since as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria.

Posted to the (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch on the in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in, well behind the front lines. He was present at the, the, the, and the, and was wounded at the Somme. He was decorated for bravery, receiving the, Second Class, in 1914. On a recommendation by Lieutenant, Hitler's Jewish superior, he received the Iron Cross, First Class on 4 August 1918, a decoration rarely awarded to one of Hitler's rank.

He received the on 18 May 1918. Adolf Hitler as a soldier during World War I (1914–1918) During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During 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 in hospital at, returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a attack and was hospitalised in.

While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and—by his own account—upon receiving this news, he suffered a second bout of blindness. Hitler described the war as 'the greatest of all experiences', and 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 bitterness over the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the (stab-in-the-back myth), which claimed that the German army, 'undefeated in the field', had been 'stabbed in the back' on the by civilian leaders, Jews, and, later dubbed the 'November criminals'. The stipulated that Germany must relinquish several of its territories and the. The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on the country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation—they especially objected to, 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. Entry into politics. Of (1926–28 edition) Hitler fled to the home of and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for. His trial before the special in Munich began in February 1924, and became temporary leader of the NSDAP. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades.

Pardoned by 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 ( My Struggle; originally entitled Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice) to his deputy, Rudolf Hess. The book, dedicated to Thule Society member Dietrich Eckart, was an autobiography and exposition of his ideology. The book laid out Hitler's plans for transforming German society into one based on race. Some passages imply. Published in two volumes in 1925 and 1926, it 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 back to Austria. The Austrian federal chancellor rejected the request on the specious grounds that his service in the German Army made his Austrian citizenship void. In response, Hitler formally renounced his Austrian citizenship on 7 April 1925.

Rebuilding the NSDAP 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 NSDAP and its affiliated organisations were banned in Bavaria. In a meeting with the Prime Minister of Bavaria 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 NSDAP to be lifted on 16 February. However, after an inflammatory speech he gave on 27 February, Hitler was barred from public speaking by the Bavarian authorities, a ban that remained in place until 1927.

To advance his political ambitions in spite of the ban, Hitler appointed, and to organise and grow the NSDAP in northern Germany. Gregor Strasser steered a more independent political course, emphasising the socialist elements of the party's programme. The stock market in the United States. The impact in Germany was dire: millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. Hitler and the NSDAP 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. Rise to power. — Adolf Hitler to a British correspondent in Berlin, June 1934 Having achieved full control over the legislative and executive branches of government, Hitler and his allies began to suppress the remaining opposition. The Social Democratic Party was banned and its assets seized. While many trade union delegates were in Berlin for May Day activities, SA stormtroopers demolished union offices around the country.

On 2 May 1933 all trade unions were forced to dissolve and their leaders were arrested. Some were sent to. The was formed as an umbrella organisation to represent all workers, administrators, and company owners, thus reflecting the concept of national socialism in the spirit of Hitler's ('people's community'). In early 1938, Hitler used blackmail to consolidate his hold over the military by instigating the. Hitler forced his War Minister, Field Marshal, to resign by using a police dossier that showed that Blomberg's new wife had a record for prostitution. Army commander Colonel-General was removed after the (SS) produced allegations that he had engaged in a homosexual relationship. Both men had fallen into disfavour because they objected to Hitler's demand to make the ready for war as early as 1938.

Hitler assumed Blomberg's title of Commander-in-Chief, thus taking personal command of the armed forces. He replaced the Ministry of War with the (Armed Forces High Command: OKW), headed by General.

On the same day, sixteen generals were stripped of their commands and 44 more were transferred; all were suspected of not being sufficiently pro-Nazi. By early February 1938, twelve more generals had been removed. Hitler took care to give his dictatorship the appearance of legality. Many of his decrees were explicitly based on the Reichstag Fire Decree and hence on Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The Reichstag renewed the Enabling Act twice, each time for a four-year period. While elections to the Reichstag were still held (in 1933, 1936, and 1938), voters were presented with a single list of Nazis and pro-Nazi 'guests' which carried with well over 90 percent of the vote. These elections were held in far-from-secret conditions; the Nazis threatened severe reprisals against anyone who didn't vote or dared to vote no.

Nazi Germany. Ceremony honouring the dead (Totenehrung) on the terrace in front of the Hall of Honour (Ehrenhalle) at the, September 1934 In August 1934, Hitler appointed Reichsbank President as Minister of Economics, and in the following year, as Plenipotentiary for War Economy in charge of preparing the economy for war. Reconstruction and rearmament were financed through, printing money, and seizing the assets of people arrested as enemies of the State, including Jews.

Unemployment fell from six million in 1932 to one million in 1936. Hitler oversaw one of the largest infrastructure improvement campaigns in German history, leading to the construction of dams, railroads, and other civil works. Wages were slightly lower in the mid to late 1930s compared with wages during the Weimar Republic, while the cost of living increased by 25 per cent. The average work week increased during the shift to a war economy; by 1939, the average German was working between 47 and 50 hours a week. Hitler's government sponsored on an immense scale., instrumental in implementing Hitler's classicist reinterpretation of German culture, was placed in charge of the.

Despite a threatened, Germany hosted the 1936. Hitler officiated at the opening ceremonies and attended events at both the in and the in Berlin. Rearmament and new alliances. Hitler and the Japanese foreign minister, at a meeting in Berlin in March 1941. In the background is. In February 1938, on the advice of his newly appointed foreign minister, the strongly pro-Japanese, Hitler ended the with the to instead enter into an alliance with the more modern and powerful. Hitler announced German recognition of, the Japanese-occupied state in, and renounced German claims to their former colonies in the Pacific held by Japan.

Hitler ordered an end to arms shipments to China and recalled all German officers working with the Chinese Army. In retaliation, Chinese General cancelled all Sino-German economic agreements, depriving the Germans of many Chinese raw materials. Austria and Czechoslovakia On 12 March 1938, Hitler announced the unification of Austria with in the.

Hitler then turned his attention to the population of the region of Czechoslovakia. On 28–29 March 1938, Hitler held a series of secret meetings in Berlin with of the, the largest of the ethnic German parties of the Sudetenland.

The men agreed that Henlein would demand increased autonomy for from the Czechoslovakian government, thus providing a pretext for German military action against Czechoslovakia. In April 1938 Henlein told the of that 'whatever the Czech government might offer, he would always raise still higher demands. He wanted to sabotage an understanding by any means because this was the only method to blow up Czechoslovakia quickly'. In private, Hitler considered the Sudeten issue unimportant; his real intention was a war of conquest against Czechoslovakia. See also: In private discussions in 1939, Hitler declared Britain the main enemy to be defeated and that Poland's obliteration was a necessary prelude for that goal. The eastern flank would be secured and land would be added to Germany's Lebensraum. Offended by the British 'guarantee' on 31 March 1939 of Polish independence, he said, 'I shall brew them a devil's drink'.

In a speech in for the launch of the battleship on 1 April, he threatened to denounce the if the British continued to guarantee Polish independence, which he perceived as an 'encirclement' policy. Poland was to either become a German satellite state or it would be neutralised in order to secure the Reich's eastern flank and prevent a possible British blockade. Hitler initially favoured the idea of a satellite state, but upon its rejection by the Polish government, he decided to invade and made this the main foreign policy goal of 1939. On 3 April, Hitler ordered the military to prepare for ('Case White'), the plan for invading Poland on 25 August. In a Reichstag speech on 28 April, he renounced both the Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the. Historians such as William Carr, and have argued that one reason for Hitler's rush to war was his fear of an early death.

He had repeatedly claimed that he must lead Germany into war before he got too old, as his successors might lack his strength of will. Hitler portrayed on a 42 stamp from 1944. The term Grossdeutsches Reich (Greater German Reich) was first used in 1943 for the expanded Germany under his rule.

How Many Pages Is Mein Kampf

Hitler was concerned that a military attack against Poland could result in a premature war with Britain. Hitler's foreign minister and former Ambassador to London, Joachim von Ribbentrop, assured him that neither Britain nor France would honour their commitments to Poland. Accordingly, on 22 August 1939 Hitler ordered a military mobilisation against Poland. This plan required tacit Soviet support, and the (the ) between Germany and the Soviet Union, led by, included a secret agreement to partition Poland between the two countries. Contrary to Ribbentrop's prediction that Britain would sever Anglo-Polish ties, Britain and Poland signed the Anglo-Polish alliance on 25 August 1939.

This, along with news from Italy that Mussolini would not honour the, prompted Hitler to postpone the attack on Poland from 25 August to 1 September. Hitler unsuccessfully tried to manoeuvre the British into neutrality by offering them a non-aggression guarantee on 25 August; he then instructed Ribbentrop to present a last-minute peace plan with an impossibly short time limit in an effort to blame the imminent war on British and Polish inaction.

On 1 September 1939, Germany under the pretext of having been denied claims to the and the right to extraterritorial roads across the, which Germany had ceded under the Versailles Treaty. In response, on Germany on 3 September, surprising Hitler and prompting him to angrily ask Ribbentrop, 'Now what?' France and Britain did not act on their declarations immediately, and on 17 September, Soviet forces invaded eastern Poland. Hitler visits Paris with architect (left) and sculptor (right), 23 June 1940 On 9 April, German forces. On the same day Hitler proclaimed the birth of the, his vision of a united empire of Germanic nations of Europe in which the Dutch, Flemish, and Scandinavians were joined into a 'racially pure' polity under German leadership. In May 1940, Germany, and conquered, the, and. These victories prompted Mussolini to have Italy join forces with Hitler on 10 June.

France and Germany signed an on 22 June. Kershaw notes that Hitler's popularity within Germany – and German support for the war – reached its peak when he returned to Berlin on 6 July from his tour of Paris. Following the unexpected swift victory, Hitler promoted twelve generals to the rank of during the. Boundaries of the Nazi planned Britain, whose troops were forced to evacuate France by sea from, continued to fight alongside in the.

Hitler made peace overtures to the new British leader, and upon their rejection he ordered a series of aerial attacks on airbases and radar stations in south-east England. On 7 September the systematic nightly bombing of London began. The German Luftwaffe failed to defeat the Royal Air Force in what became known as the. By the end of September, Hitler realised that air superiority for the invasion of Britain (in ) could not be achieved, and ordered the operation postponed. The on British cities intensified and continued for months, including London, and. On 27 September 1940, the was signed in Berlin by of, Hitler, and Italian foreign minister Ciano, and later expanded to include Hungary, Romania, and, thus yielding the. Hitler's attempt to integrate the Soviet Union into the anti-British bloc failed after inconclusive talks between Hitler and in Berlin in November, and he ordered preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union.

In early 1941, German forces were deployed to North Africa, the, and the Middle East. In February, to bolster the Italian presence. In April, Hitler launched the, quickly followed by the. In May, German forces were sent to support and to. Path to defeat On 22 June 1941, contravening the Hitler–Stalin Non-Aggression Pact of 1939, 4–5 million Axis troops attacked the Soviet Union. This offensive (codenamed ) was intended to destroy the Soviet Union and seize its natural resources for subsequent aggression against the Western powers.

The invasion conquered a huge area, including the republics, and West. By early August, Axis troops had advanced 500 km (310 mi) and won the. Hitler ordered to temporarily halt its advance to Moscow and divert its Panzer groups to aid in the encirclement of and. His generals disagreed with this change, having advanced within 400 km (250 mi) of Moscow, and his decision caused a crisis among the military leadership. The pause provided the Red Army with an opportunity to mobilise fresh reserves; historian Russel Stolfi considers it to be one of the major factors that caused the failure of the Moscow offensive, which was resumed in October 1941 and. During this crisis, Hitler appointed himself as head of the, at the same time limiting its authority to the eastern front. Hitler, to the Reichstag, on 11 December 1941 On 7 December 1941, Japan based at, Hawaii.

Four days later, Hitler. On 18 December 1941, Himmler asked Hitler, 'What to do with the Jews of Russia?' , to which Hitler replied, ' als Partisanen auszurotten' ('exterminate them as partisans'). Israeli historian has commented that the remark is probably as close as historians will ever get to a definitive order from Hitler for the genocide carried out during the Holocaust.

In late 1942, German forces were defeated in the, thwarting Hitler's plans to seize the and the Middle East. Overconfident in his own military expertise following the earlier victories in 1940, Hitler became distrustful of his Army High Command and began to interfere in military and tactical planning, with damaging consequences. In December 1942 and January 1943, Hitler's repeated refusal to allow their withdrawal at the led to the almost total destruction of the. Over 200,000 Axis soldiers were killed and 235,000 were taken prisoner.

Thereafter came a decisive strategic defeat at the. Hitler's military judgement became increasingly erratic, and Germany's military and economic position deteriorated, as did Hitler's health.

The destroyed map room at the after the Following the in 1943, by after a vote of no confidence of the. Marshal, placed in charge of the government, soon surrendered to the Allies. Throughout 1943 and 1944, the Soviet Union steadily forced Hitler's armies into retreat along the. On 6 June 1944, the Western Allied armies landed in northern France in one of the largest operations in history,.

Many German officers concluded that defeat was inevitable and that continuing under Hitler's leadership would result in the. Between 1939 and 1945, there were many plans to, some of which proceeded to significant degrees. The most well known, the, came from within Germany and was at least partly driven by the increasing prospect of a German defeat in the war. In July 1944, in the, part of, planted a bomb in one of, the. Hitler narrowly survived because staff officer moved the briefcase containing the bomb behind a leg of the heavy conference table, which deflected much of the blast.

Later, Hitler ordered savage reprisals resulting in the execution of more than 4,900 people. Defeat and death. A wagon piled high with corpses outside the crematorium in the liberated (April 1945) The Holocaust and Germany's war in the East were based on Hitler's long-standing view that the Jews were the enemy of the German people and that Lebensraum was needed for Germany's expansion.

He focused on Eastern Europe for this expansion, aiming to defeat Poland and the Soviet Union and then removing or killing the Jews and. The (General Plan East) called for deporting the population of occupied Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to West Siberia, for use as slave labour or to be murdered; the conquered territories were to be colonised by German or 'Germanised' settlers. The goal was to implement this plan after the conquest of the Soviet Union, but when this failed, Hitler moved the plans forward. By January 1942, he had decided that the Jews, Slavs, and other deportees considered undesirable should be killed. Hitler's order for, dated 1 September 1939 The genocide was organised and executed by and.

The records of the, held on 20 January 1942 and led by Heydrich, with fifteen senior Nazi officials participating, provide the clearest evidence of systematic planning for the Holocaust. On 22 February, Hitler was recorded saying, 'we shall regain our health only by eliminating the Jews'. Similarly, at a meeting in July 1941 with leading functionaries of the Eastern territories, Hitler said that the easiest way to quickly pacify the areas would be best achieved by 'shooting everyone who even looks odd'.

Although no direct order from Hitler authorising the mass killings has surfaced, his public speeches, orders to his generals, and the diaries of Nazi officials demonstrate that he conceived and authorised the extermination of European Jewry. During the war, Hitler repeatedly stated his prophecy of 1939 was being fulfilled, namely, that a world war would bring about the annihilation of the Jewish race. Hitler approved the —killing squads that followed the German army through Poland, the Baltic, and the Soviet Union —and was well informed about their activities. By summer 1942, was expanded to accommodate large numbers of deportees for killing. Scores of other concentration camps and satellite camps were set up throughout Europe, with several camps devoted exclusively to extermination. Between 1939 and 1945, the (SS), assisted by governments and recruits from occupied countries, was responsible for the deaths of at least eleven million people, including 5.5 to 6 million Jews (representing two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe), and between 200,000 and 1,500,000. Deaths took place in concentration and extermination camps, and through mass executions.

Many victims of the Holocaust were to death, while others died of starvation or disease or while working as slave labourers. In addition to eliminating Jews, the Nazis planned to reduce the population of the conquered territories by 30 million people through starvation in an action called the. Food supplies would be diverted to the German army and German civilians. Cities would be razed and the land allowed to return to forest or resettled by German colonists. Together, the Hunger Plan and Generalplan Ost would have led to the starvation of 80 million people in the Soviet Union. These partially fulfilled plans resulted in additional deaths, bringing the total number of civilians and prisoners of war who died in the to an estimated 19.3 million people. Hitler's policies resulted in the killing of nearly two million non-Jewish, over three million, communists and other political opponents, homosexuals, the physically and mentally disabled, and trade unionists.

Hitler did not speak publicly about the killings, and seems never to have visited the concentration camps. The Nazis embraced the concept of. On 15 September 1935, Hitler presented two laws—known as the —to the Reichstag. The laws banned sexual relations and marriages between Aryans and Jews and were later extended to include 'Gypsies, Negroes or their bastard offspring'. The laws stripped all non-Aryans of their German citizenship and forbade the employment of non-Jewish women under the age of 45 in Jewish households. Hitler's early policies targeted children with physical and developmental disabilities in a programme dubbed, and he later authorised a programme for adults with serious mental and physical disabilities, now referred to as. Leadership style.

Hitler during a meeting at the headquarters of in June 1942 Hitler ruled the NSDAP by asserting the (leader principle). The principle relied on absolute obedience of all subordinates to their superiors; thus he viewed the government structure as a pyramid, with himself—the —at the apex. Rank in the party was not determined by elections—positions were filled through appointment by those of higher rank, who demanded unquestioning obedience to the will of the leader. Hitler's leadership style was to give contradictory orders to his subordinates and to place them into positions where their duties and responsibilities overlapped with those of others, to have 'the stronger one do the job'.

In this way, Hitler fostered distrust, competition, and infighting among his subordinates to consolidate and maximise his own power. Never met after 1938, and he discouraged his ministers from meeting independently. Hitler typically did not give written orders; instead he communicated verbally, or had them conveyed through his close associate,. He entrusted Bormann with his paperwork, appointments, and personal finances; Bormann used his position to control the flow of information and access to Hitler. Hitler dominated his country's war effort during World War II to a greater extent than any other national leader. He strengthened his control of the armed forces in 1938, and subsequently made all major decisions regarding Germany's military strategy.

His decision to mount a risky series of offensives against Norway, France, and the Low Countries in 1940 against the advice of the military proved successful, though the diplomatic and military strategies he employed in attempts to force the United Kingdom out of the war ended in failure. Hitler deepened his involvement in the war effort by appointing himself commander-in-chief of the Army in December 1941; from this point forward he personally directed the war against the Soviet Union, while his military commanders facing the Western Allies retained a degree of autonomy. Hitler's leadership became increasingly disconnected from reality as the war turned against Germany, with the military's defensive strategies often hindered by his slow decision making and frequent directives to hold untenable positions. Nevertheless, he continued to believe that only his leadership could deliver victory. In the final months of the war Hitler refused to consider peace negotiations, regarding the complete destruction of Germany as preferable to surrender. The military did not challenge Hitler's dominance of the war effort, and senior officers generally supported and enacted his decisions. For peace, freedom and democracy never again fascism millions of dead remind us Hitler's suicide was likened by contemporaries to a 'spell' being broken.

Public support for Hitler had collapsed by the time of his death and few Germans mourned his passing; Kershaw argues that most civilians and military personnel were too busy adjusting to the collapse of the country or fleeing from the fighting to take any interest. According to historian, National Socialism 'burst like a bubble' without its leader. Hitler's actions and ideology are almost universally regarded as gravely immoral; according to Kershaw, 'Never in history has such ruination—physical and moral—been associated with the name of one man'.

Hitler's political programme brought about a world war, leaving behind a devastated and impoverished Eastern and Central Europe. Germany itself suffered wholesale destruction, characterised as (Zero Hour). Hitler's policies inflicted human suffering on an unprecedented scale; according to, the Nazi regime was responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war.

In addition, 29 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the. The number of civilians killed during the Second World War was unprecedented in the history of warfare. Historians, philosophers, and politicians often use the word ' to describe the Nazi regime. Many European countries have both the promotion of Nazism and.

Historian described Hitler as 'one of the great examples of the singular and incalculable power of personality in historical life'. English historian saw him as 'among the 'terrible simplifiers' of history, the most systematic, the most historical, the most philosophical, and yet the coarsest, cruelest, least magnanimous conqueror the world has ever known'. For the historian, Hitler's defeat marked the end of a phase of European history dominated by Germany. In its place emerged the, a global confrontation between the, dominated by the United States and other nations, and the, dominated by the Soviet Union. Historian avers that without Hitler and the displacement of the Jews, the modern nation state of would not exist. He contends that without Hitler, the de-colonisation of former European spheres of influence would have been postponed.

Further, Haffner claims that other than, Hitler had a more significant impact than any other comparable historical figure, in that he too caused a wide range of worldwide changes in a relatively short time span. Views on religion.

Main article: Hitler was born to a practising Catholic mother and an father; after leaving home Hitler never again attended or received the. Speer states that Hitler railed against the church to his political associates and though he never officially left it, he had no attachment to it. He adds that Hitler felt that in the absence of organized religion, people would turn to mysticism, which he considered regressive. According to Speer, Hitler believed that Japanese religious beliefs or would have been a more suitable religion for Germans than Christianity, with its 'meekness and flabbiness'.

Historian states that Hitler was fundamentally opposed to the Christian churches. According to Bullock, Hitler did not believe in God, was anticlerical, and held Christian ethics in contempt because they contravened his preferred view of '. He favoured aspects of that suited his own views, and adopted some elements of the Catholic Church's hierarchical organisation, and phraseology.

Hitler viewed the church as an important politically conservative influence on society, and he adopted a strategic relationship with it that 'suited his immediate political purposes'. In public, Hitler often praised Christian heritage and German Christian culture, though professing a belief in an 'Aryan Jesus' who fought against the Jews.

Any pro-Christian public rhetoric contradicted his private statements, which described Christianity as 'absurdity' and nonsense founded on lies. According to a U.S. (OSS) report, 'The Nazi Master Plan', Hitler planned to destroy the influence of Christian churches within the Reich. His eventual goal was the total elimination of Christianity.

Mein Kampf English Translation

This goal informed Hitler's movement early on, but he saw it as inexpedient to publicly express this extreme position. According to Bullock, Hitler wanted to wait until after the war before executing this plan. Speer wrote that Hitler had a negative view of Himmler's and 's mystical notions and Himmler's attempt to mythologise the SS. Hitler was more pragmatic, and his ambitions centred on more practical concerns. See also: and Researchers have variously suggested that Hitler suffered from, and. In a report prepared for the OSS in 1943, of described Hitler as a 'neurotic '.

In his 1977 book, historian proposes that he suffered from. Historians Henrik Eberle and Hans-Joachim Neumann consider that while he suffered from a number of illnesses including Parkinson's disease, Hitler did not experience pathological delusions and was always fully aware of, and therefore responsible for, his decisions. Theories about Hitler's medical condition are difficult to prove, and placing too much weight on them may have the effect of attributing many of the events and consequences of Nazi Germany to the possibly impaired physical health of one individual. Kershaw feels that it is better to take a broader view of German history by examining what social forces led to the Nazi dictatorship and its policies rather than to pursue narrow explanations for the Holocaust and World War II based on only one person.

At social events he sometimes gave graphic accounts of the slaughter of animals in an effort to make his guests shun meat. Bormann had a greenhouse constructed near the (near ) to ensure a steady supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for Hitler. Hitler publicly avoided alcohol. He occasionally drank beer and wine in private, but gave up drinking because of weight gain in 1943. He was a non-smoker for most of his adult life, but smoked heavily in his youth (25 to 40 cigarettes a day); he eventually quit, calling the habit 'a waste of money'. He encouraged his close associates to quit by offering a gold watch to anyone able to break the habit.

Hitler began using occasionally after 1937 and became addicted to it in late 1942. Speer linked this use of amphetamine to Hitler's increasingly erratic behavior and inflexible decision making (for example, rarely allowing military retreats). Prescribed 90 medications during the war years by his personal physician, Hitler took many pills each day for chronic stomach problems and other ailments. He regularly consumed, and, as well as and (the latter in the form of ). He suffered as a result of the bomb blast in 1944, and 200 wood splinters had to be removed from his legs. Newsreel footage of Hitler shows tremors in his left hand and a shuffling walk, which began before the war and worsened towards the end of his life.

And several other doctors who met Hitler in the last weeks of his life also formed a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Hitler in 1942 with his long-time lover, whom he married on 29 April 1945 Hitler created a public image as a celibate man without a domestic life, dedicated entirely to his political mission and the nation. He met his lover, in 1929, and married her in April 1945. In September 1931, his half-niece, took her own life with Hitler's gun in his Munich apartment. It was rumoured among contemporaries that Geli was in a romantic relationship with him, and her death was a source of deep, lasting pain., the younger sister of Hitler and the last living member of his immediate family, died in 1960. In propaganda films.

I would not start with that book. The best (in my opinion) road to an understanding of Hitler is Joachim Fest's Hitler biography. I think Fest is an I would not start with that book.

The best (in my opinion) road to an understanding of Hitler is Joachim Fest's Hitler biography. I think Fest is an outstanding scholar of NS Germany and what makes his biography special is that he managed to write it without sentimental bias or moralising subtext - just like a professional historian should, of course, but on the subject of NS Germany, many fail to do so.

If after that, you feel you need further insight, by all means pick it up - but be aware this is a primary text (a historical source), so you'll be left alone with it, and have to provide your own context. To be perfectly honest, I do not think you will be able to do so if you are not an academic historian, so I'd probably not bother. It gets worse because you really should read this in the original - any translation does not carry Hitler's linguistic style (yes you get the long, convoluted, rambling syntax, but you lose his emotional overtones). Finally, if you are able to read this thing in German, you will then discover to your frustration that there are no good scholarly editions around. But there will be next year - the high-calibre German Institut fuer Zeitgeschichte is at least scheduled to release its massive modern edition next year - the original text (800 pages) will be embedded in 1200 pages worth of commentary. Happy reading! Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto?

That's like asking how Twain's huckleberry finn and Smith's wealth of nations differ and if you should read Mein Kampf and the Communist Manifesto? That's like asking how Twain's huckleberry finn and Smith's wealth of nations differ and if you should read both. Mein kampf and the Communist Manifesto are not related to each other in that way.

Hitler was Fascist and it would help to understand Communism to understand his animosity toward it. Whether or not it is important to read both. That depends on you. The Communist Manifesto has impacted, and continues to influence, billions of peoples lives and provides a counterpoint to mindlessly backing a capitalist economic system.

Mein Kempf, while interesting, very truly is the obvious work of a insane man. TLDR: Mein Kampf = interesting; Communist Menifesto = thought provoking, enlightening and understanding of different cultures. I was somewhat disturbed to hear from Lilo that the negative review of Er ist wieder da which she had posted on Amazon had been removed without notice.

As an experiment, I thought I would post a negative review of Mein Kampf, where I do the same thing and advise people not to read it. You can find the review. So far, three people have voted for it and one person has attacked me in a rather bizarre way.

I'm curious to find out what will happen next. In particular, I want to see if Amazon remo I was somewhat disturbed to hear from Lilo that the negative review of Er ist wieder da which she had posted on Amazon had been removed without notice. As an experiment, I thought I would post a negative review of Mein Kampf, where I do the same thing and advise people not to read it. You can find the review.

So far, three people have voted for it and one person has attacked me in a rather bizarre way. I'm curious to find out what will happen next. In particular, I want to see if Amazon remove my review too. My guess is that this will only happen if the review gets a large number of votes - so if you're also curious, please go there and add your vote.

I will post an update if and when there have been any significant developments. Well, here's an interesting development. The Amazon review, which is currently running at 20-3, has not been deleted. But one of the more deranged posts by 'CitizenChampion', the guy who was attacking it, has been removed. So far, then, Amazon have behaved quite correctly.

Did anyone on this thread flag Citizen's post? Only a few hours later, and with the score at 24-3, we have a new incident: this time, Amazon have deleted a sarcastic post criticizing 'CitizenChampion' and implying. Well, let's not get into that. But it went remarkably quickly. Whoever's in charge certainly seems to have their eye on this one.

I knew 'CitizenChampion' wouldn't give up that easily. Since his latest post will probably soon be deleted by the moderator, I'm pasting in a copy here. In all probability you are a Jew.It further seems that these hidden bastards might share a common trait that an enemy once is an enemy always. What you have committed has little or nothing to do with 'Mein Kampf',though you truly fear them this is about an enbred contempt perhaps even the having of ill-will against my ability to participate. This forum like another forum here at Amazon is a wicked as it is corrupt.You are not honest Manny Rayner and neither are this hidden filth behind the scenes that I wpould rather grab you by the throat,You bastard menace.Keep at it, 'Citizen'!

I'm feeling prouder of my partially Jewish ethnicity every day. The score is now 31-3. I'm afraid that all of Citizen's posts have now disappeared from the Amazon review: some have been deleted by the moderator, and some by Citizen himself.

He's probably making a smart move. I don't know where he's from, but in quite a lot of countries he might have been getting into illegal hatespeech territory. Well, Citizen, if that was so then I'm flattered you were willing to risk a fine or maybe even some community service to attack my little review. Update: in England, it seems that this would be entirely possible. See Paul's message #85 in the comment thread. And I'm relieved that I had the presence of mind to save one of your comments for posterity. You have not written in vain.

The score is now 37-3, and the review has reached the first page. Thanks for all the support, guys! A few days later, and Citizen is back! I'm copying all his posts from now on.

Why, oh why, didn't I do this right from the start? You can see that I'd never have made an investigative journalist. Anyway, here is his latest open letter to the world: Your a liar Manny Rayner, however like your source of information it remains an embedded feature of your claim.

You remain a hidden wretched wickedness that is a plague upon a honest word. You indeed like your claim of half and half is like your word,it is stolen and now you are crying wolf. One further thing your inability to be honest is likened to this websites inability to be honest as to 'Mein Kampf'. I really do not care whatever cornball crap your hustling whoever the hell you are but one thing is for certain this no good website has deleted many upon many comments of mine that require an honest approach to who is Adolf Hitler.This embedded feature is so determined to deny any claim of another opinion that this embedded feature is as your half and half claim,that is your history as well as this claim has legs.

What I said was in all probability you are a Jew this was after Amazon was having a heart attack.Amazon is not capable of being honest.It is truly regretful to have worked well on an opinion and then to see this disease spread. Do you know who Amazon is?The score is now 45-4. Citizen's latest post has been deleted (it says by the author), but now a new voice has joined the conversation. 'Loki' writes: The statement 'Hitler is evil' is a subjective statement: I for one do not subscribe to the idea of absolute 'Good' and absolute 'Evil'. So, I do not think it appropriate to stay away from reading any book because someone thought the author 'evil'. One should read and assess for oneself. So I do not think it appropriate that people should recommend against reading a particular because they consider the author or subject 'Evil'.

They should make the recommendation solely on the merits of the book, AFTER reading the book. I hope Amazon would take note and will not allow such reviews to be posted.How will Amazon react? My prediction is that they'll just ignore it, but we will soon see. The score is now 49-6.

'Loki', who is a good deal more polite and coherent than Citizen, is still trying to persuade me that I am being unfair to Mein Kampf. He says that everyone has a right to be heard, including Hitler. Well, as I just replied, I couldn't disagree more.

Hitler long ago forfeited his right to be heard. He has no rights at all. We're now at 50-6. This thing is in danger of getting out of hand; I had no idea that so many Goodreaders felt it was immoral to discourage people from reading what is widely cited as the most hateful and dangerous literary work in human history. But, be that as it may, I would just like to remind everyone what the original point of the exercise was: I wanted to see if Amazon would delete a review whose sole purpose was to persuade shoppers not to buy Mein Kampf. I have said harsh things about Amazon before, but this time I'm delighted to give them a clean bill of health. If anything, they have been overzealous in defending me.

At least in this instance, they have made it very clear that they think it's more important to show respect towards Hitler's millions of victims than to try and increase their profits by removing or downplaying negative reviews of his dreadful, utterly evil book. I misjudged you, Amazon. Apologies, and Merry Christmas! about the new edition of Mein Kampf that is about to appear.

As noted, there are quite a few well-informed people who disapprove. I was particularly struck by this passage: Charlotte Knobloch, head of the Jewish community in Munich, said she had not vigorously opposed it when the project first surfaced. But her position, she said, hardened after hearing from outraged Holocaust survivors. “This book is most evil; it is the worst anti-Semitic pamphlet and a guidebook for the Holocaust,” she said. “It is a Pandora’s box that, once opened again, cannot be closed.” Visiting Pioneer Books this week, I noticed a 1936 English edition of Mein Kampf on the shelf. The blurb is so fascinating that I have to copy it out here: The Paternoster Library This new and attractively produced series is specifically designed to appeal to the discriminating general reader who wishes to secure for a moderate outlay an up-to-date library which will provide him with a steady supply of interesting, informative and entertaining books that have already proved their worth in high-priced editions.

All the titles in this series will be produced in a uniform and attractive format that will prove an ornament to any library shelf. In choosing titles for this library the publishers wish to cater for the most varied taste, but in doing so they intend to ensure that only books of real merit are selected, and it is hoped that any books so chosen will come to be regarded as ones that are automatically worthy of a permanent place on any publisher's shelves. My Struggle It would not be exaggerating to say that no more important autobiography than this has been published since the War, and certainly no biography has been issued for decades over which controversy has raged so bitterly. Whatever one's political views may be, it is a book everyone should read, for it reveals the forces and circumstances which went to make a remarkable character, whose intense belief in his ideals won over a mighty nation, and changed the course of history. The News Chronicle called it 'an astonishing book'; the Evening News said 'It commands attention.' Morning Post: 'We recommend a close study of this book.' The Evening Standard said: 'The whole of the political Hitler is in these brutally candid pages.'

The Yorkshire Post said: 'The book should be extremely valuable in enabling English readers to obtain a general conception of Hitler's theories.' Yeats-Brown wrote: 'I hope My Struggle will be published in a cheap edition.' I thought for a few seconds that a miracle had happened - but alas, it was only a software glitch.

Someone calling themselves 'Griselda Scott' has left a comment on my Amazon review: Censorsship. JIDF has been here. The nose knows.I had never heard of the Jewish Internet Defense Force until I looked them up just now. But if they want to pay me a small fee for every review I post attacking racist lunatics, I'm certainly not going to object. JIDF, you know where to find me.

Another interesting comment on my Amazon review, this time from 'Jorjan Felder Neal': Hahaha Your relatives are living it up in Palestine! There was no Holicost or genoside only deportation! According to official Red Cross records the numbers of people, all people, who died in German concentration, actually, work or holding camps, was some 270,000.

That's throughout the entire war, including those who died of communicable diseases such as typhus (rampant towards the end of the war) and cholera. Since there weren't even six million Jews in all of Europe at that time, then, how did the extras die?

Did they import them from Khazaria? T Khazars who proved to be the true barbarians and who were responsible for the mass slaughter of the innocent, including mass killings in Germany, Russia, Poland, and more. The Zionist criminals used the war as the leveraging point to drive their plot home, which was the near complete imperialistic conquest of Palestine. The social strife they created led to the basis for mass emigration of European Jewry from their homes to Middle Eastern land.

Without the war, an occupied Palestine would have never occurred. It was also the means by which well-placed Zionists and also low-level operatives could enrich themselves through theft, not only of the land of the Palestinian people but also through the usurpation of the assets and wealth of European nations. Do your research before running your uneducated mouth! Your family is a bunch of liars!A little tip for Mr Neal: if you don't want your antisemitic propaganda to sound like the ravings of an illiterate moron, it's important to get the spelling and grammar right. I don't mean it as criticism; I'm just trying to help. I hate to say it, but just when Amazon were doing so well here they seem to have messed up. I thought I'd take a look at their page for Mein Kampf, which I hadn't visited for at least a year.

I found it had changed in an important way. Previously, the page had a list of all reviews, and it was easy to find mine. Now, there's only a link to a list of verified purchase reviews. So although my review is still there, no one will see it, since I didn't buy a copy of Mein Kampf. But Amazon don't want me to feel I've missed out. There's a tempting little notice: Right, let's get this straight.

Amazon are using the good old stick and carrot approach to get me to buy a copy of what is probably the most evil and dangerous book in human history. The stick is that they're hiding my review until I can prove I've bought a copy from them. The carrot is that they'll offer it to me for free, as long as I sign up for an Amazon Rewards Visa Card. As Reese Witherspoon says in Just Like Heaven, excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth. Let's distill my previous review.

This book is badly written, presents scientifically incorrect, racist ideas as fact, and takes a comically long time to tell a boring story about formulating an idiotic military plan that didn't work. People who should read this book don't need to be told they should read it. They also have listened to Wagner and read Nietzsche, and find their respective worldviews problematic. If your explanation for reading this book does not involve understanding mistakes from t Let's distill my previous review. This book is badly written, presents scientifically incorrect, racist ideas as fact, and takes a comically long time to tell a boring story about formulating an idiotic military plan that didn't work. People who should read this book don't need to be told they should read it.

They also have listened to Wagner and read Nietzsche, and find their respective worldviews problematic. If your explanation for reading this book does not involve understanding mistakes from the past and/or exploring why people find nationalism engaging you shouldn't read it. Call me a crazy talking liberal if you want, but I am against burning human beings in big ovens. I don't care how trendy and cool it was considered back in the day, that's just the way I was raised. I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. Or at least I thought he was my friend. It turned out he was actually just a cashier at Borders.

But he looked an awful lot like this guy I used to be friends with when I worked at Gamestop. I could have sworn it was him. Call me a crazy talking liberal if you want, but I am against burning human beings in big ovens. I don't care how trendy and cool it was considered back in the day, that's just the way I was raised. I read this book on the recommendation of a friend.

Or at least I thought he was my friend. It turned out he was actually just a cashier at Borders. But he looked an awful lot like this guy I used to be friends with when I worked at Gamestop. I could have sworn it was him. The only real difference was that he worked at Borders and not Gamestop. Oh and he apparently enjoys Nazi literature.

And I'm pretty sure the guy I worked with at Gamestop was black. But in any case I suppose I should blame myself. Perhaps the next time a skinny bald white cashier recommends a book written by Adolf Hitler I should get a second opinion. Especially if he's not the tall black guy with dreads I used to work with. So in summary. 1) Hiter bad 2) Gamestop = Cherished memories from my youth 3) Books not returnable at Borders after 15 days. Of course I didn't expect Mein Kampf to be a great book, even within the admittedly narrow antisemitic messianic homoerotic prison genre, but I did expect a little more showmanship.

If you've seen Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, then you know Adolf. could really work himself into an artful spittle-flying lather. My German is middling, but I've heard he was all charismatic and persuasive or whatever.

Like, if you were just planning to go out for a stroll and pick up some schnitzel, you'd happe Of course I didn't expect Mein Kampf to be a great book, even within the admittedly narrow antisemitic messianic homoerotic prison genre, but I did expect a little more showmanship. If you've seen Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, then you know Adolf. could really work himself into an artful spittle-flying lather. My German is middling, but I've heard he was all charismatic and persuasive or whatever.

Like, if you were just planning to go out for a stroll and pick up some schnitzel, you'd happen to overhear him on a radio broadcast and all of a sudden you'd be smashing windows, incarcerating Jews, and annexing strategic swaths of Lebensraum before you even knew what you were doing. He was that powerful. Yeah, we all understand that Hitler didn't have the best taste. He was into retro-Greek kitsch and probably those paintings of clowns and kittens and whaling ships. All the more reason to expect a semi-entertaining wallow in the muck and mire. I hate to make such an outlandish comparison (not really), but if Zsa Zsa Gabor wrote a 600+ autobiography detailing her grudges and her plans for rescuing America from its position of weakness and social decadence, we'd really have a right to expect a side-splitting compendium of both balls-to-the-wall absurdity and showbiz razzle-dazzle.

Why can't we expect the same from Adolf Hitler? We expect idiots to entertain us with their idiocy; we don't expect them to be dull.

I'll bet Mel Gibson's ghost writer would shit out a much better book. With more anecdotes about Jodie Foster than your standard-issue xenophobic tract. Holy dumbass! I just realized I've been misspelling Hitler's first name my whole life as 'Adolph.' Where did I get that from? Probably the Jews.

While I was teaching on my placement at the start of the year my supervising teacher had an incentive program going on with some of the students in the VCE history class we were taking. He told them he would pay $50 to any student who finished reading Mein Kampf by the end of the year. He told me he had made this offer every year and had never been required to pay up. He believed this was because the book was so poorly written and so turgid that even the most money hungry 16 year old would figur While I was teaching on my placement at the start of the year my supervising teacher had an incentive program going on with some of the students in the VCE history class we were taking. He told them he would pay $50 to any student who finished reading Mein Kampf by the end of the year. He told me he had made this offer every year and had never been required to pay up. He believed this was because the book was so poorly written and so turgid that even the most money hungry 16 year old would figure there were easier ways to make some cash.

That was the head-space I approached this book in. I was expecting it to be almost painfully badly written and pretty much the awful rants of a nearly insane fool. I need to assure you, that is not the book I found.

This book is actually frighteningly lucid and remarkably well written. It is a much more dangerous book than, say, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. That book is so embarrassingly badly written, so pathetically obviously a forgery that anyone with half a brain could do little else than laugh at it with derision. I was actually a bit surprised when Hitler referred to the Protocols in this – as I thought even he would have had more shame.

Nevertheless, the rest of his arguments against the Jews are much more carefully constructed and build in a way that has become a virtual template for any conspiracy theory. And what a conspiracy theory this is! Hitler starts by saying he never really had anything against the Jews, thought that they were just another religion and could hardly be bothered worrying about them. In fact, he goes as far to say that if he had heard people speaking against them he would probably have stopped them and regarded these people as reactionary fools. At least, until his eyes were opened to the Jews infinite deceit after a series of interactions with them and Social Democrats following the death of his parents. The Jews are responsible for EVERYTHING that is wrong with the world – from Finance capitalism to the stock market to trade unions to communism and social democracy to modern art and theatre and just about anything else you can think of. This is the conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories.

He keeps telling the reader just how lacking in creativity the Jews are – but if they are able to pull off half of the stuff he blames them for they must be nearly godlike in their powers. There were only one or two sections in the book when these rants became tiresome – he clearly understood when to push his point and when to hold back.

He sounds much more reasonable than I would have ever dreamt. The things that are most interesting about this book, to me anyway, were the glimpses into his life given early. The stuff with the mice he watched playing on the floor is the last thing I thought I would find in this book.

The stuff about his father is gobsmackingly interesting. As he says, he respected his father, but loved his mother. In fact, he makes it clear that he definitely did not want to become anything at all like his father. Ironically, for someone who did not want to be a Civil Servant, I’m not sure that becoming Dictator of Germany was necessarily the most obvious way of avoiding that fate. What he has to say about propaganda – essentially, people are stupid and so need to be told in the simplest terms imaginable what they need to believe and that all subtlety is wasted on them, made me wonder how people ever followed him (given he is saying he is more than happy to lie to his followers). This ought to be much more chilling for us today (flicked on the television and watched any ads lately?) than it tends to be. I was also surprised by his frequent references to German young men doing things to ‘harden their bodies’, there is a homoerotic element to the text (delicately stated, of course) that I found completely unexpected.

This view is increased by this dismissal of female sexuality as entirely submissive. Sex plays a large role in his argument against the Jews. Jews marry off their daughters to Aryans (as they know that the best way to overcome a nation is to attack its blood) and their sons lie in wait to seduce Aryan women. By diluting Aryan blood and keeping the purity of their own blood (he never explains how both of these are possible at the same time except for vague references to the purity of the male blood line of Jews - the opposite of the case, in fact) they hope to one day take over the world.

The argument sounds much more crazy in my summary than it does in his endlessly longer version – I didn’t say his ideas made sense, but he has presented them in the best possible light for the nonsense he has to deliver. I can see how easy it would be for someone suffering from the defeat of Germany to want to believe the reason for their defeat and hardships was a Jewish conspiracy. I didn’t finish this. I got to the end of the first volume and decided I had heard enough. I was surprised by how similar his arguments are to conservative arguments today about keeping refugees out or for the ‘increase’ in social violence or crime or whatever else. If you wanted a conspiracy theory, perhaps a good one would be that conservatives tend to say Hitler is impossible to read so that people will not see the similarities of his views with their arguments. But to be honest, I’m over conspiracy theories.

This one is so extreme it is little wonder it took the entire efforts of the state to continue it. Even then, it is doubtful Germans actually believed it – the big lie was just enough to allow one of the greatest crimes in history to be committed, but not enough to truly justify it even to those following through with the vision. There are chilling moments here – particularly given what happened next and not just to the Jews but also to the Slavs. His discussion of Russia is particularly chilling. But then there are moments of remarkable insight. He talks of people who want to lead the movement who have been active for 40 years and yet have not achieved their aims or stopped their opponents from achieving their aims.

He points out that this is a clear sign of how pathetic their aims must be. This is a very interesting argument and one it would be difficult to argue against. There are many long standing Marxists and Nazis who would do well to consider the implications of what he is saying here. All the same, this book is disturbing given what we know about what came next.

And it is impossible now to not read between the lines and hear the awful silence of the death camps echoing throughout this book. The point is, however, that many of his arguments are little different from what is dished up today. I would have preferred this to be much more extreme than it ended up being. I would have felt safer that way. Our remarkable ability to create scapegoats has not deserted us with the years or with the knowledge of the consequences this madness had in Europe.

I am glad I read this – but one volume was more than enough. I was standing at the check out desk at Tolman Hall’s library at U.C. Berkeley back in the 1970s. I have no idea what I was checking out at the time.

Maybe it was the time that I had spent at their library reading the Salem Witch Trials, the court documents. But as I was standing at the counter, I noticed a speech written on the wall behind the desk. I stood there reading it, and while I was reading it I realized that it was a humanitarian speech, and I thought, “That is the most beautiful speec I was standing at the check out desk at Tolman Hall’s library at U.C. Berkeley back in the 1970s. I have no idea what I was checking out at the time. Maybe it was the time that I had spent at their library reading the Salem Witch Trials, the court documents.

But as I was standing at the counter, I noticed a speech written on the wall behind the desk. I stood there reading it, and while I was reading it I realized that it was a humanitarian speech, and I thought, “That is the most beautiful speech that I have ever read. Who wrote it?” I continued reading, and then it was signed, “Adolph Hitler. Imagine my shock.

I have not been able to find that speech, and it is no longer on their wall behind that check out desk. I had known about Hitler; I had read Anne Frank’s Diary, but I hadn’t read much else at the time.

Just that you don’t go through life without knowing what happened to the Jews during WWII. I have read a lot of books about the holocaust since then. Well, back in 2011, when I was helping our library during their book sale, the one where I frequent now, I noticed some books on Hitler and bought one. That led me to wondering about the book Mein Kampf, so I ordered it used online. After reading maybe half of it, I threw it in the garbage where it belonged. Mein Kampf was a constant rant on Jews. It repeated the same issues over and over again.

I saw how people could actually believe what he was saying if they were not educated. It was an old story, one that was heard in Germany often, which people believed, which let to them accepting Hitler’s own rants. Then I read some of Hitler’s speeches, still trying to find the one that I had read at the library. I never found it. So, Hitler’s book is finally being published again, but this time with information to inform people so that they will know that Hitler spoke lies. Still, I think if a person in inclined to be racist, to hate, they will not pay any attention to these comments.

For hate is blinding. If you have grown up with parents who hate, who are bigots or racists, you will grow up with these views as well. Some people get over these views, especially if they get an education, and then there are those who see through it from a young age. We are told to love all people by the various religions, but I have seen so much hatred i the Christian religions, so much crime, that my eyes have been opened. I just want to get away from them and stay away. I learned that you can’t easily change people’s minds. I have tried; I now just tell them what I think and walk away.

I will not compare Hitler with anyone in political power today and hope to not get any comments on this book in this regards, because if I do, those comments will be deleted. Remember, what you write on the internet you are writing on the sky. I will also delete any comments made by racists.

I happen to believe that free speech does not include hate speech, and I think we should incorporate a law against hate speech here in America. Glancing at this book, no one has given it even one star. I find this kind of hard to believe, because the book is amazing. Amazing that one person could have not only thought these things but had the audacity to write them down for posterity. I read a good chunk of this in it's original German form. It was assigned to us in high school as a 'get as far as you can stomach' sort of read. I admittedly skimmed most of it, and cringed at the bits I did read.

But as I had an idea for an altered book pro Glancing at this book, no one has given it even one star. I find this kind of hard to believe, because the book is amazing. Amazing that one person could have not only thought these things but had the audacity to write them down for posterity. I read a good chunk of this in it's original German form.

It was assigned to us in high school as a 'get as far as you can stomach' sort of read. I admittedly skimmed most of it, and cringed at the bits I did read. But as I had an idea for an altered book project, I decided to suck it up and read it. Hitler certainly was not a big fan of personal responsibility, let's put it that way. His parents were at fault when he was unhappy as a child, his teachers were at fault for his doing badly in school. The democracies of the world were at fault for Germany losing the first world war, along with the socialists, and of course- the Jews.

His whole jail stay in the first place was a joke. He plays it off as one of his 'struggles', but in reality his jail cell was as much of a hardship as Walden was a remote wilderness.

All I could think of, in the short bursts I managed to read, was how everyone I've ever known of saying 'Oh, but he was so charismatic!' I've seen 'Triumph of the Will', I've read his book. The guy was a nutjob. You'd lock your car door if he passed. Seriously, gimme a break. It's a difficult read.

I hesitate to call it nationalistic as others have- there are people who are dedicated to their country without being so maddeningly accusatory. The only thing I find striking is the fact it was written before he became Fuhrer. And yet people didn't see him coming. Yes, I have read it, hell I still own a copy.

I make no excuses, and will not issue apologies. I am not a nazi sympathizer, anti-semitic, or racist, fascist, or any other variety of colorful names that I have been called for having this on my shelf. I confess that I was curious about the method to the madness and how such whole sale slaughter of human life could be rationalized. Get past impressions that are forced down your throat in history class and read it for what it is, a historical text t Yes, I have read it, hell I still own a copy.

I make no excuses, and will not issue apologies. I am not a nazi sympathizer, anti-semitic, or racist, fascist, or any other variety of colorful names that I have been called for having this on my shelf. I confess that I was curious about the method to the madness and how such whole sale slaughter of human life could be rationalized. Get past impressions that are forced down your throat in history class and read it for what it is, a historical text that, like it or not, had a tremendous impact on the world as we know it today. It is a difficult read and, to be frank, a large percent of the population will not have the fortitude to pick it up off the shelf in a bookstore or be able get past the ideas presented and discard it outright. One does not have to agree with the author in order to examine the text as a political and social commentary of the time.

The important thing, as in so many hot issues, is to keep everything in perspective and make up your own mind. I don't actually intend to read this book, just to share the following passage from Volume 4 of Kasparov's My Great Predecessors. Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky at the 1970 Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca: During the tournament they could sometimes be seen, leisurely walking along, peacefully chatting, little Sammy and tall Fischer.

An idyllic picture: an orthodox Jew and an extremist who praised Mein Kampf. Later Reshevsky explained: 'He has his views, I have my views.

It didn't bother me. I I don't actually intend to read this book, just to share the following passage from Volume 4 of Kasparov's My Great Predecessors. Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky at the 1970 Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca: During the tournament they could sometimes be seen, leisurely walking along, peacefully chatting, little Sammy and tall Fischer. An idyllic picture: an orthodox Jew and an extremist who praised Mein Kampf. Later Reshevsky explained: 'He has his views, I have my views.

It didn't bother me. I tried to make him see the light. I didn't succeed, but I tried.' One of the most extraordinary things about Fischer was that almost all his colleagues in the chess world genuinely liked and respected him. He was a unique person.

Being German, I first read it at the age of 15 or so, the copy my grandparents were given for their wedding in 1942. I did not understand everything at the time, in particular some of the allusions to the parliament, but I understood well enough and could not believe what I was reading. In Germany it is not easy to get a copy, I think, but for me this was and is a must-read.

Hitler wrote it when no one believed he would ever be in a position to do all this nasty stuff - but then, when he was, he Being German, I first read it at the age of 15 or so, the copy my grandparents were given for their wedding in 1942. I did not understand everything at the time, in particular some of the allusions to the parliament, but I understood well enough and could not believe what I was reading.

In Germany it is not easy to get a copy, I think, but for me this was and is a must-read. Hitler wrote it when no one believed he would ever be in a position to do all this nasty stuff - but then, when he was, he actually did exactly what he had said he would - creepy. So, as Jame put it in his comment: Read it 'as psychology', 'in historical context' and 'with perspective', but read it. Slow and rambling. Terrifying in its statements of wars of extermination and the force of propaganda.Excellent for understanding the psychology and neuroses of future dictators and megalomaniacs.

For example: Hitler's interest in his 'method' of reading - finding only the most relevant bits of information - could be interpreted as a demand for facts which fit pre-determined worldview. Obsessive patriotism as refuge from conflicted family life. Failed artist leading to view as romantic hero/sav -Slow and rambling. Terrifying in its statements of wars of extermination and the force of propaganda.Excellent for understanding the psychology and neuroses of future dictators and megalomaniacs.

For example: Hitler's interest in his 'method' of reading - finding only the most relevant bits of information - could be interpreted as a demand for facts which fit pre-determined worldview. Obsessive patriotism as refuge from conflicted family life. Failed artist leading to view as romantic hero/savior/Lord of German Volk - note interest in Wagner.Not a 'good' book by any means, but one that must be read. First things first.

Who should read this: Anyone intelligent enough to see through Hitler's BS. Who should not-read this: everyone else Unfortunately I was in the second category when I read Mein Kampf; most teenagers are. The first part of the book is a very convincing patriotic, nationalistic point of view.

The second part is where all the hate propaganda truly begins. By the time naive readers reach the second part, they might be convinced that Hitler is making sensible arguments. I was well th First things first. Who should read this: Anyone intelligent enough to see through Hitler's BS. Who should not-read this: everyone else Unfortunately I was in the second category when I read Mein Kampf; most teenagers are.

The first part of the book is a very convincing patriotic, nationalistic point of view. The second part is where all the hate propaganda truly begins.

By the time naive readers reach the second part, they might be convinced that Hitler is making sensible arguments. I was well through three quarters of the book before I saw through Hitler's ruse.

This was the first (and last, so far) book to trick me, and give Hitler props for that. As for the actual substance of the book, it is nothing but a desperate attempt to allot blame where it does not belong. It fails at being a literary work of any decent calibre; but thoroughly succeeds in being a work of unflinching propaganda.