Who was Adolf Hitler? Adolf Hitler was the Führer (leader) of Nazi Germany, the instigator of World War II, and the driving force behind the attempted extermination of European Jewry, otherwise known as Final Solution or Holocaust.Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on 20 April 1889, the third child of Alois and Klara Hitler. The family moved a lot, including to Linz, Leonding and other places. Hitler did well in school at first, but his grades got progressively worse as time went on. His father died when he was 14, his mother when he was 18. He twice attempted to enter the Vienna Academy of Art, but was rejected both times. Between 1909 and 1913 he lived in Vienna. There is controversy over whether he was destitute there. He moved to Munich (Germany) in 1913, and was still there when World War I broke out in August 1914. Hitler joined the German Army and saw four years of front-line service during which he was wounded several times and decorated for valor. twice. He was gassed towards the end of the war. During this period he served as an intelligence agent for the military authorities, during which he attended a meeting of the small German Workers' Party in 1919. He subsequently joined the party, became its leader, and changed its name to the National Socialist. German Workers' Party, later called the Nazi Party. In 1920, the 25 Points of the Nazi Party were proclaimed, one of which included the removal of Jews from German society. The Nazis attempted to take power by force in November 1923 (called the Beer Putsch), but were thwarted by the Munich police. Hitler was photoconvicted by Hitler of high treason and sentenced to prison, where he served for about a year. During that time, he pleaded...... middle of paper ......grief in the underground bunker in Berlin where he had been holed up since early 1945, Hitler committed suicide.Books about Hitler (in English)Books about Hitler's subjects are legion. Only a few are listed here. General biographies: Allan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. Joachim C. Fest, Hitler. Konrad Heiden, Der Fuehrer. Werner Maser, Hitler: legend, myth and reality. John Toland, Adolf Hitler. Hugh Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler. Hitler's Role in the Final Solution: Gerald Fleming, Hitler and the Final Solution. General History of Nazi Germany: William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The Photograph of Hitler is taken from Hitler, Herbert Walther, Ed., 1978, Bison Books, London, p. 94. The caption reads "Hitler in 1925 after his release from Landsberg". The photograph is attributed to the Bundesarchiv of Koblenz. other short essays...