Profile: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (b. 1889, d. 1945)
Fuhrer of Germany, leader of the Nazi Party

• Oversaw the Holocaust – the genocide of over 6 million Jews and millions of other victims during WWII.
• Led the Nazi Party as a totalitarian dictatorship.
• Pursued aggressive expansionist policies that led to invading other European nations, including Czechoslovakia and Poland, triggering WWII.
• Authored Mein Kampf, his racist manifesto that argued for Lebensraum (‘living space’) and the eradication of Untermenschen (‘subhumans’).
• Born in Austria and became a German citizen in 1932.
• Was a powerful public speaker and made expert use of propaganda to gain mass support.