The Holocaust and the rise of Nazism

The Holocaust is, without a doubt, one of the most horrific times in European and world history. Hitler was able to take advantage of certain insecurities of the German people and exploit them to coincide with his viewpoint of how the world should operate. Since the German people were already at a very low time after their defeat in World War I, they needed a scapegoat to blame all of their problems on. Hitler was able to provide them withone, the Jews.

The Holocaust does not begin with the first shots fired in 1939, or a charismatic leader whose speeches entranced the nation; it begins with a boy named Adolph Hitler. Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Vienna Austria to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara. Hitler had a very difficult childhood, as his father was demanding and critical of his every move. He expected Hitler to follow his example and work for the Austrian government as he had.

The young Hitler had bigger things in mind. He first wanted to become an artist, then an architect. He failed at both. Hitler soon found himself drifting and alone in Vienna. He could barely keep a regular job and would occasionally stay at a homeless shelter. Hitler came to hate Vienna, for it was a place that represented poverty and failure. In one of his writing's he told of how foreign the city seemed and how repelled he became from the whole mixture of people: Czech's, Poles, Serb's, Jews and more Jews. In the spring of 1912 Hitler left Austria and moved to Munich, Germany.

In 1914, war broke out through most of Europe and Hitler quickly enlisted in the German army. Though he never rose above the rank of corporal, he nevertheless found a place for himself.