Crimes against humanity and genocide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Crimes against humanity and genocide - Essay Example 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 f 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 f his writing's he told f how foreign the city seemed and how repelled he became from the whole mixture f people: Czech's, Poles, Serb's, Jews and more Jews. In the spring f 1912 Hitler left Aust ria 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 f corporal, he nevertheless found a place for himself. In civilian, life he was a failed artist with few friends and virtually no social life. The war gave Hitler a place to outlet his fanatical German nationalism, for he believed in "Deutschland euber alles," or "Germany over all." (Lerner 1992, 21-30) In 1918 the unthinkable happened--Germany conceded defeat at the hands f the allies. Hitler's world literally fell apart, and he could not understand how the great German army could lose to supposedly "inferior" nations. Searching for someone to blame, Hitler settled on the Jews, the Communists, and the New Democratic Government. He concluded that these groups had "stabbed Germany in the back"(the holocaust pg 42) by handing information over to the allies which had lead to Germany's defeat. (Staub 1989, 31-36) By the mid 1920's, Hitler had joined and quickly rose to the top f a small political party called the German Workers Party. Hitler used his charismatic and persuasive personality to mold and shape the party to reflect certain views, especially German Nationalism and anti-Semitism. Hitler worked very hard to improve his party's image and in 1927 he changed the name to the National Socialist Party, also known as Nationalsozialistische, or the Nazi Party. Many people were beginning to realize that the Nazi's were a force to be reckoned with. (Porter 1982, 1-3) In 1932, Hitler ran for presidency but lost to Paul von Hindenburg, an aristocratic military commander. 1933 marked the great rise f Nazi Germany when Hindenburg appointed Hitler to the position f supreme German chancellor. (Hintin 2002, 1-7) The fire f the Reichstag, the German parliament, marked the day when all hope was lost. The Nazi's convinced most f Hindenburg that the cause f the fire was a communist uprising and Hindenburg agreed to sign an emergency decree to control the situation. This decree took away all individual freedoms and privileges and would grant Hitler the power to make his own laws without having to pass them through parliament. (Burleigh 1997, 25-27) The Jews were the ones who were beginning to feel the wrath f Hitler's oppression. Hitler began to pass many laws that forbade non-Jews to shop at Jewish owned