Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 to Alois Schickelgruber and Klara Hitler in Branau, Austria. Klara showered young Adolf with love and attention while his father beat and abused him. He moved twice by 1895, first to Passau then to Hafeld. In Hafeld, about 1900, Adolf's artistic talents emerged and he was accepted into the technical/scientific school of Realschule. Adolf quit school at age 16, in part because of reoccuring lung infections ,and in part because of poor grades. In 1903 Alois died, and Adolf took his mothers last name of Hitler. Adolf's mother Klara, died in 1907 from a long series of painful and expensive surgeries for terminal breast cancer. Hitler was permitted to visit Vienna where he was turned down for admission into a prestigous art school. He spent six years in Vienna, surviving on his father's orphanage pension. By 1909 Adolf was penniless and lived life as a transient, sleeping in the backs of bars, flophouses, and homeless shelters. It was during this perios that HItler gained his prejudices, his interest in politics, and his debating skills.In 1913 Hitler left Vienna for Munich, the capital of Bavaria, to escape military service. After the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, in 1915, Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian army because of his new found nationalistic attitudes. In less than two months of training, Hitler and his squad saw their first action. Hitler narowly escaped death several times in battle, and was twice awarded the iron cross for bravery. In both October 1916 and October 1918, Hitler was injured in battle by a gun shot wound and mustard gas. Hitler rose to lance corporal before his last injury and the war's end.Soon after the war, Hitler was recruited to join a military inteligence unit assigned to keep tabs on the German Workers Party. Hitler saw this ill managed right wing party as a means to reach his political goals. He built up the party from the defacto, joke it was ...
