On April 20, 1889, Klara and Alois gave birth to a son who would eventually become the man the world recognizes today as one of the most notorious men in history. Alois named his fourth son Adolf Hitler. His early childhood was spent under a cloud of normalcy in the small town of Braunau, Austria, a small town across the Inn River from Germany. His mother Klara was a meager housewife while his father a customs official. When Hitler was six his family moved to a place near Linz, Austria. Though Adolf received good marks in elementary school, he slacked severely in high school as his mind wandered to other areas besides academics. His ill-tempered father did not approve of this and had a violent disagreement concerning his son's aspirations to become an artist. Alois wanted Hitler to become a civil servant. This conflict was left unresolved for years and lasted till his father was in his deathbed in 1903. With no one left to stop him, Adolf dropped out of school at the age of sixteen and followed his ambitions to become an artist. He spent his time daydreaming, drawing pictures and reading books, while his mother supported him through a widow's pension. In 1907, Hitler went to Vienna to apply to the Academy of Fine Arts. The years in Vienna did not bode well for Hitler. First, he was rejected acceptance to the Academy because the trustees thought his talent was mediocre. Compounding to this rejection was the death of his mother. With his artistic ambitions in shambles, he explored other areas and became interested in politics. He admired the effective leadership and organization of the Social Democratic Party. During his stay in Vienna Hitler was affected by a growing nationalist movement. He developed a belief that no form of government could last if it treated people of different nationalities equally. This helped shaped his budding hatred for Jews and Slavs and the mentality that Germans were superior to all ot...
