When the topic of dictators is brought up who comes to mind? Most anyone will say Adolf Hitler. Why was he so cruel? What drove his hatred for the Jews? Why did he want a so-called “perfect” race? Well the answer to all these questions might be answered from Hitler’s childhood. Adolph Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn, Austria. He was the son of Alois, a customs official, and Klara Hitler. Alois was a very mean and stern father. His death, in 1903, came as a relief to Adolf. His relationship with his mother was totally opposite than his relationship with his father, Adolf idealized his mother so when she died in 1907 it was a very traumatic experience to him. This led to many problems, especially school. While living in Vienna, Hitler made his living by drawing small pictures of famous landmarks, which he sold as post cards. But he was always poor. He was also a regular reader of a small paper, which claimed that the Arabian race was superior to all and was destined to rule the world. The paper blamed Communists and Jews for all their problems and Hitler agreed to those views. Hitler agreed with most of the points made in the publication. He continued to live a poor life in Vienna and in 1913 decided to move to Munich. Still living in Vienna and being Austrian by birth, Hitler showed more loyalty to the country of Germany. He thought that the Aryan race was destined to rule the world. Many believe that he tried to escape the draft but it was never proven. His life in Munich was not much better then before and he continued to be poor. Then in 1914 World War I broke out and Hitler saw this as a great opportunity to show his loyalty to the "fatherland" by volunteering for the Imperial army. He did not want to fight in the Austrian Army. Hitler was a good soldier. Many of his political opponents claimed that he was a coward but records clearly show that he was not. He received two awards of bravery b...
