10 Interesting Facts about Adolf Hitler
By: Alex Raman
Tags: History, Hitler, Facts, Adolf Hitler, Biography

Adolf Hitler was the dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, leader of Nazi Party, the perpetrator of the genocide known as Holocaust, initiator of the World War II and widely considered as one the most evil leaders in all of history.

Arguably the most hated person to ever live, Adolf Hitler, was born in 20th April 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria on the border with Germany. Nobody till date can be compared with Hitler’s inhumanity as he was the sole reason for deaths of more than 6 million Jews and 5 million commoners.

However, there are a few things that you do not know about him which might leave you surprised. So, here are some interesting facts about Adolf Hitler that you probably did not know.

1. Adolf Schicklgruber?

Adolf Hitler’s name was almost Adolf Schicklgruber or Adolf Hiedler. Hitler’s father, Alois, was to Maria Anna Schicklgruber and given her surname. But when he was about 40 years old, he decided to adopt his stepfather’s last name, Hiedler. Legally, Hitler was his new last name although the reason for the change in spelling is unknown.

2. Participation in World War I

At the outbreak of World War I, Adolf Hitler was in Munich and he voluntarily listed himself to serve the German army. Although he was an Austrian Citizen and should have been sent back to his nation, he was allowed to serve the army which certainly was an administrative error. He was decorated for bravery and also received Iron Cross First Class and Black Wound Badge. It is also said that he lost one of his testicles during WWI.

3. ‘Mein Kampf’ (My Struggle)

In 1923, Hitler and few members of the Nazi party tried Beer Hall Putsch, a coup attempt which failed to land him in jail for a year. During his imprisonment, he wrote Mein Kampf, an autobiography describing his antisemitic ideas and plans for transforming German society into a single race community.

Volume 1 of Mein Kampf was published in 1925 and 2nd volume a year later. The book was translated in 11 languages and more than 11 million copies were sold. This book was proactive and helped to elevate him to power.

4. Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

Out of all people, Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize award in 1939 by a Swedish legislator a few months before Germany started World War II. He was sarcastically called a “God-given fighter of peace” and his book Mein Kampf as “the best and most popular piece of literature in the world”.

Although it was meant to be a joke, it created chaos and the nomination was quickly removed. A German journalist who was a vocal critic of Hitler, however, won the peace prize in 1935. Hitler felt it as an ‘insult’ of Nazism and Germany so he banned all Germans from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

5. Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1938

Do you know what Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolf Hitler have in common? All of them won Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” at some point in their life. Although giving this award to Hitler had been a controversial choice, the publication claims to pick its recipients based on the media coverage they had in a year. The award is believed to not always mean to be an endorsement. Other controversial people also include people like Joseph Stalin and Osama Bin Laden.

6. Hitler Got Married 40 Hours Before Death

Hitler met his lover, Eva Braun when she was 17 years old. Hitler had an intimate relationship with Geli Raubal, his’s half-niece. But after her suicide in 1931, Hitler began seeing Braun. Its believed that Braun shot herself a few times to get Hitler’s attention as he did not have any time for her.

On April28th-29th 1945, Hitler and Braun got married in a small civil ceremony. But on April 30, a few hours after saying their farewell to members of the inner circle, they committed suicide. Braun took a cyanide capsule and Hitler shot himself in the right temple with his pistol.

7. The Iconic Mustache

The moustache you see in almost every Adolf Hitler’s photos were not always like this. He had a full moustache during WWI but soldiers including Hitler were against mustard-gas and other lethal gas attacks.

During the gas attacks, Hitler’s moustache prevented complete airlock resulting in an ineffective gas mask. One mustard gas attack made him suffer from “hysterical blindness” because of which he was ordered to cut his fancy moustache by supervisors. He instead trimmed it to the toothbrush shaped style.

8. Hitler’s Noble Jew

Eduard Bloch was a Jewish physician who cared for Hitler’s mother when she was suffering from cancer. The Jewish-Austrian doctor didn’t charge Hitler’s family any money seeing the financial state of the family. Hitler showed his gratitude by never sentencing him to a concentration camp and had him protected by the Gestapo. Hitler referred to him as the “Noble Jew”.

9. Artistic Dream

Adolf Hitler had a dream of becoming an artist throughout his youth age. He dropped out of school and applied to the Vienna Academy of Art for two consecutive years but was denied both years. After his mother died of breast cancer, Hitler spent four years of his life living in the streets trying to sell postcards of his artwork for bread. His interest significantly increased after he became a führer (leader).

10. Hitler Never Visited an Extermination Camp

About 1200 Nazi extermination camps were responsible for the infamous Holocaust. The first Nazi concentration camp was built to torture the opposing politicians. But during World War II these camps became the place where millions of commoners were enslaved, tortured and brutally killed in mass numbers.

The fact that Hitler didn’t visit any extermination camps is supported by the claims that Hitler was not responsible for the genocide and it was Himmler who was the main culprit. However, it is objected by Hitler’s involvement in “The Final Solution”, a program aimed to murder every single Jew within German-controlled territories.

Hitler is hands down the most evil and heartless person one could imagine as a dictator. He died on 30th April 1945 at the age of 56.

Originally published at https://yocover.com on May 20, 2020.