Mention World War II and one immediately calls to mind two words: Hitler and Nazi, synonymously the very embodiment of evil. World War II is a tragic chapter in German history and is a wound that will take a very long time to heal.
Barbarism existed in Nazi Germany on a scale unmatched in European history. Hitler breathed life into the Nazi Party in 1919 and it largely died with him in 1945. The Party�s beliefs, its structure, the modified Hakenkreuz (�crooked cross� aka swastika), the motto Deutschland, Erwacht! (�Germany, Awaken!�), all these were Hitler�s creations. He was a powerful speaker, letting his raw emotions guide him, always in tune with the audience.
Hitler, Mein Kampf
But how did one man summon the will to lead Germany almost single-handedly into a war the world will never forget?
A Socially Dysfunctional Child
Alan Bullock, Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. New York; Harper & Row, 1962, p.27.
Hitler thought of himself as a superior person and refused to identify with the common people. It is not surprising he had few friends in school. As he would do for the rest of his life, he blamed his failures on others, especially his teachers, whom he called �absolute tyrants�. He accused his teachers of failing to recognize his genius and originality. His experiences in school left him with a deep resentment of both authority and anything intellectual. Later in his career he constantly attempted to prove his superiority to others in fields where he had little or no experience. Germany lost World War II because Hitler constantly refuted his generals.
