Adolf Hitler

1889-04-20 - 1945-04-30 Contemporaries

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his suicide in 1945. He rose to power as leader of the Nazi Party, becoming chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. His invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 marked the outbreak of the Second World War. He was central to the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews, and the deaths of millions of other victims.