For the first thirty years of his life, Adolf Hitler was a nobody. In the last twenty-six years of his existence he came to leave an unforgettable mark on history as the dictator of Germany and "instigator of a genocidal war which marked the steepest descent in civilized values known in modern times," finishing with his own country and most of Europe in ruins (Kershaw 1).

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20th 1889 in Braunau-am-Inn, Austria. His father Alois worked as a customs officer, and his mother Klara, like most women of the time stayed at home. Hitler grew up with a poor school record and left before he was seventeen. With aspirations of becoming an artist, Hitler applied to the Vienna Academy of Fine arts but failed to make the cut. For the next five years, Hitler neither worked to earn his keep, nor formally studied, but gained an

Adolf Hitler rose to absolute power between the years of 1938 and 1943 (Kershaw 133). His brilliant tactics and persuasive speeches allowed Hitler to climb straight to the top and put him in a position to shape events in a measure unusual even for dictators. Hitler's diplomatic maneuverings and strategic shifts, based on rational political calculation, gave way increasingly to the readiness to go for it all, and to "decisions founded upon ideological truths of his rational world philosophy of the once-and-for-all great quest for German supremacy and racial domination" (134). Hitler's first action towards becoming a total dictator was when he began to cancel meetings of the cabinet (135). It was the very idea that a group of people, deriving their authority from their constitutional office, could check on his expression of power (135). Hitler even refused informal meetings of cabinet members. As Hitler's rule progressed, he put himself at less and less access to people, making him almost god-like.

Hitler soon began to complain of severe headaches and for the first time a loss of memory (217). Soon, a slight curvature of the spine induced a stooping posture and caused more than a minimal distortion of his body symmetry (218). He once again developed a tremor in his left arm and leg, and soon walked with a dragging left foot (218). As this progressed, he also complained of the deterioration of his right eye (219). Life had become a torment to him. His illnesses and the effects of his medication were taking its toll. The odd thing about all of these illnesses was when they occurred. In the early stages of the war, they wee highly present (232). They miraculously disappeared as soon as he was out of danger and was no longer under threat, but oddly reappeared towards the end of the war and their probable consequences to himself (232).

Adolf Hitler's mental state may have very well been the result of his extreme hypochondria. Throughout the later part of his life, he was constantly producing ailments he thought he had. It began with depression, then gradually leading to tremors in his left arm and leg (Maser 209). Throughout the years of depression, Hitler was unhealthily thin. He also contemplated many times to take his own life. After he came out of his depression, he soon complained of heart trouble, but when looked at by doctors, they could conclude that nothing was wrong with him (210). Hitler was only truly cursed with a sore throat. This led him to believe he had cancer, but was quickly proven otherwise (210). Hitler claimed to be plagued by stomach cramps, kidney pain, and flatulence (210). Hitler became fearful that he would leave something undone or die before he accomplished everything he had intended.

The trademark of Hitler's power was destruction. Twelve years of his rule destroyed 'old' Germany, both territorially and in terms of social order (188). They also destroyed 'old' Europe, both physically and in terms of its political order (188). From the beginning, Hitler's most powerful driving force was a destructive one. "The word 'annihilation' was seldom far from his lips, from his earliest speeches...to his apocalyptic visions..." (188). No matter what, the Jews still remained a centerpiece of Hitler's thinking and their destruction became the foundation of his entire world-view. Meanwhile, in Germany, Hitler had personally "sanctioned a programme of action...to destroy the 'useless life' of the mentally sick and physically handicapped (189). His opinion on war was two options, final victory or total destruction (189). It ruled out compromise. His destructive drive didn't even spare his own army or cities. Towards the end of the war, his hope rested not on building a fighter defense capable of heading off enemy bombers, but on reducing English cities to rubble (189). "If the atom bomb had been available, there is no doubt whatsoever that he would have used it..." (189). As Ge

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