【明報專訊】Adolf Hitler (希特勒, left) is a name often associated with evil and darkness. Playing an important role during the Second World War (WWII), Hitler was opposed even in his own country. On 21 March 1943, German military officer Rudolf von Gersdorff attempted to assassinate (刺殺) him in an old armory (武器庫). He put two 10-minute delayed time bombs in his pocket when he guided Hitler around the place. The attempt failed because Hitler's visit lasted less than 10 minutes. Gersdorff flushed the bombs into the toilet and escaped suspicion.
1. Who was Hitler?
Adolf Hitler was one of the most important figures in WWII, in which the Axis powers (Japan, Germany and Italy) fought against the Allied powers (including the UK, the US and the Soviet Union). Hitler rose to power when he became leader of the Nazi Party, whose predecessor was the National Socialist German Workers' Party, which advocated socialism in Germany. Hitler became leader of the party in 1921 and was subsequently appointed Chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg. He pursued totalitarianism (極權主義) — resorted to a dictatorial form of government. Soon afterwards, a law was adopted under which the Nazi Party was the only lawful political party in the country.
2. Nazi Germany and WWII
WWII started in 1939 and ended in August 1945, when Japan surrendered (投降) after the atomic bombings of it. The global conflict caused over 60 million deaths. After the First World War had ended, Germany was required to disarm itself. However, Hitler adopted an aggressive foreign policy and had the ambition of building a greater Germany by conquering other countries. To achieve this aim, He had Germany re-armed in the mid-1930s.
War broke out in the wake of Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939. Britain and France then declared war on Germany.
3. Life of Jews under Nazi Germany
Hitler is known to have committed war crimes during WWII. One of them was the persecution and slaughtering of Jews in concentration camps (集中營). Hitler upheld anti-semitism and spread the brief that Jews would contaminate (污染) German blood. No sooner had he come to power than he started a number of campaigns with the aim of ridding the country of Jews. The SA (the Storm Troopers), Hitler's paramilitary group, was given free rein to treat Jews violently. Jews had to sit on assigned seats on buses and every Jewish shop was marked with a yellow star of David (a symbol of Jews).
The first concentration camp appeared in Germany in 1933 soon after Hitler became Chancellor. In it people not legally arrested but considered unfavourable by the Nazi government (like Jews and political opponents) were confined (囚禁). Many inmates were enslaved and tortured to death. It was estimated that six millions Jews had been killed by the end of WWII. The massive murder of Jews is known as the Holocaust.
4. Impact of WWII
Germany was defeated in WWII. Several attempts had been made to assassinate Hitler, but he took his own life on 30 April 1945 in Berlin. His death was announced on May 1 by Karl Doenitz, whom Hitler had named his successor.
Germany, with its resources exhausted in WWII, was in a sorry state in the postwar period. It lost about seven million lives. The country was divided into occupation zones and subsequently split into East Germany and West Germany, which were reunified in 1990.
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