Hitler The Artist
Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in a town called Braunau, on the Austrian-German border. He left school with no formal qualifications and had only excelled in two subjects: Gymnastics and Art. His ambition was to be an artist so, upon leaving school he moved to Vienna where he applied to join the Academy of Fine Arts, but was rejected twice. He spent five years on the streets, painting pictures from postcards and selling to tourists, before being rejected by the Austrian army on medical grounds. However, he was accepted by the German army at the outbreak of war in 1914.
Hitler and Eva Braun
Following the war, in which he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack, Hitler joined the National Socialist German Workers Party in 1920, became its leader in 1921 and ascended to the position of Chancellor in 1933. But the German public didn’t know about his relationship with Eva Braun; Hitler kept the relationship a secret, fearing that he would lose popularity particularly amongst female supporters should he reveal her existence. Hitler had met Braun in Munich around 1929 while she was working as a model and assistant for his personal photographer, although it wasn’t until 1931 that they began seeing each other often.
Braun was twenty three years younger than Hitler and would continually act in ways Hitler disapproved of, such as sunbathing nude and wearing make up. Hitler was a vegetarian and objected to women wearing cosmetics as they were made from animal by products and Hitler was a vegetarian. Braun was a keen photographer and many of the pictures taken of Hitler were from her camera.
Braun Remained Loyal To Hitler
Braun had pledged her loyalty to Hitler, particularly following the events of the 20 July 1944, when an assassination attempt on Hitler’s life was made. Braun proved her loyalty when, as Soviet troops advanced towards Berlin, she travelled to the capital to be at Hitler’s side as his former allies drew closer. Within the confines of the heavily guarded Fuhrerbunker, the couple married in a brief ceremony on April 29th 1945 in the final days of the war.
Hitler Commits suicide
On April 28th Hitler heard the news that his Italian ally, Benito Mussolini had been captured, tried and executed by partisans, who shot him and his mistress before hanging their dead bodies by the feet from a petrol station, leaving them for the local people to throw stones at. By this time, Russian soldiers had entered Berlin. With the axis powers now completely broken, Hitler was left with two options: capture or death. He knew that if he was captured it would mean a fate similar to Mussolini’s therefore, on 30th April 1945, Hitler and Braun each bit a cyanide pill. To make sure of his death, Hitler shot himself in the head.
Otto Gunsche, Hitler's personal bodyguard heard the gunshot and entered the room to find the couple on a settee. Eva was sitting to the left with her body slumped away from her husband. She had no injuries and it was concluded that she had poisoned herself, while blood dripped from Hitler's chin and temple. Their bodies were taken outside doused in petrol and set on fire. Hitler was dead and so too was Nazi Germany.
