Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler ruled Germany as dictator from 1933 to 1945. He turned Germany into a powerful war machine and provoked World War II in 1939. Hitler's forces conquered most of Europe before they were defeated in 1945. Hitler had killed many like no person has done in modern history. "Have no pity! Act brutally!" he told his soldiers. He ordered thousands of people to be executed who opposed him, and thousands to be imprisoned. Hitler particularly punished the Jews. In countries he controlled, he ordered them removed and killed. Concentration camps were set up where about 4 million Jews where murdered. Altogether, Hitler's forces ki