Adolf Hitler was a German political and government leader and one of the 20th century most powerful dictators. Making anti-Semitism a keystone of his propaganda and policies, he built up the Nazi party into a mass movement. Once in power, he converted Germany into a fully militarized society and launched WWII. For a time he dominated Europe and North Africa. He caused the slaughter of millions of Jews, and others considered inferior human being. Hitler was born in braunauam Inn, Austria, on April 20, 1889, the son of a minor custom official and a peasant girl. A poor student, he never completed high school. He