What comes to mind when people hear the name Adolf Hitler? Some may not have heard of him, but others have heard a lot about him, underscoring the fact that someone might have known him in class or even on their own. Most would think of the German dictator who killed millions of people as the image of his infamous mustache comes to mind. But what if some knew that he wasn't always the man everyone saw in 1933. Adolf Hitler may have been the most charismatic and decisive leader Germany has ever seen, but also one of the most vile. How did it get to be like this? Surely he wasn't born that way, was he? To understand how Hitler became the man he was, you have to start from the beginning and even before he was born. Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 in Austria to Alois and Klara (Polzl) Hitler. Alois Hitler was once a Schicklegruber but changed his surname to his supposed father, Hitler. According to a biographer he changed his name due to a legacy. Alois worked as a government official, which would impact his dreams for his son's career. Klara, whom he married in 1885, was his third wife. When Adolf was four years old his father retired from the service and moved to a village near Linz. At school Adolf was a bit strange and was usually left alone, but the Nazis described him as the school gang leader, which turns out not to be true. Adolf had difficulty with school and barely made it through secondary school. Hitler explains his failure in academic work by saying that he and his father were always in constant conflict. He wanted to be an artist while his father wanted him to become a civil servant. He states that if his father had seen him do unsuccessfully in school, he would have... middle of paper... rejected art school to help him achieve his dream career, he would have been crushed when he was rejected. Hitler became dependent on his mother and when she died he was lost. He was struggling to make a living and became a supporter of the war. The war itself had put Hitler in Germany's grip. Hitler had a place of belonging to fight for the country he loved and when the surrender of Germany occurred, Hitler lost what he had owned for many years. His second account of blindness may have been caused by this great loss. Just a few of these events contributed to Germany being plunged into another war for many years. His obsession with power grew as did his obsession with seeing Germany sweat again. If perhaps one of these events had not occurred it could have avoided the loss of life of 6 million Jews and the cost of another world war.