First of two parts

Thank god for World War II veterans, who helped defeat an enemy whom some say was the embodiment of a so-called biblical, 20th century anti-Christ

He was born in the late 1800s in a small country in Europe, smaller than the state of Maine. He was born into a two-parent household where the mother was a stay-at-home parent and the father, a government worker. Research into his background seems to indicate that his mother truly loved him but there were obvious tensions between him and his father characterized by abusive language and on some occasions, beatings.

Nothing in his background would indicate that as an adult he would become the most feared person in the world, whom some today believe truly embodied the attributes of a 20th century anti-Christ.

During his childhood he witnessed first-hand the power religion had in a community. As a child, research appears to reveal that earlier in his life he embraced Catholicism and was an active participant in the ritual ceremonies of the church. In fact, at this time, the Catholic Church was a major influence in his country.

Some historians believe that it was during this period that the powerful Catholic Church ignored taking a strong position on growing anti-Semitism in Europe and in doing so, conceivably contributed greatly to what became a world problem. Europe was a receptive repository for all kinds of reckless accusations against the Jews. “After all, it was the Jews who killed Jesus Christ. The Jews are conspiratorial and want to rule the world. The Jews are in control of the world economy.”

The list went on ad nauseam, laying the groundwork for anti-Semitic movements around him to fester and become active without intervention from the public or the government.

Was it during his involvement in church that he began to hatch his plans to rule the world?

He was not distinguishable from others as a young man. Records of his years as a student do not validate various historical opinions that he was a major achiever or scholar. He was just an average human being, from an average family, who gave no indications that he would one day force all around him to worship him, in essence, as a god.

Even in his death, researchers from around the world have all arrived at the same conclusion — it is impossible to determine what factors, environmentally or otherwise, that caused this individual as an adult to become synonymous with evil.

What occurred in his background to cause him to hate and to use his mighty power to kill and destroy others? We do know that as a child, he truly loved his mother. He was not impacted seriously when his father died, but reports are that he was nearly devastated at his mother’s death.

After his mother’s death, he piddled around attempting to establish himself as an artist to no avail. It is rumored that he partnered with a Jewish broker who was a conduit in selling his paintings.

For some strange reason, he overestimated his skills as an artist and was refused admission, more than once, into a major university where he wanted to professionalize his skills. This denial of admission may have prompted a critical episode in his life, and in the process, necessitated a change his career aspirations.

Some so-called experts on the subject of this individual believe that the university’s denial was, in fact, the precipitating factor in causing a dormant monster in him to be awakened, which created in him a maniacal fervor to rule the entire world and to demand that he be worshipped as a god.

The awakened monster surveys the world

I am certain that the dislike of Jews was prevalent in this young man before his parents’ death. The city in which he resided, beginning in and around 1908, was alive with the anti-Semitic attitudes of its middle class residents.

The mayor of the city, who was also a member of the Christian Social Party, was a major anti-Semite. The young man became very interested in politics, which he embraced like a reliable friend. He certainly learned in his solitude the value of propaganda in politics.

This was a difficult period, however, for this young man. Most of the inheritance from his mother’s death was gone and he traveled around the city as a kind of vagrant.

No food of his own to eat, he depended on the city’s various soup kitchens for the homeless. It was said he slept up to noon most days and spent his evenings on the sidelines, strolling through the city preparing for the future. He was definitely an iconoclast, as he was later to become the greatest anti-Semite the world, to date, would ever know!

On the one hand, he befriended a Jewish individual who sold his paintings during this critical period in his life, while at the same time he was developing his own platform of hatred towards them that would startle the civilized world.

He was Adolf Hitler.

It was in the 1930s that the world began to take notice. He had finally evolved into a force to be reckoned with. It was his moment and time in history to seize.

He did just that!

In a country that was plagued with an economic crisis and ruled by an old, ailing and dysfunctional chancellor; a former tramp, using violence, intimidation, propaganda and murder as needed, on Jan. 30, 1933, became the new Chancellor of the German Nation.

A person who was initially recommended as chancellor, but was denied the opportunity because he feared for his life, believed that with Hitler’s takeover as chancellor, that Germany would be in the hands of “liars, perverts and Satan in human form.”

Take over he did, and in demonic fashion.

He took Germany over by force, promising the industrialist leaders, disciplined workers who would be free of communist influence. He promised the middle class more jobs and created national hysteria that tied the economic depression to a great extent on “international Jewry.”

At the time he took over it was estimated that more than 6 million Germans were out of work. Into this malaise stepped this so-called messiah who mesmerized those who looked for a greater Germany to take its rightful place among European nations and ultimately, the world.

One by one he annexed or took over country after country for what he stated would become a part of his 1,000-year Reich. In his mind, he became god. He crafted a plan of deceit on the German people that resulted in their swearing by god, an oath to the Führer of the German Reich and people: Adolf Hitler.

In fact, in his book, “Mein Kampf,” he stated, “I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”

See the final part of this column in a future edition of LaGrange Daily News.