Young Hitler
The book is divided into two sections: in the first part, a narrative retells the formative years of the young Adolf Hitler between 1907 and 1918, when he lived as a starving artist on the streets and in the asylums of Vienna, and then joined World War I as a volunteer on the Western Front. When the war ends, Hitler comes into contact with members of the Thule Society in Munich, an association of occultists who had launched a political party, the German Workers Party (DAP).The narration ends in 1920 when Hitler takes over the DAP and turns it into the Nazi Party (NSDAP). In an interview with The Guardian, author Claus Hant explained that the events after 1920 are exhaustively documented in the numerous Hitler biographies. But what the biographies do not investigate is the time before then, when Hitler was transformed from inconsequential artist and drifter to towering political leader. Hant says that he has centered Young Hitler deliberately around this momentous transformation. According to Hant, this decisive turning point in Hitler’s life can only be explained satisfactorily now that recent research has unearthed certain previously unknown data and facts.
Adolf Hitler's rise to power
Hitler's considerable oratory and propaganda skills were appreciated by the party leadership. With the support of Anton Drexler, Hitler became chief of propaganda for the party in early 1920 and his actions began to transform the party. He organised their biggest meeting yet of 2,000 people, on 24 February 1920 in the "Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München". There Hitler announced the party's 25-point program ("see" National Socialist Program). He engineered the name change of the DAP to the "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei" – NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party), commonly known to the rest of the world as the Nazi Party. Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background. Hitler was later discharged from the army in March 1920 and began working full-time for the NSDAP.
In 1920, a small "hall protection" squad was organised around Emil Maurice. The group was first named the "Order troops" ("Ordnertruppen"). Later in August 1921, Hitler redefined the group, which became known as the "Gymnastic and Sports Division" of the party ("Turn- und Sportabteilung"). By the autumn of 1921 the group was being called the "Sturmabteilung" (Storm Detachment) or SA, and in November 1921 the group was officially known by that name.