The Holocaust is something that, when looked at in history, is looked at with shame by everyone. Most find it hard to believe that one man was capable of all this hatred and anger. For someone to conduct these crimes against humanity, events must have occurred that made them so cold. Which brings us to our thematic question of why did Hitler order the killing of millions of people? Many will look back to his troubled childhood, where they think he acquired many of his anti-Semantic views. Hitler is seen by most as one of the most evil people of all time, but it must be remembered that this man was once envied and followed by an entire nation. Hitler's childhood is something that can be considered the root of all his problems. His removal was one of the main causes of all of Hitler's serious mental problems; he was a very violent and severe man. Most of his father's abuse was taken out on his older brother who was 13 at the time; this caused him to escape, leaving Hitler as next in line. His fathers had also just retired from their jobs in the Austrian civil service, which left him with a lot of time at home with Adolf. The quote "the older boy, Alois Jr., 13, bore the brunt of his father's discontent, including harsh words and occasional beatings. A year later, at age 14, young Alois had had enough of this treatment and ran away from home, never seeing his father again." This meant that young Adolf, who was only 7 years old at the time, was next in line to receive the same treatment. This shows that Hitler and his brothers were all victims of an abusive father; this was something that could have contributed to his radical views and hatred of others. Hitler's father had continually expressed loyalty to the Habsburg monarchy, perhaps unwittingly encouraging his rebellious son to give his allegiance to the German Kaiser. There were also other things in his childhood that influenced Adolf in many ways. Another event from his childhood that affected him for life was when one day Hitler went rummaging through his father's book collection and found many military books, including a picture book. about the war of 1870-71 between the Germans and the French.