Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945) was a German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party, Chancellor of Germany from 1933-45, and F羹hrer of Nazi Germany from 1934-45. As dictator of the German Reich, he initiated WWII in Europe with the invasion of Poland in September 1939, resulting in British and French declarations of war on Germany. In 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. By the end of 1941 German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. Under Hitler's leadership and racially motivated ideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of at least 5.5 million Jews and millions of other victims whom he and his followers deemed socially undesirable. Failure to defeat the Soviets and the entry of the United States into the war forced Germany onto the defensive and it suffered a series of escalating defeats. In the final days of the war, during the Battle of Berlin in 1945, Hitler married his long-time lover, Eva Braun. On 30 April 1945, less than two days later, the two killed themselves to avoid capture by the Red Army, and their corpses were burned. No photographer creditd, undated.