The Rise of Adolf Hitler: Why a Nation Chose Tyranny
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, the Third Reich lasted just twelve years, but the destruction it unleashed reshaped the world forever. In this episode, we examine the rise of Adolf Hitler—not as a sudden coup, but as a political ascent made possible through elections, institutions, and public support. How did a nation renowned for its Christian tradition, artistic achievement, scientific excellence, and technological leadership descend into moral catastrophe? This is the story of how Hitler came to power, and how a modern society surrendered itself to tyranny.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people, coming to you from |
| 0:22.2 | the city where the west begins, Fort Worth, Texas. The Third Reich, which Adolf Hitler built, |
| 0:29.5 | lasted just 12 years. But his calculated butchery of human lives and the human spirit surpassed |
| 0:36.0 | anything this earth had ever seen. How did these cultured people steeped in lives and the human spirit surpassed anything this earth had ever seen. |
| 0:38.8 | How did these cultured people steeped in Christianity and the arts and science |
| 0:42.7 | collapse into barbarism in the 20th century? |
| 0:47.0 | To seek the answers, we must follow the Germans and the rise of their leader. |
| 0:51.6 | Adolf Hitler. Let's take a listen. |
| 0:57.5 | Evil and chaos can have gentle beginnings. |
| 1:05.5 | It is in the backwater countryside of northern Austria, where Adolf Hitler is born on April 20, |
| 1:11.6 | 1889. He's the third child of the third marriage of an Austrian customs official. |
| 1:16.6 | He's the first of the children to live. Past 50 his father, Alloys, is a harsh and restless man. |
| 1:21.6 | Three of his seven children are conceived out of wedlock. |
| 1:24.6 | Adolf's young mother, Clara, who is also his father's niece, is the life of Adolf's |
| 1:30.3 | existence. |
| 1:32.3 | She is a very sweet, hardworking, and deeply religious Catholic, who will forever remain his warmest |
| 1:38.3 | memory. |
| 1:39.3 | As a boy, a teacher observes that young Adolf has limited talent, is lazy and bad-tempered, |
| 1:47.0 | and arrogantly fancies himself a leader. |
| 1:51.0 | Adolf is just 13 years old when his father dies in 1903. |
... |
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