December 20 - 1924 - Adolf Hitler is Released from Landsberg Prison

What Happened Today

In late 1924, Adolf Hitler was a former soldier, right wing agitator, and prisoner most well known for leading his National Socialist party in a disastrous coup attempt. In November of 1923, Hitler attempted, with his paramilitary the Sturmabteilung, or SA, to take over the Bavarian government by interrupting a speech at a beer hall. Instead, he was arrested and put on trial for high treason, receiving a sentence of five years. Adolf Hitler, in the eyes of 1924 Germany, could not have been seen as much of a threat. He was already, in many ways, a failure, and the Weimar Republic was actually becoming a successful state. Instead, the Nazis were easily able to keep the party going with their leader in captivity. Hitler himself met with his associates while in prison, and he was able to write his biography/ideological guide Mein Kampf. Therefore, when he was released after serving nine months of a five year sentence, Hitler actually could set himself on a path to boosting the Nazi Party, taking power in Germany, and building towards World War II and the Holocaust.