On February 25, 1932, Adolf Hitler became a citizen of Germany. Hitler, who was born in Austria, had immigrated to Germany in 1913, and renounced his Austrian citizenship in 1925. After years of being stateless, a fellow member of the Nazi Party appointed Hitler to a low-level government job that came with automatic citizenship. Hitler’s new status allowed him to achieve his political goals. As a citizen, he could run for office, and by the middle of 1934, power in Germany was entirely his as Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor). As Führer, Hitler redefined citizenship to serve his beliefs. He used race and pan-German heritage to give citizenship to, and take it from, large groups of people. By the time World War II was under way, Hitler’s views on German supremacy were fueling a military campaign that destroyed borders and entire populations all across Europe.