Count Ciano, Adolf Hitler and his interpreter Dr Schmidt, in Vienna. Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (18 March 1903 - 11 January 1944) was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law, Benito Mussolini, from 1936 until 1943. Paul-Otto Schmidt (23 June 1899 - 21 April 1970) was an interpreter in the German foreign ministry from 1923 to 1945. Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 - 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then assuming the title of Fuhrer und Reichskanzler in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about six million Jews and millions