101 years ago today, on April 1, 1924 (February 28, 1924 in the lunar calendar), Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for a riot in a brewery. Hitler's Munich Brewery Riot On April 1, 1924, German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for an aborted riot in a Munich brewery in November 1923. But the lenient judge also ruled that Hitler could be released on parole after six months in prison. The 60 journalists who gave news interviews on the trial, most of whom considered it a light sentence, portrayed Hitler as a national hero and reported his name on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Hitler was protected by the Bavarian justice minister during the trial, and the judge allowed him to interject nonstop and cross-examine witnesses at will. Hitler invoked Wagner, who portrayed himself as the soul of German nationalism and the enemy of Marxism, and vowed that prison would not destroy his will. "You can convict us a thousand times" Hitler said: "But the Muse of the eternal court of history will tear to shreds the excerpts from the prosecution's proceedings and the judgments of this court." The main players pose for a photo after the trial after the failed Munich riots in November 1923, from left to right: Pennett, Weber, Frick, Krieble, Ludendorff, Hitler, Brookner, Rolm, and Wagner.