New study debunks claim Hitler had Jewish ancestry

A DNA analysis of blood taken from the couch where Adolf Hitler shot himself debunks decades old claim that the Nazi leader had Jewish ancestry – while potentially validating another rumor about the dictator.

By World Israel News Staff

Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler did not have any detectable Jewish ancestry, a new genetic analysis shows, refuting decades of rumors and speculation that Hitler had a Jewish grandfather.

The analysis was conducted using a DNA sample taken from a blood-soaked section of the couch Hitler was sitting on when he fatally shot himself in the head during the Soviet siege of Berlin in May 1945.

Days later, US Army press officer Col. Roswell P. Rosengren removed a section of the couch’s cloth, bringing the sample back to the United States.

Researchers involved in the study, including geneticist Professor Turi King and historian Dr. Alex K. Kay, verified that the blood stain did indeed belong to Hitler by comparing the Y chromosome DNA to that of a living male relative.

The study was conducted for a documentary entitled Hitler’s DNA: A Dictator’s Masterplan, which is slated to be aired on Britain’s Channel 4 this weekend.

According to the producers, who teased the documentary ahead of its Saturday debut, the analysis found Hitler had no Jewish ancestry, with his genetic code consistent with someone of Austrian-Germanic heritage.

Since the 1920s, Hitler was dogged by rumors regarding his ancestry, often pushed by his political opponents.

After his rise to power in Germany in 1933, an Austrian newspaper critical of the Nazi party suggested Hitler’s paternal grandfather was in fact Jewish.

Speculation regarding Hitler’s grandfather was fueled in part by the fact that his father was born out of wedlock, with no official attribution of paternity, raising suspicions that Hitler’s father was the result of a prohibited and potentially scandalous relationship.

After World War II, Hitler’s attorney, Hans Frank, expanded upon the theory of Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry, claiming that Hitler’s parental grandmother had been employed as a housekeeper in a Jewish home in Graz, Austria, and that she became pregnant following a relationship with a Jewish youth.

Despite criticism by historians skeptical of Frank’s claims, Frank’s testimony helped rumors regarding Hitler’s ancestry persist and gain popular appeal.

While the new analysis is said to have debunked the claim of Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry, it may give conditional backing to another long-running rumor regarding the Austrian-born dictator.

Along with suggestions of secret Jewish ancestry, Hitler’s critics – particularly abroad – spread rumors regarding his alleged deformities, including claims of various genital abnormalities.

One source often cited for the claims was a 1923 medical examination performed after Hitler was taken into custody following the Nazi Party’s failed Beer Hall Putsch.

The examining physician, Dr. Josef Brinsteiner, recorded that Hitler presented with “right-sided cryptorchidism,” referring to an undescended testicle.

The study of Hitler’s DNA suggests he very likely suffered from Kallmann syndrome, a developmental disorder that can impact puberty and the growth of sex organs, among other things.

A statement by the producers of the upcoming documentary added that the analysis of Hitler’s genes also suggests he was more likely to suffer from other conditions including autism and bipolar disorder.

“Hitler was in the top 1% for autism, top 1% for schizophrenia and top 1% for bipolar: His score is at the highest end of the polygenic scores for each of these conditions.”