Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder
Hitler had Kalman syndrome, a sexual disorder, researchers found
Adolf Hitler in Nuremberg, Germany in 1935. Photo by API/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
(JTA) — Adolf Hitler had a sexual disorder that made it more likely for him to have a micro-penis, according to the first-ever analysis of his DNA. He also did not have the Jewish ancestors that some have claimed he had.
The analysis is being revealed in detail in “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator,” a new documentary premiering Saturday night in the United Kingdom. The documentary looks at the researchers who decided to tackle the genetic makeup of one of history’s greatest villains, as well as what they learned — and cannot learn — from his DNA.
They found that he had Kallmann syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by incomplete puberty, according to an exclusive report published Wednesday in the Times of London. They also found that he had genes making him more likely to have autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though they cautioned that the DNA alone is not sufficient to deliver a diagnosis.
Among those quoted in the documentary is the prominent British Jewish psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen (father of actor Sacha). “Behavior is never 100% genetic,” he said in the Times report. “Associating Hitler’s extreme cruelty with people with these diagnoses risks stigmatizing them, especially when the vast majority of people with these diagnoses are neither violent nor cruel, and many are the opposite.”
The analysis, conducted by a team led by a prominent British geneticist, is more definitive on the subject of Hitler’s possible Jewish ancestry. Rumors about such a background were prevalent during Hitler’s rise: In one notable example, in 1933, a newspaper aligned with Austria’s anti-Nazi chancellor challenged German authorities to disprove his Jewish ties.
And the rumors have endured: In 2022, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, repeated the claim that Hitler had Jewish ancestry. Lavrov was attempting to justify Russia’s stated reason for invading Ukraine — to “denazify” the country — an effort that was complicated by the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish. (He also said: “Jewish wise people said already a long time ago that the biggest antisemites are Jewish themselves.”)
But while previous analyses of the DNA of Hitler’s relatives suggested that he may have had some genetic links to groups that he sought to destroy — including Jews — the new analysis, on Hitler’s own DNA, shows only Austrian German ancestry.
The analysis is based on a swatch of fabric stained with blood that a U.S. soldier cut from the couch upon which Hitler shot himself. The researchers were able to confirm without a doubt that the blood came from Hitler by comparing the DNA found in it to DNA previously confirmed to have come from one of his relatives.
