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The Schmooze

Hitler’s Great-Nephew Was Dumped By His Jewish Fiancee When She Learned His Identity

Romeo and Juliet. Paris and Helen. Hitler’s great-nephew and an anonymous Jewish Long Island woman. Some great passions just aren’t built to last.

As if the news cycle wasn’t exhilarating enough, journalists for the German publication Bild at last succeeded in securing an interview with a long elusive source: one of the three great-nephews of Adolf Hitler, who have been dwelling in anonymity on Long Island for decades.

The three brothers at the center of the interview are Alexander, Brian and Louis Stuart-Houston, of Patchogue, Long Island. The men — all of whom are unmarried and childless — are the sons of William Hitler, whose father was Alois Hitler, the half-brother of the Nazi dictator. Alexander, who at 68 is the eldest Stuart-Houston brother and the one who agreed to speak to German press, told a reporter that one of his brothers was at one point engaged to be married to a Jewish woman. But during the engagement, the woman learned of the family’s connection to Hitler, and broke off the relationship.

It really puts modern dating troubles in perspective.

The Stuart-Houston branch of the Hitler family-tree has lived in Long Island since 1946, when William Hitler settled there after leaving Germany in the 1930s and going on to serve in the Navy for the United States during the second World War. In the wake of the war, Hitler changed the family name to Hiller, which eventually evolved to Stuart-Houston, and despite some discussion of co-authoring a book, the brothers decided to keep their family story private. A fourth brother, Howard, married and apparently planned to have children, but died in 1989. Neighbors described the brothers as “excellent people.”

Media outlets have made much of this Hitler-heartbreak, as well as the fact that Alexander Stuart-Houston identifies as a Republican, but not a supporter of Donald Trump. “The last person I would say I admire is Donald Trump,” he told the German newspaper. “He is definitely not one of my favorites.”

But here’s what the Schmooze wants to know — Hitler’s descendants’ dating lives appear to have been a casualty of their great-uncle’s regime, but what about their careers? Alexander Stuart-Houston is described in the article as a “retired psychotherapist.” He has lived his entire life in Patchogue, a town in Central Suffolk, Long Island — an area with a large Jewish population. If you were a Jewish patient of Hitler’s now-retired psychotherapist great-nephew, please be in touch. We have questions.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

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