Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
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 Singer@forward.com or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version