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The genetic background of Adolf Hitler has been widely disputed. One view claims that he is purely of Austrian descent. Another view that has been pushed forth by a number of groups is the Frankenberger thesis, which maintains that Leopold Frankenberger was the father of Hitler's father Alois Hitler. The Frankenberger family paid child support for Alois Hitler for 13 years. Claims according to a NY Times book review were circulated as early as the 1920s that Hitler had Jewish ancestry.

Ancestry

Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Schicklgruber. The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, "Schicklgruber". In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled "Hiedler", "Hüttler", or "Huettler". The name is probably based on the German word Hütte (lit. 'hut'), and has the meaning "one who lives in a hut".

Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz, and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois, a claim that came to be known as the Frankenberger thesis. There was correspondence that Frankenberger had to pay child support to Maria. No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, so historians dismiss the claim that Alois's father was Jewish. Additionally a claim by Nazi sympathizer that there were no Jews in that area by Nikolaus von Preradovich. This though runs contrary to evidence that there were competing claims by Leonard Sax of Jews in the Austrian town prior to 1850.

Nephew claims

Hitler's nephew William Stuart-Houston tried to blackmail Hitler by stating he would release to the press that Hitler had Jewish ancestry. This was investigated by Hans Frank who was Hitler's personal lawyer. Hans Frank stated during the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946 that he investigated those claims and there was no evidence to support this theory. Any possible connection would have been politically damaging to Adolph Hitler.

Claims of not being Jewish based on religion (maternal lineage)

As a religion, Judaism can only be passed through the mother. As Hitler was allegedly Jewish through the paternal line, he cannot be Jewish via religion, only genetically.

Claims of being Jewish based on having Jewish blood

There are claims of Hitler being Jewish based on the Nuremberg Laws or non religious ancestry which pushed forth the belief that having Jewish ancestry on either side of your family gives a person as being Jewish. This is pushed by the Frankenberger thesis After Hans Frank was executed in the Nuremberg Trial, his memoirs were published and this brought forth the claim that Hitler had in fact Jewish lineage.

DNA

As evidence of Hitler's background has come up, there has been DNA evidence that stated Hitler did have possible Jewish ancestry. DNA samples were taken from Hitler's relatives and a number of theories were produced. One was that Hitler had E1b1b Haploid group, which is rare amongst Western Europeans but relatively common amongst North Africans and Jews.

References

1. ^ "Hitler". archive.nytimes.com.
2. Bullock 1999, p. 24.
3. Maser 1973, p. 4.
4. Maser 1973, p. 15.
5. ^ Kershaw 1999, p. 5.
6. Jetzinger 1976, p. 32.
7. Rosenbaum 1999, p. 21.
8. "Study suggests Adolf Hitler's paternal grandfather was Jewish". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. August 8, 2019.
9. Hamann 2010, p. 50.
10. Toland 1992, pp. 246–247.
11. Kershaw 1999, pp. 8–9.
12. "Study suggests Adolf Hitler's paternal grandfather was Jewish". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. August 8, 2019.
13. ""Why I Hate My Uncle": Hitler's Nephew's Letter to FDR".
14. ^ "Why Did Adolf Hitler Hate the Jews? - International March of the Living". April 15, 2016.
15. "'Was Hitler Jewish?' - The Hitler Conspiracies". Holocaust Centre North. May 3, 2022.
16. "Et Tu, Lavrov? The Bountiful Conspiracies About Hitler's Jewish Blood - Israel News - Haaretz.com".
17. Ciaccia, Chris (August 6, 2019). "Hitler's secret history revealed: Study suggests Nazi leader's grandfather was Jewish". Fox News.
18. ^ "Study Suggests Adolf Hitler Had Jewish and African Ancestors". HISTORY. August 29, 2018.

Sources

• Bullock, Alan (1999) . Hitler: A Study in Tyranny. New York: Konecky & Konecky. ISBN 978-1-56852-036-0.

• Hamann, Brigitte (2010) . Hitler's Vienna: A Portrait of the Tyrant as a Young Man. Trans. Thomas Thornton. London; New York: Tauris Parke Paperbacks. ISBN 978-1-84885-277-8.

• Jetzinger, Franz (1976) . Hitler's Youth. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-8371-8617-7.

• Kershaw, Ian (1999). Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris. W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-04671-0.

• Maser, Werner (1973). Hitler: Legend, Myth and Reality. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-06-012831-3.

• Rosenbaum, Ron (1999). Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil. London: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-095339-3.

• Toland, John (1992) . Adolf Hitler. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-385-42053-2.

• Hitler family
• Austrian families
• Roman Catholic families