DNA study: Dozens of living Austrians are related to Hitler
Farmer horrified to learn he has the blood of 'history's greatest criminal' flowing through his veins.
By Ofer Aderet and Agencies Tags: Hitler Israel news AustriaA DNA test on a farmer running for political office living in a remote area of Austria has revealed that the 46-year-old man is one of the last living relatives of Adolf Hitler, the Austrian magazine News reported last week.
The man, thought to be a cousin of the German dictator, was horrified to learn the blood of the man he called the "greatest criminal" is in his veins.
Belgian journalist Jean-Paul Mulders persuaded the man to take a mouth swab test, Britain's Daily Mail reported Saturday. Mulders said there are as many as 39 other individuals living in the rural Waldviertel region of Austria, home to Hitler's grandmother, Maria Anna Schicklgruber, his father Alois and mother Klara.
After World War II, the name Hitler largely disappeared as those who bore it had their names changed, though some individuals in the Waldviertel area still bear similar names like Hiedler and Huettler. Going through these names in the phone book, Mulders came upon the man now believed related to the dictator, and the journalist convinced him to produce a saliva sample.
Mulders had previously garnered some of Hitler's DNA by discreetly taking a napkin dropped by one of three known Hitler descendants who live on Long Island, New York, the Daily Mail reported.
One of them, Alexander Stuart-Houston, 61, a retired psychologist who is the grand-nephew of Hitler, was trailed for seven days before he dropped the piece of litter which allowed Mulders to link the Austrian farmer to Hitler.
In the Austrian report, published Thursday, Mulders did not specify the man's relationship to Hitler, but he is believed to be a cousin. Called Norbert H by the publication (a false name) he is running in a local election for the Austrian People's Party.
He said he had no reason to doubt the chemical findings - carried out in a Belgian lab - but added: "I wish I had never done this. Hitler for me was the biggest criminal of all time - there is no argument about that. I did the test without really thinking, and regret it now."
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They must be exterminated - fake som passports and see to it immidiately. Surely they must be a threat to Israel and the world peace.
Chance? Fate? This man's "fate" is publicized by "chance" on Purim..This could be a sensitive issue as we remember Amalek... but then we know that on Purim only enemies were fought. The battle with Haman and followeres wasn not because he was a descendant of Amalek but due to his own the evil plans and deeds. Yet, we see that this man has his own problems carrying the common blood or genes of Hitler.
Dozens of people must be related to Baruch Goldstein, Olmert. (We won't start with the Bernie Madoffs.) Some of the soldiers caught on camera bullying West Bank kids and old people are our sons.
You can choose your friends and your philosophy of life. You are stuck with your ancestors and relatives - good, bad or ugly.
So what?
The actual number will be in the thousands or millions...what do you mean by related? We are all related to each other at some level... Though I always found it ironic that Hitler's relatives would settle in Long Island New York, which is heavily Jewish. One of Hitler's realtives even immigrated and served in the U.S. armed forces, so bloodlines mean little if anything.
Being a cousin doesn't make one a criminal. It's how you act and feel that makes a person good or evil. Those folks can use this opportunity to to publicly denounce their infamous relative.