Researchers say they have verified and sequenced Hitler’s DNA. A new documentary reveals the findings
By Katie Hunt, CNN
(CNN) — Researchers have analyzed a sample of DNA believed to belong to Adolf Hitler, which they say reveals the dictator of Nazi Germany had a genetic marker for a rare disorder that can delay puberty, according to a new documentary.
The research, which took more than four years to complete, was led by geneticist Turi King, a professor at the UK’s University of Bath who is known for identifying the remains of King Richard III. King said she verified that a piece of material taken from a couch in the bunker where Hitler shot himself in 1945 was soaked in the dictator’s blood by comparing a DNA sample recovered from the blood with a confirmed relative of Hitler’s.
In addition to suggesting the possibility that Hitler had a hormone-disrupting congenital condition called Kallmann syndrome, the documentary examined rumors that the dictator had Jewish ancestry and looked at whether he had a genetic predisposition to certain mental health conditions. Called “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator,” the documentary premieres Saturday on Channel 4 in the UK.
However, the findings shared in the documentary haven’t been reviewed by other scientists in the field or published in a scientific journal, making it hard for experts not involved in the project to evaluate the validity of its assertions. King said that the analysis had been submitted to a “high-profile” journal and said she hopes the work will be published soon.
The small patch of frayed fabric started its journey in 1945 in the hands of US Army Col. Roswell P. Rosengren, who was communications officer for Gen. Dwight D Eisenhower. When Rosengren was allowed into Hitler’s bunker by Soviet forces, he cut a swatch of material from a bloodstained couch, according to the documentary. The swatch stayed in Rosengren’s family before being put up for sale at auction in 2014 and purchased by the Gettysburg Museum of History in Pennsylvania.
“We didn’t know what we were going to find,” King said. “It could have been the most boring genome on the planet, but it has been incredible.”
The most striking finding from the team’s analysis was that Hitler had a mutation on a gene called PROK2. Variants in this gene are a cause of Kallmann syndrome and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, King said. In boys, these conditions can delay puberty and cause undescended testicles.
“Basically, they are characterized by low testosterone levels. You either don’t go through puberty or you go through a partial puberty … 5% of cases get associated with a micropenis, ” King said, referring to a small but normally structured penis.
Clues in the historical record
At the time of his death, Hitler was observed at the end of the sofa with a gun and blood splattered on the couch and the wall behind him, said Nicholas F. Bellantoni, emeritus state archaeologist with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. He examined parts of the sofa, which is now in Russia, in 2009.
“If the provenance of the sofa material used is confirmed to have come from the Bunker and from the settee that Hitler and Eva Braun died on, then the likelihood of the blood having come from Hitler is very good,” Bellantoni said by email.
The new details that King put forth appear to align with the historical record, according to Alex Kay, an expert on Nazi Germany and senior lecturer at the Chair of War Studies at Germany’s University of Potsdam. Kay also appeared in the documentary.
He noted that a medical document from Hitler’s stay in prison after a failed coup known as the Munich beer hall putsch in 1923 suggested the dictator had right-side cryptorchidism — a condition in which a testicle fails to descend into the scrotum.
“The discovery of Kallmann syndrome is, for me, personally, as a historian and as somebody who has spent more than 20 years researching the Nazis, a major finding,” Kay said. He added the information potentially explained Hitler’s lack of personal relationships.
Kay and King said the findings also put to rest lingering rumors that Hitler had Jewish ancestry — speculation that stemmed from Hitler’s grandmother becoming pregnant while working in a Jewish household, according to the documentary.
Because the Y chromosome data analyzed in the research matched the DNA of Hitler’s male line relative, King said it’s not possible Hitler had Jewish ancestry. “If that was the case, we wouldn’t have got the DNA match with him,” King said. “That DNA match not only confirmed that this is Hitler’s DNA but also confirms that that story of human Jewish ancestry through his father is just simply not true.”
The value of historical DNA
King said she had some initial reservations about taking part in the documentary but decided to participate because she felt her expertise would ensure that the analysis was scientifically rigorous. “This is also not just a documentary but an academic paper,” she said, adding she had no publication date to offer.
Scientists have previously used DNA to study well-known historical figures. Beethoven’s DNA, recovered from a lock of hair, revealed that the composer had health issues. Archaeologists also widely use ancient DNA from human remains.
However, without information on the quality of the genome, the raw data or how the analyses were done, it is not possible to assess the assertions made in the documentary, according to Pontus Skoglund, senior group leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London.
“Stepping back, the scientific value of a media campaign such as this balanced against the possible stigmatization of individuals with these real diseases today can also be questioned,” Skoglund said.
He added that the researchers could have shared the findings with the scientific community on what’s known as a preprint server before a formal peer review and publication in an established journal.
It’s plausible that historical DNA could be extracted from the piece of cloth, but there has to be good justification for studying the DNA from historical figures and a defined set of questions, said Tom Booth, Skoglund’s colleague and a bioarchaeologist at the Francis Crick Institute.
“There are extensive historical records documenting the behaviour of Hitler in public and private,” Booth said via email. “(H)e is probably one of the most intensively studied figures in history, so I think it’s difficult to argue the DNA evidence adds much in this regard.
“Even the Kallmann syndrome diagnosis might not be as straightforward as the headlines suggest. There can be a lot of variation in how it manifests physically, and while it is a plausible explanation for his undescended testicle, it doesn’t justify the amount of ‘micropenis’ in my newsfeed.”
A ‘small, small puzzle piece’
The researchers also said they calculated a polygenic risk score, which involves sifting through a person’s DNA to quantify disease risk. Their findings suggested that Hitler had an increased genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.
However, polygenic risk score is a tool used today for research purposes — it’s not diagnostic and doesn’t mean that Hitler necessarily had these conditions, said Ditte Demontis, a professor in psychiatric genetics at Denmark’s Aarhus University, who was involved in the research and appears in the documentary.
“Currently, we are at a state where polygenic risk scores for psychiatric conditions are only used in the context of research,” Demontis emphasized. “We can say something at a group level but not an individual level.”
Demontis compared Hitler’s polygenic risk score with those of 30,000 Danish people and found that if Hitler lived today “his score for schizophrenia, autism and bipolar disorder was actually higher than 99% of the individuals in the Danish population.” It is also rare to have a high polygenic risk score for all three conditions, she added.
“It’s not diagnostic, and I also want to stress that the score absolutely by no means leads to any certain kinds of behavior or actions,” Demontis said.
King agreed. “We are at great, great pain not to stigmatize people with these conditions, because, you know … it’s incredibly rare that people with these conditions go on to commit violent acts,” she said.
“And the other thing is that Hitler did not act alone, he had hundreds and thousands of people who helped him,” King noted. “They’re not all going to have the same genetic makeup as him. His genetics is just a small, small puzzle piece.”
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