Adolf Hitler had a hidden genetic disorder that would likely have hindered the development of his sexual organs, new analysis of his DNA has uncovered.
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which can inhibit the normal progression of puberty, suggesting it is possible that he would have struggled to form sexual relationships.
The findings are set to be revealed in the Channel 4 documentary Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator, which also debunks the myth that Hitler had Jewish ancestry and provides evidence that he probably had one or more neurodivergent or mental health conditions.
Scientists were able to build the DNA profile from a sample of bloodstained cloth that a US army colonel had cut from the sofa where Hitler took his own life in 1945.
While the research and its outcomes are likely to provoke controversy, the lead geneticist said that while she was conflicted about taking on the project, she wanted to ensure it was done properly.
Professor Turi King, who identified the remains of Richard III, said: “I agonised over it. But it will be done at some point, and we wanted to make sure it’s done in an extremely measured and rigorous fashion. Also, to not do it puts [Hitler] on some sort of pedestal.”
She added: “If he [had looked] at his own genetic results, he would almost certainly have sent himself to the gas chambers.”
Stories from the First World War suggest that Hitler was bullied over the size of his genitals, with his genetic condition meaning he had a one in 10 chance of having a micropenis.
A 1923 medical examination, uncovered in 2015, showed that Hitler did have an undescended testicle, giving surprising credence to the derogatory wartime song about him.
Alex J Kay, a historian at the University of Potsdam who specialises in Nazi Germany, told the documentary that this could help explain his “highly unusual and almost complete devotion to politics in his life”.
He said: “Other senior Nazis had wives, children, even extramarital affairs. Hitler is the one person among the whole Nazi leadership who doesn’t. Therefore, I think that only under Hitler could the Nazi movement have come to power.”
The DNA findings have also dispelled long-held rumours that Hitler had Jewish ancestry, and that he was illegitimately descended from a Jewish grandfather.
However, the possibility that he had one or more neurodivergent or mental health conditions was not ruled out, with some of his genes overlapping between conditions. Analysis of the likelihood that he had autism, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder placed him in the top percentile, but it is unclear which, if any, of these conditions he may have had.
Dr Alex Tsompanidis, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, said: “I think it’s fair to say that his biology didn’t help. I don’t think any clinical term applies here. We can’t know, we can’t diagnose. The cognitive process is likely to have been affected, but I use his behaviour, as much as genetics, when I say that.”
However, the group of researchers are keen to ensure that their findings are not used to stigmatise people with any of the conditions indicated in Hitler’s DNA.
“Behaviour is never 100 per cent genetic,” said psychologist Professor Sir Simon Baron-Cohen. “Associating Hitler’s extreme cruelty with people with these diagnoses risks stigmatising them, especially when the vast majority of people with these diagnoses are neither violent nor cruel, and many are the opposite.”
