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.
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