Nazi Germany dictator, Adolf Hitler, most likely suffered from Kallmann Syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause undescended testicles and a micropenis, researchers and documentary makers revealed Thursday following DNA testing of his blood.
The new research also dispels claims that Hitler had Jewish ancestry.
Popular World War II-era songs often mocked Hitler’s anatomy, but these carried no scientific basis. The findings, from an international team of scientists and historians, now appear to confirm longstanding suspicions about his sexual development.
“No one has ever really been able to explain why Hitler was so uncomfortable around women throughout his life, or why he probably never entered into intimate relations with women,” said Alex Kay of the University of Potsdam.
“But now we know that he had Kallmann Syndrome; this could be the answer we’ve been looking for.”
The research findings are featured in the new documentary “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator,” set to air on Saturday.
Testing indicated a “high likelihood” that Hitler had Kallmann Syndrome and “very high” scores, in the top one per cent, for predisposition to autism, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder, according to programme makers Blink Films.
The team emphasised that such conditions do not explain or excuse Hitler’s warmongering or racist policies, which led to the deaths of over 50 million people in World War II, including six million Jews in the Holocaust.
The DNA testing was conducted using a blood sample recovered from the sofa on which Hitler reportedly shot himself. Blink Films noted that Kallmann Syndrome often results in “low testosterone levels, undescended testicles, and can result in a micropenis.”
The results also debunked the claim that Hitler had a Jewish grandfather via his grandmother. “Analysis of the DNA showed that the Y chromosome matches Hitler’s male-line relatives. “If he had Jewish ancestry through an outside relationship, that match wouldn’t be there,” the production company explained.
Geneticist Turi King, who helped identify the remains of King Richard III, noted that Hitler’s genes placed him among the type of people targeted by his own eugenics policies.
“Hitler’s policies were completely around eugenics,” she said. “If he had been able to look at his own DNA, he almost certainly would have sent himself.”
