A new British documentary has pushed one of the most persistent rumors about Adolf Hitler back into the realm of fiction. For decades, opponents and defenders of the Nazi regime alike have repeated claims that Hitler carried Jewish ancestry, usually through an alleged liaison involving his paternal grandmother. The release of “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator” has now produced the most direct genetic evidence ever examined. The results are blunt: Hitler’s DNA shows Austrian-German ancestry, with no trace of Jewish lineage.
The filmmakers gained access to a swatch of blood-soaked fabric cut in May 1945 from the sofa where Hitler killed himself in the Führerbunker. Researchers authenticated the sample by comparing the Y chromosome to that of a living male relative. Once confirmed, they performed a broader analysis that identified genetic markers linked to Kallmann syndrome, a developmental disorder affecting puberty. The documentary includes commentary from historians and psychologists who evaluate these findings without excusing Hitler’s crimes. They state clearly that medical conditions cannot explain the Nazi campaign of genocide or the industrial murder of six million Jews.
The documentary also addresses the saga of Hitler’s allegedly Jewish grandfather, a claim repeated by Soviet propagandists, fringe writers, and recently by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Historians long ago discredited this story. There is no record of a Jewish family named Frankenberger in Graz at the time Hitler’s grandmother lived there, as Jews were banned from residing in the city. The only person who ever presented this claim as fact was Hans Frank, a senior Nazi official writing under a death sentence at Nuremberg. The new DNA analysis reinforces what serious historians have long said: the rumor had no basis in evidence.
The Bible gives a sharp answer about the danger of false stories taking root. “Midvar sheker tirchak — keep far from a false matter” (Exodus 23:7). The Sages explain that lies endure because they serve a purpose for those who repeat them, not because they contain truth. For almost a century, the claim of Hitler’s supposed Jewish ancestry has been used to confuse responsibility, dilute guilt, and twist the narrative of Jewish suffering. In modern times, the rumor has been deployed to justify political agendas, including Russia’s attempt to brand its war in Ukraine as a campaign of “denazification.”
By returning to verifiable facts, the new documentary removes space for these distortions. There is no hidden Jewish grandfather, no secret lineage. There was only an Austrian German who built a political movement on murderous antisemitism. The genetic findings undermine those who try to recycle this myth for political gain and reaffirm what the historical record already established.
The power of this moment is not in the sensational details about Hitler’s medical condition, which cannot illuminate the roots of his evil. It lies in cutting through a rumor that has persisted for nearly a century. Exposing a lie does not change the past, but it strengthens the integrity of how the past is told.
