# Does anyone know of any 2021 scientific rebuttal to the nonsense peddled about Hitler's supposed Jewish ancestry ancestry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043 "2021-04-29T16:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/61 "2021-05-02T00:16:42Z")
Do my Levis count as Jewish jeans? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/62 "2021-05-02T00:29:05Z")
You would think so, though then again, there’s these: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QZ1Z5TIx4wI/maxresdefault.jpg "Rhonda Weiss: Jewess Jeans - SNL") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1Z5TIx4wI) ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/63 "2021-05-02T01:44:14Z")
This feels more like a “push poll” than a sincere question. ---
**Author:** ![Esprise\_Me](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprise_me/32/2947_2.png) [@Esprise\_Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprise_Me)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/64 "2021-05-02T02:00:26Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > In modern Jewish canon, IIUC, Jewishness is matrilineal, so if he had a Jewish grandfather, he would not himself be officially Jewish at all. But what about the way he defined Jewishness? I don’t suppose those with “only” Jewish paternal grandfathers were spared? I’m not sure these rumors are as prevalent as the OP thinks. Sometimes when something gets under your skin, you start seeing it everywhere. I believe I heard a variation on the Jewish Hitler rumor once, and it was taken to a rather laughable extreme. The way I heard it, he had a fully Jewish father and the Jewish community rejected him for not having a Jewish mother, so he took his revenge. I also heard, in this same lecture by a random moron, that he destroyed art because he flunked out of art school. The Holocaust was a popular topic throughout my education, and this rando’s take was the only time I ever heard a whisper about Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry until this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/65 "2021-05-02T02:07:15Z")
I thought the Nazis decided that didn’t matter as far they were concerned. If you had Jewish ancestry, then you were Jewish, regardless of which side of the family that ancestry was. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/66 "2021-05-02T02:09:42Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > isn’t there a danger of stating that Hitler wasn’t an Austrian/German but a mix of all races and thus just a flawed human being? Nazism can in no way be blamed specifically on being Austrian/German. Genocide, unfortunately, is a behavior that people of a wide variety of “races” and nationalities have gone in for. The worst danger of Nazism is exactly that it can happen anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/67 "2021-05-02T07:06:10Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > By focusing on his supposed genetic Sephardic roots, isn’t there a danger of stating that Hitler wasn’t an Austrian/German but a mix of all races This is the part I’m having trouble with. Aside from the fact that race is merely a social construct, how do you go from the people focusing on Hitler’s Sephardic roots to people concluding he’d be _a mix of all races_? Are you saying that people who believe Hitler had Jewish ancestry would also believe he has African and, say, Asian ancestry? > [@Octagon](#): > > There are many articles on the topic of Hitler’s supposed Jewish ancestry. They mention the chromosome Haplogroup E1b1b1.It’s easy to find these articles. I didn’t think it necessary to link to them all. How about linking to just one? ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/68 "2021-05-02T08:36:02Z")
Thanks Monty. No matter how we view race (a social construct), the Nazis (large number of willing German members ) viewed themselves as a ‘master race’ /Aryan race. What they prosecuted was a ‘racial war’. But we’re not here to debate well-worn historical facts. My sole interest was to find an independent study to debunk what the established/quality media view as nonsense (the absence of any such articles is confirmation but also dismissive statements by leading scholars such as Ian Kershaw) which is why you will find no articles (I haven’t after extensive searches) or interviews on Dr. Loenard Sax’s study. It is considered a fringe theory. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/69 "2021-05-02T11:31:00Z")
I think, along with everyone else in this thread, I’m waiting for your evidence that “the established media” asserts what you’ve said it’s asserted. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/70 "2021-05-02T11:44:24Z")
“Help! my sane neighbor keep joking that my hero Adolf was part Jewish, help me debunk this nasty slander” — This is the vibe I’m getting. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/71 "2021-05-02T11:58:09Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > It is considered a fringe theory. Considered by whom? If you can answer that, then you also already have the answer to your OP. If you can’t answer that, then why are you saying that it is considered that? ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/72 "2021-05-02T13:22:04Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > “Help! my sane neighbor keep joking that my hero Adolf was part Jewish, help me debunk this nasty slander” > > — > > This is the vibe I’m getting. That’s not at all the “vibe” I’m getting. OP stated: > [@Octagon](#): > > By focusing on his supposed genetic Sephardic roots, isn’t there a danger of stating that Hitler wasn’t an Austrian/German but a mix of all races and thus just a flawed human being?; that the 6 million Jewish victims weren’t Jewish at all but a mix of all races, so in effect treating the deaths of those 6 million, not as genocide but as a mass killing and then stating " Well, Stalin was much worse". Facts do matter. Not caring about facts has real consequences. I think it’s pretty clear from their postings that **Octagon** ’s concern very much isn’t that Hitler is being “slandered” by contentions that he has Jewish heritage, but that they’re concerned reports of such will be used by Holocaust deniers to downplay Hitler’s crimes. I personally think **Octagon** is wrong about that, in several dimensions, but I’m not seeing _any_ indication of what you seem to be reading into their posts. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/73 "2021-05-02T15:24:43Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > This is the vibe I’m getting. You’re not the only one. Sorry, **gdave**. This OP just feels really “off” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/74 "2021-05-02T15:29:54Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > My sole interest was to find an independent study to debunk what the established/quality media view as nonsense (the absence of any such articles is confirmation but also dismissive statements by leading scholars such as Ian Kershaw) which is why you will find no articles (I haven’t after extensive searches) or interviews on Dr. Loenard Sax’s study. So you only are interested in information that supports your viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/75 "2021-05-02T15:36:08Z")
A lot of people have guttural reactions to the entire subject of Hitler or any part of it. There have been numerous books written about him from all sorts of angles from people trying to find an explanation for the horrors of that time. The OP mentions this guy Leonard Sax who is a psychiatrist peddling the “Hitler ashamed of being Jewish” theory based on what he claims is new information that there were Jewish men in the region where Hitler’s grandmother lived, something previously believed not to be the case. He himself is not adding any scientific evidence of Hitler’s ancestry, just pointing out the work of others to support his theory about Hitler’s mental state. I wish the OP would explain himself clearly but he hasn’t said anything that would draw the conclusion that he has anything but the same cognitive dissonance about this subject that affected so many others. But he really ought to state his reasoning, and perhaps reflect on that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/76 "2021-05-02T16:19:16Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > _any_ indication Someone just asking questions about matters relating Jews, Hitler and WWII is not indication enough? There is more than enough material available on the subject in any library. The only people “curious” about this shit have an agenda with swastikas doodled in the margins. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/77 "2021-05-02T16:35:25Z")
Thank you gdave once again for your consistently calm, constructive response. We need more of that here. Let’s all call it a day. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/78 "2021-05-02T19:34:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Considered by whom? If you can answer that, then you also already have the answer to your OP. If you can’t answer that, then why are you saying that it is considered that? Somewhere back in time as a kid, I’m pretty sure that I had heard this rumor that Hitler had Jewish ancestry. I never really thought about it, and didn’t do much to inform on how I felt about him or what he did. This is the first time since then that I have heard this brought up, though, so, while I can confirm that _some_ people think this and have perpetuated this, I don’t think it’s all that common. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/79 "2021-05-02T19:50:20Z")
I’m very disappointed that historians in 2021 don’t have the _balls_ to refute that nonsense about Hitler only having one testicle. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043/80 "2021-05-02T20:04:06Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > This is the first time since then that I have heard this brought up, though, so, while I can confirm that _some_ people think this and have perpetuated this, I don’t think it’s all that common. It is less common now but the story goes back a long way. > [@\[wikipedia on Hitler's father](#): > > ([Alois Hitler - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alois_Hitler))] Kershaw cites several stories circulating in the 1920s about Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry, including one about a “Baron Rothschild” in Vienna in whose household Maria Schicklgruber had worked for some time as a servant. That article goes on to mention Leonard Sax and his theory, which is simply reviving the old stories along with a bit of inconclusive evidence. Post WWII in movies and television there were references to Hitler as ‘Schicklgruber’, I believe that were understood to refer to the rumors that he had a Jewish grandfather and his father’s name change to cover that up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-know-of-any-2021-scientific-rebuttal-to-the-nonsense-peddled-about-hitlers-supposed-jewish-ancestry-ancestry/941043.md?page=5)