# So we've got this Adolf Hitler clone. What shall we do with it? (Him?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359 "2014-04-17T18:36:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/61 "2014-04-20T14:34:25Z")
If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then we have to at least assume we have a member of Anatidae on our hands. The clone may not have actually done any of the things the Original Hitler did, but for all intents and purposes (memory, education, experience), it _is_ the Original Hitler; given time, resources, and opportunity, he will be right back doing all the shit the Original Hitler did. Shoot him in the head and bury him upside down, at a crossroads, at midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/62 "2014-04-20T14:59:08Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Who’s blaming his genes? If **Skald** had found a perfect clone of Greta Garbo, but with Hitler’s memories implanted in it, you should still hang him for warcrimes, because he’s still Hitler. It’s the mind that makes the person, not the body. Any body with Hitler’s memories in it is Hitler. Put his mind in a pekinese, and he can be the first war criminal put down by a veterinarian. But the man who committed the crimes you’re hanging Greta for is dead and not getting any deader. The mind transplant was forced upon Hitler-clone, he didn’t seek it, he was brainraped without knowledge or consent, he’s been mind-controlled into thinking he is the same person as someone who shares his genes. You’re hanging him for crimes he couldn’t possibly have committed as he hadn’t been born at the time, the very definition of injustice. Don’t get me wrong, I loathe the late Fuhrer as much as any man, but copying and pasting Anna Karenina doesn’t make one Tolstoy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/63 "2014-04-21T03:28:02Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > But the man who committed the crimes you’re hanging Greta for is dead and not getting any deader. Hitler _was_ dead, until someone resurrected him and gave him a new body. Now he’s alive again, because the thing that made Hitler Hitler is once again active and functional: his mind. > [@](#): > > The mind transplant was forced upon Hitler-clone, he didn’t seek it, he was brainraped without knowledge or consent, he’s been mind-controlled into thinking he is the same person as someone who shares his genes. You’re hanging him for crimes he couldn’t possibly have committed as he hadn’t been born at the time, the very definition of injustice. There is no “he” in there prior to the Hitler implant. He’s a two week old clone-blank. There was no original mind or personality to be altered or overwritten with Hitler’s personality. There is no person there whose rights have been violated. It’s just a sack of flesh, waiting to be occupied. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/64 "2014-04-21T15:29:29Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Hitler _was_ dead, until someone resurrected him and gave him a new body. Now he’s alive again, because the thing that made Hitler Hitler is once again active and functional: his mind. > > There is no “he” in there prior to the Hitler implant. He’s a two week old clone-blank. There was no original mind or personality to be altered or overwritten with Hitler’s personality. There is no person there whose rights have been violated. It’s just a sack of flesh, waiting to be occupied. Clone blank? That wasn’t the impression I got from the OP, though it would be in line with **Skald** type supervillainy. The impression I got is that a two week old baby was aged and then got the Hitler-stamp. So the rights being violated would be that of the 2-week old as having the personality of a mass-murderer imposed on you is not a crime. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/65 "2014-04-21T15:46:55Z")
The poll needs a “Haul 'im aloft until 'e’s sober!” option. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/66 "2014-04-21T16:10:59Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Clone blank? That wasn’t the impression I got from the OP, though it would be in line with **Skald** type supervillainy. The impression I got is that a two week old baby was aged and then got the Hitler-stamp. So the rights being violated would be that of the 2-week old as having the personality of a mass-murderer imposed on you is not a crime. Two-week old babies don’t have any personality of their own, really. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/67 "2014-04-21T16:52:20Z")
It sounds like the Hitler clone suffers from a mental illness - the delusion that he is Adolf Hitler. (He may also have any other mental illnesses that Hitler had, and that have a genetic component - speculation is rife there). The fact that the mental illness is artificially induced is irrelevant - oh, it guarantees that it won’t be cured, for the sake of this hypo, but there are plenty of mental illnesses without very good treatment. However, we don’t lock people up for having odious political beliefs, nor even for being delusional - we commit them to involuntary mental health treatment when we believe, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that they pose a direct danger to the physical safety of themselves or others. If we can’t lock up Joe Neonazi for being a fascist, we can’t lock up the unfortunate Hitler clone. So, we need a good psych eval - and it’s not clear the clone could even be compelled to submit to this involuntarily. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/68 "2014-04-21T16:55:41Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Clone blank? That wasn’t the impression I got from the OP, though it would be in line with **Skald** type supervillainy. The impression I got is that a two week old baby was aged and then got the Hitler-stamp. So the rights being violated would be that of the 2-week old as having the personality of a mass-murderer imposed on you is not a crime. My impression was that they grew an adult body from a batch of cells in two weeks. Basically, [_Venture Brothers_ style cloning](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8g3cjwyoX1rc94o3o1_500.jpg). If it’s more of a _Boys from Brazil_ thing, then there is an innocent party involved whose rights need to be considered. I still maintain that the Hitler memories are every bit as much Hitler as the one who died in a bunker in Berlin, but if his mind could be erased from the clone and replaced with the original intellect, I’d see that as just as much of a death sentence as giving him the rope. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/69 "2014-04-24T04:31:38Z")
**Miller** makes the best point so far I think. What if der Führer stempel is used on a clone of Johnny Carson? Mahatma Ghandi? Gary Coleman? 10 random people gene sampled at the mall? Now you’ve got 13 people utterly convinced they have a mandate to eradicate Judaism specifically and all non Aryans collectively. Line em all up and dig a mass grave? Back to the OP. Hit him with enough plastic surgery to make him unrecognizable and then have him committed. No one will take him seriously enough to bother with a DNA test. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/70 "2014-04-24T05:36:37Z")
Finally America has good leader material. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/71 "2014-04-24T05:42:23Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Really not much. It was more of a throwaway gag. > > Something similar is done in the short story “Valhalla” by Gregory Benford. You can find it in his anthology _Hitler Victorious_. > > Also check out this very short story: [Homepage - Reactor](http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory) I enjoyed that, thanks. I wondered how thick the “Rescue Jesus/Kill Paul” file would be. To the suggestion that Hitler be put to work for the Jewish Community, I submit… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UojL96_3jOs/hqdefault.jpg "Mr. Show- Hitler Clones") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UojL96_3jOs) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/72 "2014-04-24T09:09:11Z")
This afternoon I happened to spot [Look Who’s Back](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Look-Whos-Back-Timur-Vermes/dp/1623653339) in the bookshop. Not surprisingly the cover art caught my eye. > [@](#): > > Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman. > > People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, and the ranting Hitler goes viral, becomes a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Führer has another programme with even greater ambition - to set the country he finds a shambles back to rights. > > Look Who’s Back stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet strangely sympathetic, the revived Hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/73 "2014-04-24T19:57:04Z")
I have a hard time believing that the neo-Nazis were actually able to transfer the entirety of Hitler’s mind into the new body. They transferred enough that the clone can converse as an adult and so on, and enough that the clone currently thinks he’s the original, but there have to be holes. What’s the real Hitler’s oldest childhood memory? What was his most embarrassing moment? With whom did he lose his virginity, when, and under what circumstances? I’m sure the real Hitler would remember all of these things, but how would the neo-Nazis have even gotten ahold of the memories to implant? And every adult person has thousands of these sorts of idiosyncratic personal memories, and they all contribute to who and what we are. The clone either lacks them, and is thus in many ways still an innocent child, or has invented ones, and is thus a different person than the original Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359/74 "2014-04-25T20:26:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a hard time believing that the neo-Nazis were actually able to transfer the entirety of Hitler’s mind into the new body. They transferred enough that the clone can converse as an adult and so on, and enough that the clone currently thinks he’s the original, but there have to be holes. What’s the real Hitler’s oldest childhood memory? What was his most embarrassing moment? With whom did he lose his virginity, when, and under what circumstances? I’m sure the real Hitler would remember all of these things, but how would the neo-Nazis have even gotten ahold of the memories to implant? And every adult person has thousands of these sorts of idiosyncratic personal memories, and they all contribute to who and what we are. The clone either lacks them, and is thus in many ways still an innocent child, or has invented ones, and is thus a different person than the original Hitler. Well, it’s technomagic, not ordinary tech. That is, it’s magic controlled by an electronic interface. Anyway, somebody upthread pointed out a way it “could” be done. You’d need a time travel machine as well as a memory reader. I can even fanwank why doing that would require letting the original Hitler die as history records. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-weve-got-this-adolf-hitler-clone-what-shall-we-do-with-it-him/686359.md?page=3)