# What if Hitler was your Uncle? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 22, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346 "2014-06-22T03:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/1 "2014-06-22T03:36:27Z")
You go to bed in 2015, but awake seeing through the eyes of Geli Raubel, Adolf Hitler’s beloved niece in 1029. You can insert ideas into her head, and she will pursue and follow them like they were her own. What would you have her say to Hitler? (No bad military intelligence, please) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/2 "2014-06-22T03:39:23Z")
Well, for starters, I would have her shoot Hitler in 1931, rather than herself. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/3 "2014-06-22T03:50:55Z")
Seriously, though, it’s one screwed up story. You know, there might be something wrong with the way my brain works, but… Yeah, there’s the totalitarianism, and the war, and the millions of Jews murdered, but hers is the story that really hammers it home for me that Hitler indeed really was one massive asshole. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/4 "2014-06-22T04:03:40Z")
I would say “How come you like ugly girls, such as myself?” [Geli Raubal - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal) (I think that Wikipedia may have confused her pic with Sam Kinison…still checking on that, tho.) ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/5 "2014-06-22T04:16:09Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Seriously, though, it’s one screwed up story. You know, there might be something wrong with the way my brain works, but… Yeah, there’s the totalitarianism, and the war, and the millions of Jews murdered, but hers is the story that really hammers it home for me that Hitler indeed really was one massive asshole. Not really, a childless uncle being overprotective of his niece isn’t that screwed up. The fact multiple partners of his attempted suicide (not including his wife) is more screwed up. > [@handsomeharry](#): > > I would say “How come you like ugly girls, such as myself?” Because you are my niece? I really doubt there was a sexual component to their relationship. There were nude sketches, but he sketched loads of people nude. On the subject of incest, did you know Adolf Hitler only had 6 great grandparents? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/6 "2014-06-22T04:26:48Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > Not really, a childless uncle being overprotective of his niece isn’t that screwed up. > > The fact multiple partners of his attempted suicide (not including his wife) is more screwed up. Well, yeah, it’s the “driven to suicide” part that is the clincher. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/7 "2014-06-22T04:55:04Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I would say “How come you like ugly girls, such as myself?” > > [Geli Raubal - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal) (I think that Wikipedia may have confused her pic with Sam Kinison…still checking on that, tho.) Seriously? A young woman who was driven to suicide because she was being sexually abused by Adolf Hitler - and you’re going to mock her appearance? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/8 "2014-06-22T05:29:26Z")
OP, do you mean 1929? In any case, I probably wouldn’t say anything to Hitler, even armed with the knowledge of the future of the Third Reich. Hitler was such an egotist, I doubt if he would have listened to emotional appeals to spare innocent people. He may have felt as if his own niece turned on him if she were to say anything. He was utterly convinced that non-Aryans were inferior and that the genocide of people whom he viewed as no better than animals was justified. I doubt there would be any way to prevent the deaths of millions of people. He might have even been pushed to cause millions of more deaths in an effort to prevent Germany from falling. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/9 "2014-06-22T06:15:01Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I would say “How come you like ugly girls, such as myself?” > > [Geli Raubal - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geli_Raubal) (I think that Wikipedia may have confused her pic with Sam Kinison…still checking on that, tho.) Ya know, put a little mustache on her, and I can see the resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/10 "2014-06-22T06:41:51Z")
\*\*What if Hitler was your Uncle? \*\* I want a fucking Mercedes, _NOW!_ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/11 "2014-06-22T07:46:09Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Well, for starters, I would have her shoot Hitler in 1931, rather than herself. Provided she DID shoot herself – isn’t there speculation that she was killed? ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/12 "2014-06-22T07:50:17Z")
Say to him? I wouldn’t have her say anything, just go grab a big knife. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/13 "2014-06-22T08:30:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Seriously? A young woman who was driven to suicide because she was being sexually abused by Adolf Hitler - and you’re going to mock her appearance? Yep. On top of that, there’s no proof that she was being sexually abused by Adolf Hitler. It was Jewish propaganda. NOt \*really \*Jewish propaganda, I just wanted you to be able to feel superior for a minute. Again. However, the proof for the abuse is not as good as saying that there was speculation of sexual abuse. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/14 "2014-06-22T08:32:59Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > \*\*What if Hitler was your Uncle? \*\* > > I want a fucking Mercedes, _NOW!_ Topped me. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/15 "2014-06-22T09:06:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Seriously? A young woman who was driven to suicide because she was being sexually abused by Adolf Hitler - and you’re going to mock her appearance? Hey, wait a minute…there was never, never, never, never \*any \*indication, or even accusation that she was driven to suicide by sexual abuse. Whence cometh this??? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/16 "2014-06-22T09:12:50Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Hey, wait a minute…there was never, never, never, never \*any \*indication, or even accusation that she was driven to suicide by sexual abuse. Whence cometh this??? The Wikipedia entry says otherwise: " **Rumours immediately began in the media about physical abuse, a possible sexual relationship, and even murder.** Historian Ian Kershaw contends that **stories circulated at the time as to alleged ‘sexual deviant practices ought to be viewed as … anti-Hitler propaganda’.** The police ruled out foul play; the death was ruled a suicide.[8] Hitler was devastated and went into an intense depression. He took refuge at a house on the shores of Tegernsee lake, and did not attend the funeral in Vienna on 24 September. He visited her grave at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) two days later. Thereafter, he overcame his depression and refocused on politics. ## “Hitler later declared that Raubal was the only woman he had ever loved. Her room at the Berghof was kept as she had left it, and he hung portraits of her in his own room there and at the Chancellery in Berlin.” My question is, if there wasn’t anything untoward going on, then why Hitler’s extreme reaction? That’s not hard evidence, but does seem circumstantial. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/17 "2014-06-22T11:42:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > OP, do you mean 1929? In any case, I probably wouldn’t say anything to Hitler, even armed with the knowledge of the future of the Third Reich. Hitler was such an egotist, I doubt if he would have listened to emotional appeals to spare innocent people. He may have felt as if his own niece turned on him if she were to say anything. He was utterly convinced that non-Aryans were inferior and that the genocide of people whom he viewed as no better than animals was justified. I doubt there would be any way to prevent the deaths of millions of people. He might have even been pushed to cause millions of more deaths in an effort to prevent Germany from falling. Good point… though we might have better luck convincing him that best way to defeat communism would be to raise the living standards of the German worker. Hitler hated the Jews in general, but he did reclassify some people of heavy Jewish decent as not Jewish such as his former commanding officer,and Raubel’s physician. It should be possible to narrow down the his definition of who is Jewish, so that less people are sent to the deathcamps. Ditto for gypsies, would it be hard to romanticise them as plucky defenders of tradition in the face of Communism? > [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > My question is, if there wasn’t anything untoward going on, then why Hitler’s extreme reaction? That’s not hard evidence, but does seem circumstantial. He had just lost the closest thing he had to a daughter, and perhaps he felt guilty that he might have contributed to her death. I wouldn’t call his reaction extreme, given the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/18 "2014-06-22T14:20:05Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The Wikipedia entry says otherwise: > > " **Rumours immediately began in the media about physical abuse, a possible sexual relationship, and even murder.** Historian Ian Kershaw contends that **stories circulated at the time as to alleged ‘sexual deviant practices ought to be viewed as … anti-Hitler propaganda’.** The police ruled out foul play; the death was ruled a suicide.[8] Hitler was devastated and went into an intense depression. He took refuge at a house on the shores of Tegernsee lake, and did not attend the funeral in Vienna on 24 September. He visited her grave at Vienna’s Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) two days later. Thereafter, he overcame his depression and refocused on politics. > > ## “Hitler later declared that Raubal was the only woman he had ever loved. Her room at the Berghof was kept as she had left it, and he hung portraits of her in his own room there and at the Chancellery in Berlin.” > > My question is, if there wasn’t anything untoward going on, then why Hitler’s extreme reaction? That’s not hard evidence, but does seem circumstantial. 1. THere is no indication in what you have quoted that the suicide was alleged as being _caused_ by sexual abuse by A. Hitler. 2. What’s so mystical about Hitler’s extreme reaction? His _niece_, who lived with his sister/her mother, committed suicide, in his house. I don’t see an extreme reaction as being even circumstantial evidence for anything except strong feelings. Hitler had seen quite a few bullet holes in the war, so, any visions of his niece with a hole in her lying on her floor for the hours it took for rigor mortis to set in could cause a bit of a reaction, I can suspect. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/19 "2014-06-22T14:30:04Z")
And, your quote doesn’t mention sexual abuse-it mentions sexual deviance, not the same; the deviance may have been something not offensive to Geli. The quotes about her distaste for same, by Maurice (or whoever), were not contemporaneous. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346/20 "2014-06-22T15:13:08Z")
You seem unusually invested in this. I hope we’ve not unintentionally slandered some sort of hero? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-hitler-was-your-uncle/691346.md?page=2)