British broadcaster Channel 4 aired the documentary Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator, which presented new genetic research on Adolf Hitler’s health, ancestry and neurodevelopment. The programme centred on work by DNA specialist Professor Turi King, who analysed samples from a bloodstain on a piece of fabric thought to have come from the sofa where Hitler took his life in April 1945.
According to the film, aides drenched Hitler’s body with petrol and set it alight to prevent Allied seizure. When Allied soldiers entered the bunker the following month, a press officer for General Dwight Eisenhower noticed a reddish-brown mark on the sofa and cut out the stained material. The section, now held by a museum in Pennsylvania, yielded three DNA samples that matched a saliva specimen previously collected from a living Austrian relative, allowing the team to confirm the fabric’s link to Hitler.
King’s analysis found a mutation in the PROK2 gene associated with Kallmann syndrome, a disorder that delays or prevents the normal development of the sex organs and is often linked to undescended testicles and low testosterone. “We have not yet been able to figure out where this rumour came from, but it was actually true,” said historian Alex J. Kay, referring to the long-circulated claim that Hitler had only one testicle. A 2015 medical report had earlier noted that Hitler’s right testicle never descended.
The genome study also placed Hitler in a high percentile for genetic risk of autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ADHD and antisocial traits. Israel Hayom quoted the research team: “It cannot be determined what his exact diagnosis would have been; only symptoms can be speculated upon and how they might have affected him.”
On ancestry, the documentary reported that Hitler’s DNA was entirely German-Austrian, rejecting the notion that he had Jewish roots. “The rumour that Hitler had Jewish ancestry can be dismissed,” said Kay.
King, who previously identified the remains of Richard III, said the decision to examine Hitler’s DNA “tormented” her but needed to be done “in a measured and scientific way.” She added: “If he had looked at the results of his own DNA, he would have almost certainly sent himself to the gas chambers.”
Kay offered historical context: “The findings can explain Hitler’s unusual and almost complete devotion to politics—so much so that he completely neglected his private life. Other Nazi leaders had wives and families; they even had extramarital affairs. Hitler was the only one in the Nazi leadership who did not do this.” He also pointed to Hitler’s early losses—four siblings and both parents died before the future dictator turned 18—as at least as influential as genetics.
Both King and Kay cautioned viewers against drawing deterministic conclusions. “Genetics cannot in any way be used as an excuse for his actions,” said King, while Kay stressed that antisemitism is not a genetic trait. They noted that childhood abuse, First World War trauma and Germany’s political climate also shaped Hitler’s path.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.