Eighty years after the death of Adolf Hitler, a new documentary from British public broadcaster Channel 4 claims to uncover medical facts about the dictator. “Hitler’s DNA: A Dictator’s Blueprint” also attempts to explain his behavior on the basis of genetic analysis. But from a scientific point of view this is a very dubious effort.
Kallmann syndrome: a rare disorder of the dictator
According to DNA sequencing, Hitler suffered from Kallmann syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes reduced production of sex hormones. This prevents or significantly delays puberty, in addition to low testosterone levels, an underdeveloped sense of smell (anosmia), undescended testicles, and a higher chance of micropenis or other genital abnormalities.
British soldiers had mocked Hitler’s physical deficiencies as early as 1939 with the satirical song “Hitler’s Only Got One Ball”, and the findings of the DNA analysis are consistent with Hitler’s medical records from Landsberg Prison, where he was imprisoned after a failed coup attempt in 1924. At that time, the prison doctor diagnosed “right-sided cryptorchidism”, which meant that Hitler’s right testicle had not descended.
Hitler’s personal physician Theodor Morell is also known to have regularly given testosterone injections to the German dictator since 1944 – which may also support the Kallmann syndrome theory.
Mental health risk in Hitler’s DNA?
According to the documentary to be released later this month, Hitler’s DNA shows a higher than average chance of him having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autistic behavior and a higher likelihood of schizophrenia and a tendency towards antisocial behavior.
There are verifiable sources and comments from contemporary witnesses that point to Hitler’s “mental instability”. In his 2013 book “A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness”, Iranian-American psychiatrist Nasser Ghaemi, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, examines “mental instability” in historical leaders, from Abraham Lincoln to Hitler’s British rival, Winston Churchill. Hitler was the only negative example of Ghammy.
Ghaemi considers the DNA findings to be “scientifically correct” and is convinced that Hitler suffered from manic depression. The psychiatrist, who was not involved in the documentary, told DW, “Manic traits enhance creativity and flexibility and depressive traits enhance empathy and realism – these are all strengths of leaders. These leadership skills can be used for any political orientation, whether autocratic and tyrannical, as was the case with Hitler, or democratic, as was the case with Churchill.”
According to Ghaemi, Hitler’s “mental instability” worsened from 1937 onwards due to daily intravenous administration of amphetamines to treat his depression. This assessment is also supported by historical sources.
Ghaemi said the fact that Hitler may have suffered from Kallmann syndrome “may explain why, unlike most people with manic symptoms, he did not have a high sexual libido, even though he had many of the other manic symptoms – talkativeness, high physical energy, low need for sleep, increased self-esteem.” But these are all indications, not proof.
questionable conclusions about behavior
Although such assessments and new medical findings may help us better understand Hitler’s psychology, linking individual behavior based on genetic analysis and polygenic risk score (PRS) tests used to estimate genetic risk for a particular disease is not scientifically valid.
The severity of mental disorders depends on the complex interplay of genetics, environment, life history, and personal experiences. Genetic testing cannot be used to diagnose mental illness, which requires a thorough assessment based on symptoms, environment, and discussion with the affected person.
“Going from biology to behavior is a huge leap, British psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen says in the documentary,
The geneticists and psychologists involved in the documentary acknowledge that conclusions based on high risk determined by DNA analysis alone are not realistic, but still speculate about possible diagnoses or behavioral patterns.
This speculation is currently causing trouble for British-Canadian geneticist and archaeologist Turi King. king currently DShe runs the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath and became famous for her DNA analysis of the remains of Richard III, which were found in a parking lot in Leicester.
King, who was recruited by the production company for a Hitler documentary, wanted to submit his research findings on his DNA to a medical journal for peer review. But the production company did not want to wait for a lengthy educational process and King eventually agreed. Now his academic reputation is at stake.
Rumor refuted: Hitler was not a Jew
Genetic analysis has dispelled at least one persistent rumor: Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry. As recently as 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Hitler had a Jewish grandfather. However, DNA analysis now provides clear genetic evidence of Hitler’s Austrian-German roots.
with blood on the bunker couch
According to the documentary, the DNA material tested came from the blood-stained sofa on which Hitler shot himself in his bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945.
Later, Colonel Roswell P. Rosengren, a US Army press officer, took a piece of patterned sofa upholstery from the “Fuhrer’s Bunker” as a wonderful souvenir. It is now stored in the Gettysburg Museum of History, Pennsylvania. The story is entirely plausible: there are several photographs of Hitler and the sofa, and Russian and American soldiers cutting pieces of fabric from the upholstery.
More problematic, however, is its attribution: the film claims that the authenticity of the DNA material was verified by comparing it to known samples of a relative of Hitler. But who this relative is and whether he has given consent for the analysis is not clear.
risk of stigma
The researchers involved in the documentary were also aware that linking autism or ADHD to Hitler is highly problematic. “Looking at genetic results in this way risks stigma,” psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen explains in the documentary. Such links raise the risk that people suffering from mental illness may be linked to mass murderers.
There is also a danger that describing Hitler as mentally ill would trivialize his inhuman behavior as a result of genetic predisposition. According to Ghaemi, “This is a continuing concern among some German academics and activists. But, as experts say, “the presence or absence of mental illness is not necessary to say whether a person is morally or legally responsible for crimes or bad actions.”
The myth of the ‘Aryan master race’
The irony of history is that according to his own Nazi laws, Hitler himself would have been considered “hereditarily ill” and “unfit for life” and would have become a victim of his own euthanasia programs.
According to the so-called “racial theory” of the Nazis, human destiny lies in blood. Hitler wrote in his book “Mein Kampf”, “The ability to make positive or negative decisions is a character trait determined by blood.”
According to Hitler’s theory, purity of blood enabled individuals to make “right” decisions and strengthened the solidarity of a nation. Conversely, “racial mixing” led to “irrational” actions that ruined civilizations. This is exactly what Hitler did to much of the world during his 12-year reign of terror.
Channel 4’s documentary “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator” will be available from November 25, 2025.
The article was originally written in German.