Eighty years after Adolf Hitler’s death, a new documentary by British public broadcaster Channel 4 claims to reveal medical facts about the dictator. “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator” also attempts to explain his behavior based on genetic analysis. But from a scientific point of view, this is a highly questionable endeavor.
Kallmann syndrome: The dictator’s rare disorder
According to DNA sequencing, Hitler suffered from Kallmann syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that leads to lower production of sex hormones. This prevents or significantly delays puberty, in addition to causing low testosterone levels, an underdeveloped sense of smell (anosmia), undescended testicles, and a higher probability of a micropenis or other genital abnormalities.
British soldiers mocked Hitler’s physical deficiencies as early as 1939 with the satirical song “Hitler Has Only Got One Ball,” and the conclusions from the DNA analysis are consistent with Hitler’s medical records from Landsberg Prison, where he was imprisoned in 1924 after his failed coup attempt. At that time, the prison doctor diagnosed “right-sided cryptorchidism,” meaning that Hitler’s right testicle had not descended.
Hitler’s personal physician Theodor Morell is also known to have regularly administered testosterone injections to the German dictator from 1944 onwards — which could also support the Kallmann syndrome theory.
Mental health risks in Hitler’s DNA?
According to the documentary, set for release later this month, Hitler’s DNA also shows an above-average likelihood that he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a high likelihood of autistic behavior and schizophrenia, and a tendency toward antisocial behavior.
There are verifiable sources and observations 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 Nassir Ghaemi, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston, examined “mental instability” in historical leaders, from Abraham Lincoln to Hitler’s British opponent, Winston Churchill. Hitler was Ghaemi’s only negative example.
Ghaemi considers the DNA findings to be “scientifically sound” and is convinced that Hitler suffered from manic depression. “Manic traits increase creativity and resilience and depressive symptoms increase empathy and realism — these are all strengths for leaders. These leadership skills can be used for any political orientation, whether autocratic and tyrannical, as in Hitler’s case, or democratic, as with Churchill,” the psychiatrist, who was not involved in the documentary, told DW.
Hitler’s “mental instability” worsened from 1937 onwards due to the daily intravenous administration of amphetamines to treat his depression, according to Ghaemi. This assessment is also supported by historical sources.
Ghaemi said that the fact Hitler may have suffered from Kallmann syndrome could explain “which could explain why he does not appear to have had a high sexual libido, unlike most people with manic traits, while he had many other manic traits — talkativeness, high physical energy, low need for sleep, inflated self-esteem.” But these are all indications, not proof.
Adolf Hitler with his wife Eva Braun on the patterned sofa set: The dictator is said to have had a troubled relationship with womenImage: kpa Keystone/United Archives/picture alliance
Dubious conclusions about behavior
While such assessments and the new medical findings can help us to better understand Hitler’s psychology, it’s not scientifically legitimate to link individual behaviors solely on the basis of genetic analyses and the polygenic risk score (PRS) tests used to estimate the genetic risk for a particular disease.
The severity of mental disorders depends on the complex interplay of genetics, environment, life history and individual experiences. Genetic testing cannot be used to diagnose mental illness, which requires thorough assessment based on symptoms, environment and discussions with the person affected.
“Going from biology to behaviour is a big jump,” British psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen says in the documentary.
The geneticists and psychologists involved in the documentary acknowledge that conclusions based solely on a higher risk determined by DNA analysis are not realistic but still go on to speculate about possible diagnoses or behavior patterns.
This speculation is currently causing problems for British-Canadian geneticist and archaeologist Turi King. King currently directs the Milner Centre 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 the Hitler documentary, had wanted to submit her research findings on his DNA to a medical journal for peer review. But the production company didn’t want to wait out the lengthy academic process, and King ultimately agreed. Now her academic reputation is at stake.
Rumor debunked: Hitler was not Jewish
The genetic analysis has dispelled at least one persistent rumor: Hitler’s alleged Jewish ancestry. As recently as 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Hitler had a Jewish grandfather. However, the DNA analysis now provides clear genetic evidence of Hitler’s Austrian-German roots.
Repurposing of Hitler’s birthplace sparks concern
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From blood on the bunker sofa
According to documentary, the DNA material examined came from a bloodstained sofa on which Hitler shot himself in his bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945.
Later, Colonel Roswell P. Rosengren, a press officer of the US Army, took a piece of the patterned sofa upholstery as a macabre souvenir from the “Führer’s bunker.” It is now stored in the Gettysburg Museum of History in Pennsylvania. The story is entirely plausible: there are several photos of Hitler and the sofa, and of Russian and American soldiers cutting pieces of fabric from the upholstery.
A US soldier collects souvenirs near the sofa where Hitler shot himself Image: akg-images/picture alliance
More problematic, however, is the attribution: The film claims that the authenticity of the DNA material was verified by comparison with known samples from a relative of Hitler. But who this relative is, and whether they consented to the analysis, remains unclear.
Risk of stigmatization
The researchers involved in the documentary were also aware that linking autism or ADHD with Hitler is highly problematic. “By looking at genetic results like this, there’s a risk of stigma,” psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen points out in the documentary. Such a link carries the risk that people with mental illnesses may be associated with the mass murderer.
There is also a danger that pathologizing Hitler as mentally ill will trivialize his inhuman behavior via a genetic predisposition. According to Ghaemi, “this is a constant concern among some German academics and activists. But, as the expert notes, “the presence or absence of mental illness is not essential to saying whether someone is morally or legally accountable for crimes or evil 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 diseased” and “unworthy of life,” and would have become a victim of his own euthanasia programs.
According to the Nazis’ so-called “racial doctrine,” human destiny lies in the blood. “The ability to make positive or negative decisions is a character trait determined by blood,” Hitler wrote in his book “Mein Kampf.”
According Hitler’s doctrine, the purity of blood enabled individuals to make “correct” decisions and strengthened the cohesion of a nation. By contrast, “racial mixing” led to “illogical” actions that ruined civilizations. Which is exactly what Hitler did to large parts of the world during his 12 year reign of terror.
The Channel 4 documentary “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator” will be available from November 25, 2025.
The article was originally written in German.
