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Home / World

'Why I hate my uncle' - Rare insight into Nazi leader's life by Adolf Hitler's nephew

By Julian Robinson
Daily Mail·
4 May, 2017 09:58 PM4 mins to read

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Adolf Hitler gives speech to German soldiers and the public.

An article written by Adolf Hitler's nephew — who was forced to flee to the US after blackmailing the Nazi leader — has emerged for sale.

William Patrick Hitler, who was born to Adolf's brother Alois in Liverpool, gave a rare insight into the Fuhrer's life in his piece for the magazine Look, called "Why I Hate My Uncle".

The July 4 1939 edition features six pages of describing Hitler's life at his mountain residence in Berchtesgaden — including his "brutal tempers", how he walked around cracking a whip and how he would entertain 'beautiful women' at the retreat, the Daily Mail reported.

The illustrated article was penned two months before the start of the Second World War by William Hitler "who tells so candidly some things about his uncle that only a relative could know".

William describes the last time he saw the Nazi dictator, revealing how he 'was in a brutal temper when I arrived' and 'walking back and forth, brandishing his horsehide whip'. Photo / Getty
William describes the last time he saw the Nazi dictator, revealing how he 'was in a brutal temper when I arrived' and 'walking back and forth, brandishing his horsehide whip'. Photo / Getty
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He described first having visited Hitler's Berchtesgaden home in 1936.

"I drove there with friends and was shown into the garden," William wrote.

"Hitler was entertaining some very beautiful women at tea. When he saw us he strode up, slashing a whip as he walked and taking the tops off the flowers. He took that occasion to warn me to never again mention that I was his nephew. Then he returned to his guests still viciously cracking his whip."

William revealed how his father and uncle were close at the time and that Hitler had apparently autographed a photo for him.

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His magazine caption for the photo said: "We had cakes and whipped cream, Hitler's favorite dessert. I was struck by his intensity, his feminine gestures. There was dandruff on his coat."

One edition features six pages of describing Hitler's life at his mountain residence in Berchtesgaden -
 including his 'brutal tempers', and how he would entertain 'beautiful women'. Photo / Getty
One edition features six pages of describing Hitler's life at his mountain residence in Berchtesgaden - including his 'brutal tempers', and how he would entertain 'beautiful women'. Photo / Getty

William was the son of Adolf's half-brother Alois Junior, who married an Irish woman called Brigid Dowling, whom he had met while working as a waiter in Dublin.

The newlyweds moved to Liverpool and William was born in March 1911.

Growing up in England, William Patrick's surname became increasingly problematic as the brown shirts rose to power and Adolf's worldwide notoriety grew an in the 1930s William tried to find work in Germany.

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His mother later claimed that William actually wrote to Hitler demanding a better job, leading to accusations that he was attempting to blackmail his uncle.

It is thought he had threatened to tell the press that Hitler's alleged paternal grandfather was actually a Jewish merchant.

According to the family, he was eventually forced to flee Germany when he dared to stand up to his uncle and refused to take German citizenship. In 1939, William changed direction again, moving to the United States with his mother and settling down.

William Patrick Hitler (1937), who was born to Adolf's brother Alois in Liverpool, gave a rare insight into the Fuhrer's life. Photo / Getty
William Patrick Hitler (1937), who was born to Adolf's brother Alois in Liverpool, gave a rare insight into the Fuhrer's life. Photo / Getty

In one extract from the magazine, he described writing articles about his uncle in England — only to be ordered back to Germany by the Fuhrer.

He wrote in the Look feature: "I published some articles on my uncle when I returned to England and was forthwith summoned back to Berlin and taken with my father and aunt to Hitler's hotel. He was furious. Pacing up and down, wild-eyed and tearful, he made me promise to retract my articles and threatened to kill himself if anything else were written on his private life."

In a darker recollection, William described a visit to Berlin when the Hitler family 'was in trouble' following the death of Adolf's half-niece.

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He wrote: "When I visited Berlin in 1931, the family was in trouble. Geli Raubal, the daughter of Hitler's and my father's sister, had committed suicide.

"Everyone knew that Hitler and she had long been intimate and that she had been expecting a child - a fact that enraged Hitler. His revolver was found by her body."
He goes on to describe the last time he saw the Nazi dictator.

"I shall never forget the last time he sent for me. He was in a brutal temper when I arrived. Walking back and forth, brandishing his horsehide whip, he shouted insults at my head as if he were delivering a political oration."

A front page of a prospectus for a lecture tour given by William Patrick Hitler, Hitler's nephew, said: 'What the German People Are Thinking'. Photo / Getty
A front page of a prospectus for a lecture tour given by William Patrick Hitler, Hitler's nephew, said: 'What the German People Are Thinking'. Photo / Getty

William went on to become a US citizen and fight for his adopted country with the American navy in the Pacific, according to the Mail On Sunday.

Discharged after the war with a shrapnel wound, he lived for a while in the Queens district of New York, before deciding in 1946 that he would change his name and drop out of sight.

He married the German sister of a friend and together they had a family of sons including Alex, now 64, Louis, 62 and Brian, 48, all brought up in Patchogue, Suffolk County on Long Island.

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He died in New York state in 1987.

The magazine is being sold by a dealer in Canada through AbeBooks for £730.

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