history

[4simpsons]

Was Hitler jewish and if he was did that make him pompousand hipocritical

[shammydodger]

There is(was) a possibility that his paternal grandfather was a wealthy Jew called Frankenberger or Frankenreither. Hitler's grandmother, Maria Anna Schicklgruber) may have been a domestic in this Jewish household in Graz, and it is possible that the son had got her pregnant. When Hitler's father (Alois) was about 5 years old, Maria Anna married Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. He subsequently did a bunk, and Alois was raised by Nepomuk's brother, Johann Georg Hiedler. Alois was baptised as Alois Schicklgruber, and legitimised in 1876 as Alois Hitler (illegally, apparently.)

[shammydodger]

To answer the second part of your question, if his paternal grandfather was indeed Jewish, then this would have made Hitler subject to the Nazis' anti-Jewish Nuremburg Laws. So, yes, in that sense it would have made him a hypocrite.

I would think it's a favourite topic for historical psychiatrists/psychologists.

[Grunty]

The Nazis defined Jewishness as having a Jewish grandparent. There are two people who may have been Hitler's paternal grandfather. One was Heidler from whom Hitler (then Adolf Shicklgruber) later took the name Hitler. The other was the son of a Jewish family where Hitler's mother worked. Some events in his life indicate that he may not have been particularly antisemitic, but courted popularity in his younger days by responding to, and encouraging, what he saw as popular fears and concerns. His main campaign was against the Communists; the Jews came second, followed by other groups of people. For reasons that are too numerous to list here, the German people were ready to follow anyone who seemed able to restore their self-respect. Even today, we can see the benefits to politicians of continually giving us something to be frightened of.

[SaxyJag]

By nazi standards, I would imagine he even looked Jewish. He certainly didn't fit his own aryan ideal. I wonder whether that and his dubious background didn't make him very insecure and bitter.

[Pippa68]

I was always told that being Jewish was passed down the maternal line. I was also told that Hitlers mother was Jewish, therefore so was he.

No idea where that info came from!

[Lonnie]

Just reply to Pippa68, yes, it is only passed down through the maternal line, because, pre dna, you could always prove who your mother was, never the father, although the Nazis probably wouldn't have looked at it like that.

[Pippa68]

Thanks Lonnie :o)

[shammydodger]

A minor-ish detail, but Adolf Hitler never did have the name Schicklgruber. His father Alois took the name Hitler in 1876, 13 years before Adolf was born.