William Patrick Hitler: Why Adolf Hitler’s nephew fought against him in World War Two
In 1944, a man named William tried to join the United States Army.
William went down to the recruiting office and sat down for a meeting with one of the recruitment officers. They began to fill out the form, which, obviously, began with the possible recruit’s name. Shuffling slightly, William gives his surname.
“Hitler,” he says. The officer looks up with an eyebrow raised and, with the kind of wit that must make this an apocryphal story, says, “Glad to see you, Hitler, my name’s Hess.”
The young man was turned away from the recruitment office for wasting the Army’s time, but the truth was, he was being sincere. This man’s name was William Patrick Hitler, and no, the surname wasn’t a coincidence. He wasn’t just related to the world’s most hated man; he was his nephew. Yet here he was, trying to sign up to fight for the Allies. How could this possibly happen? The story begins many years previous, when Adolf’s half-brother, Alois Hitler Jr, ran away from home in Austria due to the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.
He settled in Dublin, where he met his wife, Bridget Dowling. They married a few years later before settling in Liverpool, where their son William was born. Understandably, Alois Jr wanted to keep his son away from the Austrian side of his family, especially after the 1920s began and he heard some seriously disturbing reports of what his brother was getting up to. However, he stayed in touch with his father, and after Alois Sr wouldn’t stop asking, he finally let William visit the Hitlers in Berlin when he turned 18 in 1929.
It was there that he met his uncle and observed first-hand what the Nazi party was doing to the German capital. It was here that William reveals himself to be something of a cad and an opportunist. In Germany, he saw how far his family name could get him. When he left, Hitler was already one of the world’s most hated men, and thus, William was fired from his job for being the führer’s nephew. Thus, William returned to Germany in 1933 with the intention of using his familial connections for all they were worth.
That’s right, William, at least for a period of time, was a Nazi because it got him laid.
So, how did William split from Hitler?
After a year of living off what the Hitler family name could get him, things came to a head between William and Adolf. The führer was already deeply unimpressed with his nephew’s reputation, sending spies to observe his womanising, gambling and drinking. Yet it was actually one of William’s positive qualities that was the final straw. William was still sending money home to his mother in Liverpool, which Adolf wouldn’t allow because England was “an enemy country”.
After a toxic back and forth where William tried to extort a highly paid, high-ranking job out of the führer, Adolf made his final offer. Take a high-ranking job in his cabinet, but on the condition that he completely renounced his English citizenship and became a German citizen. This was the late 1930s, however, and trust a man as craven and opportunistic as William Hitler to see where the wind was blowing. He turned the offer down and fled Germany, leaving for the United States with his mother.
He published a few tell-all articles about his experiences with his uncle, then, after the aforementioned brush with joining the US Army, appealed directly to President Franklin D Roosevelt for a chance to serve the United States against the Nazis. After debating this with the FBI, Roosevelt gave the go-ahead, and William Hitler joined the US Navy on March 6th, serving in the Pacific Theatre and earning a Purple Heart for his service.
Was William Hitler a good man? Tough to say. There was definitely a conscience there, but that almost makes it worse that he was ever happy to coast off the evils being committed by the Nazi party. One way or another, while I’m not a believer in evil being hereditary, there’s something powerful in the fact that, since William Hitler never had children, the Hitler family name ended with someone who had quite literally taken arms against its most infamous holder.