“Secrets of the Fuhrer’s Family: What Hitler’s Relatives Were Really Doing During WWII”
Now, Hitler could hardly be described as a family man and despite persistent rumours, there has never been hard evidence that he fathered any children. And yet, no person exists in a vacuum and Hitler had several siblings and other close family members. So, who were these individuals and what did they get up to during and then after WWII?
Let’s begin by introducing our main characters with a very brief rundown of Hitler’s family tree. As noted in our video, What was Hitler Like as a Child? Adolf’s father, Alois, married three times and had countless affairs and mistresses along the way, siring a number of known children with several women, and probably had some unknown children on top of that. In the end, Alois seems to have taken the credo of every good store shelf stocker “see a hole, fill a hole” very seriously in his personal life.
As for the more well documented offspring, in 1873, at the age of 36, Alois married his first wife, 50-year-old Anna Glasl. The union was for career advancement reasons and ultimately childless and unhappy, in part owing to Alois’ unabashed philandering. The two separated, but didn’t divorce, in 1880, and Anna died on April 6, 1883. Now free of his mariage, the following month, Alois married his long time mistress, 21-year-old Franziska Matzelsberger.
Alois and Franziska had already had a child out of wedlock, Alois Jr, born on January 13, 1882. And when they married, Franziska was already pregnant with a second child, Angela, born on July 28, 1883.
