Eyewitness 1940: Adolf Hitler scorned by his 'loathsome nephew' in Pittsburgh
Almost all families have complaints about a crazy relative, but William Patrick Hitler had more to talk about than most.
"It is quite possible," he said in 1940, that his Uncle Adolf, the fuhrer -- or leader -- of Germany, was no longer sane.
"There is a thin line between genius and insanity," William Patrick said in an interview with a Pittsburgh Press reporter. "And it is quite possible that sometime in 1938, Hitler completely lost his perspective and overstepped that line."
William Patrick visited Pittsburgh in March 1940 as the main speaker for the annual dinner of the Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association of Pittsburgh.
He was the British-born son of Adolf Hitler's older half-brother, Alois. His father had left Germany for Ireland, where he met a woman named Bridget Dowling. The couple eloped to Liverpool, England, where William Patrick was born in 1911. Alois left his family and returned to Germany in 1914 just before World War I broke out....
Read entire article at Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh)
"It is quite possible," he said in 1940, that his Uncle Adolf, the fuhrer -- or leader -- of Germany, was no longer sane.
"There is a thin line between genius and insanity," William Patrick said in an interview with a Pittsburgh Press reporter. "And it is quite possible that sometime in 1938, Hitler completely lost his perspective and overstepped that line."
William Patrick visited Pittsburgh in March 1940 as the main speaker for the annual dinner of the Young Men's and Women's Hebrew Association of Pittsburgh.
He was the British-born son of Adolf Hitler's older half-brother, Alois. His father had left Germany for Ireland, where he met a woman named Bridget Dowling. The couple eloped to Liverpool, England, where William Patrick was born in 1911. Alois left his family and returned to Germany in 1914 just before World War I broke out....