British News Agency

According to the BBC, rigorous scientific tests carried out by an international team of experts have managed to debunk a long-standing rumour that Hitler was of Jewish descent (he was not) and have identified a genetic disorder affecting the development of the sexual organs – all from an old, bloodstained piece of fabric.

While clickbait headlines have focused on whether the Nazi dictator had a micro penis and only one testicle, the more serious findings are that his DNA shows “very high” scores (in the top 1%) for a predisposition to autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Does that mean he actually had these neurological conditions? Experts say absolutely not – this is not a diagnosis.

Even so, concerns have been raised about stigmatisation and how ethical this research really is, prompting the question: should this study have been carried out at all?

“I have agonised over this,” says Prof Turi King in the opening minutes of the Channel 4 documentary “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator”, broadcast on Saturday.

The genetics expert told the BBC that when she was first approached several years ago to join the project, she was acutely aware of the possible consequences of examining the DNA of someone like Adolf Hitler. “I’m not interested in sensationalism,” she says.

However, she adds, this research was going to be done by someone sooner or later, and at least under her supervision she could ensure that it was conducted with academic rigour and with all the necessary “safeguards and safety measures” in place.

Prof King is no stranger to high-profile, sensitive projects. In 2012 she led the genetic research that confirmed the identity of Richard III’s skeleton, discovered beneath a car park in Leicester.

The bloodstained piece of fabric – now about 80 years old – was cut from the sofa in the underground bunker where Hitler killed himself when Allied forces entered Berlin at the end of the Second World War.

While inspecting the bunker, Colonel Roswell P Rosengren of the US Army saw an opportunity to secure a unique war trophy and slipped the fabric into his pocket. It is now displayed, framed, at the Gettysburg History Museum in the United States.

Scientists are confident that it is genuinely Hitler’s blood, as they were able to match the Y chromosome perfectly with a DNA sample taken ten years ago from a male relative.

Hitler’s DNA has now been identified and sequenced for the first time, and scientists have spent four years examining the genetic make-up of one of the most notorious dictators in history.

What is certain, experts say, is that Hitler was not of Jewish origin – a rumour that has circulated since the 1920s.

Another significant finding is that Hitler had Kallmann syndrome, a genetic disorder that can affect puberty and the development of the sexual organs. This condition can in particular lead to a micropenis and undescended testicles – something that ties in with another long-standing rumour about Hitler, if you know the British wartime song.

Kallmann syndrome can also affect libido, which is particularly interesting, says historian Dr Alex Kay of the University of Potsdam, who appears in the documentary: “It tells us a great deal about his private life – or, more accurately, his lack of one.”

Historians have long debated why Hitler “almost completely excluded any private life” and devoted himself so utterly to politics, and this might help to explain that.

Experts say such findings are both fascinating and useful – in Prof King’s words, “a combination of history and genetics”.