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Channel 4 Airs Hitler DNA Documentary as Scientists Urge Caution

Experts urge caution pending peer review of the film's genetic claims.

Overview

  • Channel 4 premiered Hitler's DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator in the U.K. on November 15 at 9 p.m. GMT.
  • The film examines DNA said to come from a blood-soaked fabric taken from Hitler’s bunker sofa in 1945, tracing provenance from Col. Roswell P. Rosengren to a 2014 auction and on to the Gettysburg Museum of History.
  • Lead geneticist Turi King reports a Y‑chromosome match to a known male‑line relative of Hitler, which the team presents as undermining a long-standing claim about his paternal Jewish ancestry.
  • The researchers also report a PROK2 gene variant associated with Kallmann syndrome, a condition linked to delayed puberty and related developmental effects, referencing earlier historical medical notes for context.
  • Independent scientists, including at the Francis Crick Institute, say the findings are unverified without peer-reviewed publication and call for methodological transparency, and international distribution beyond the U.K. has not been announced.