It is generally believed that Adolf Hitler fortunately did not father any offspring. But historians do not agree on the veracity of this assertion.
Do they mean that Hitler had a son named Jean-Marie Loret with a Frenchwoman in 1917.
Could it really be right?
Hitler was only married to his girlfriend, Eva Braun, for 45 minutes before killing himself. In addition, a number of people close to the skaters had to testify that they had never seen them hold hands, kiss or display behavior that could be considered normal for a couple in love. Few believed they habitually had sex.
After all, they had no children.
Until 2004, it was widely believed that the dictator’s family had died out, but then it turned out that in fact five of his cousins ​​were still alive. But a fairly small group of historians have always doubted Hitler’s childlessness.
Jean-Marie Loret
Rumors for decades
Rumors that Hitler had a son have been circulating since the end of World War II. Especially since Hitler’s personal servant, Heinz Linge, firmly claimed to have overheard his boss discussing once he could have a son in France. Linge also said he heard Hitler ask one of his closest colleagues and friends, Heinrich Himmler, to find Loret and his mother.
For a long time, the rumor was believed to be little more than a rumor, or until Jean-Marie Loret stepped forward.
He will never marry, Rudolf Hess, one of Hitler’s closest associates, once wrote of his boss. “He avoids all intimate relationships with women. He must be able to face any danger at any time, without having to worry about his private life. Even die, if it has to come to that.”
In historian Heike B. Görtemaker’s book about Eva Braun, it is said that Hitler himself did not want to have children. Hitler never said this directly, but it is often said that he believed that when a man got married and started a family, he lost a part of himself. The man would no longer be the same hero as before.
Young Hitler in 1923, five years after Loret’s birth.
Similar in appearance
But there was one woman, Charlotte Lobjoie, who always firmly maintained that her son, Jean-Marie Loret, was the child of Adolf Hitler. For many years, Loret did not know the identity of her father. But one fine day in 1948, Loret’s mother admits that her father is none other than Adolf Hitler.
Those who believe that Loret is Hitler’s son point out that Loret is remarkably similar to the dictator in appearance, their handwriting is extremely similar, and most importantly that a picture of a woman, remarkably similar to Loret’s mother, was found in Hitler’s house after his death.
According to Charlotte Lobjoie, Jean-Marie Loret’s mother, she and Hitler had an affair when she was only 16 and he was still a German soldier.
“One day I was working in a field with other women when we saw a German soldier across the street,” she says. “I knew I had to meet him.”
Thus began the relationship of the young woman with Hitler, 28, who in 1917 took a break from the fight against the French in Picardy.
Long romantic walks
Several years later, Charlotte told her son that she didn’t see Hitler often, but when he came to visit, they took long walks together. At first they were wonderful, but soon the road went downhill. Hitler had then started making long political speeches in German that Charlotte didn’t understand a word of. He didn’t speak French but delivered these speeches as if addressing a large group of people.
Jean-Marie Loret was born just over nine months into their relationship, according to Charlotte, in March 1918. Hitler had returned to Germany by then.
Charlotte, young and poor, saw no other choice in the situation than to leave the child in the hands of her parents. She then moved to Paris, became a dancer and got married. When Loret’s grandparents died, he was adopted and given the name Jean-Marie Loret.
In 1939, Loret enlisted in the French army and fought the Germans during World War II.
Charlotte Lobjoie
Deathbed confession
When Charlotte Lobjoie was dying in 1948, she finally called her son and told him he was Hitler’s son. Loret had always known his father was a German soldier, but was surprised to hear the name.
Jean-Marie Loret found it difficult to believe her biological mother and sought the help of various scholars to prove or refute her words, without this leading to a decisive result.
Years later, documents were found in Germany that showed that German soldiers regularly brought large sums of money to Charlotte during the German occupation of France.
After Charlotte’s death, Loret found a Hitler painting in the attic of her house, signed by Hitler. And in Hitler’s art collection, a portrait of a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Charlotte was found.
Hitler’s painting, believed by many to be by Charlotte.
Difficult internal struggle
In 1981, Loret published an autobiography titled Your Father’s Name is Hitler. In the book, Loret describes the inner struggle he faced, knowing that his father was one of the greatest villains in human history, and how he unsuccessfully tried to prove or disprove his paternity.
Loret claims in the book that Hitler always knew this and did everything possible to destroy all evidence of his existence.
Jean-Marie Loret died in 1985 without ever knowing with certainty his paternity.
