There aren’t many good ways to bring up the name ‘Hitler’. It’s quite possibly the most
hated surname in history. Are we really going to delve into why? Given his track record of
tyranny and war crimes, it’s no wonder. Since his death in 1945, the words ‘Adolf Hitler’
have gone down in such infamy, that anyone even bearing the same name is instantly ridiculed.
Believe it or not, as powerful as Adolf Hitler was, there were people close to him working to
bring the dictator down. One of these people was his own nephew! I know what you’re thinking… Those
would have been awkward family functions. Well, it’s a little more complex than that.
Welcome back, Curiosity viewers, and today we’ll
be focusing on how Hitler’s nephew worked against him during the war. What was his
name? Was he at all successful? How did he end up? We’re talking all that AND more…
We all know the name ‘Hitler’. Just mentioning him in the wrong room can result in uncomfortable
silence. While there’s more than enough reason to hate the man, have you ever thought about his
relatives? You know, the ones who had nothing to do with the atrocities he was committing?
For William Patrick-Houston, this was exactly the case. William was a New York
resident looking to lend his hand to the war effort to fight against the Nazis in the 40’s.
But his story doesn’t begin here.
William was born in Liverpool, England on march 12th, 1911. His mother Bridget was originally
from Ireland. As for his father Alois, well he's history’s a little more frowned upon.
Alois Hitler Jr. was born in Austria to the Hitler family. Just to clarify, he is Adolf’s
older half-brother, born while the dictator’s father was still married to his first wife.
Alois met Bridget in 1909, while living in Dublin.
Soon after, the two moved to London where they married in 1910.
The couple then relocated to Liverpool, where Bridget gave birth to William in 1911.
William did not have a happy upbringing. Believe it or not, it had very little to
do with his sharing the name Hitler. His parents were the source of most of his childhood troubles.
in 1914, Alois left the family to go on a gambling tour through Europe.
That same year, World War I broke out, leaving Alois unable to return to England
to reunite with his family. As a result, Bridget was left alone to raise William.
Alois ended up remarrying shortly after. While his relationship with Bridget was obviously strained,
he ended up writing to her in the 20’s, asking her to send William to stay with him in Germany. in
1929, Bridget finally allowed it, and let 18 year old William go live with his father for a short
time. It was here where he met his half-brother heinz hitler, who Alois had with his second wife.
This is where it really started hitting the fan. in 1933, Adolf Hitler
was elected as the chancellor of Germany, turning the country from the Weimar Republic
into a fascist Nazi state. This inflamed tensions between England and Germany, and made young
William’s life even more hectic. Due to his last name, William was shunned by his community. Nobody
in England want to be associated with someone named ‘Hitler’, even if it was an innocent person
with only slight ties to the Nazi leader. He was even fired from his job. Soon enough, nobody
in England would hire him. In William’s eyes, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Given Adolf's position, a naive William believed he could benefit from his half-uncle's power.
Looking to find a high paying job, he returned to Germany that year.
Due to the influence of Adolf, William was able to attain a few different jobs in Berlin throughout
the 30’s. This included one at the Opel automobile factory. Now, you’d think with his connections,
William would have had it made. But, life in Germany still wasn’t ideal for him.
When he would try to send money back to England to support his mother,
he was always unable to, as Germany wouldn’t allow any money to flow out of the country’s borders.
On top of that, William was viewed as a trouble maker. He was reportedly
fired from the Opel factory after getting caught trying to steal cars.
And things would only get worse from here. in 1938, Adolf requested that William give
up his British citizenship. If he did so, he could assume a high ranking job. This was
likely something in Adolf’s cabinet. While it was probably tempting for the young man,
he suspected that his half-uncle was setting him up for a trap.
It was here that William made a terrible decision. Just a piece of
advice, don’t try blackmailing a dictator. Especially one as powerful as Adolf Hitler.
This is exactly where his nephew went wrong. Due to issues within the family, William threatened
to go to the press releasing information about his half-uncle’s Jewish heritage.
As you’d imagine, this backfired, forcing William to flee Germany and head back home to England.
Now, there are rumors that the young man returned to Germany for a brief period.
But nobody knows exactly what he did there, or if he even returned to begin with.
3 sec gap
Now living in London, William wrote an article for Look Magazine titled, “Why I Hate My Uncle.”
The piece highlighted his strained relationship with Adolf, and was published in July of 1938.
In the article, William seemed to have cut all ties with the dictator.
In January on ‘39, just before the outbreak of World War II,
William and his mother went to the United States. American businessman William Randolph Hearst
invited the young Englishman on a speaking tour throughout the country.
William eventually moved to the New York borough of Queens, living in the Sunnyside
neighborhood. During this time, the world was at war with the Nazis, led by Williams uncle.
You can imagine the pressure William was feeling to contribute himself.
But because he was not an American citizen, he had to request permission to join the U.S. military.
In March, 1944, just as the war in Europe was entering its most heated period, William
was granted entry after apparently contacting then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt. From here,
he was drafted into the United States Navy, where he assumed the role of hospital corpsman.
Now, there’s a funny story that took place the day William reported for duty.
One that has gone down in legend. When an officer asked for his name, he replied, “Hitler”. Thinking
William was joking, the officer replied, “Glad to see you, Hitler. My name’s Hess”,
referring to Hitler’s Deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess. William’s lucky the officer had such
a good sense of humor. He could have been doing fifty push ups after pulling something like that.
Now, don’t think William received any special treatment during his tenure in the Navy. They
were at war after all. It was all hands on deck. While fighting with the Navy, William suffered a
shrapnel wound. Due to his injury, he was awarded the Purple Heart upon being discharged in 1947.
Of course, many members of William’s family back home in Europe didn’t get off as lucky. Remember
his half-brother Heinz from a few minutes ago? His fate was almost the exact opposite of William’s.
Like most young men in Germany, Heinz joined the Third Reich, becoming a dedicated member of the
Nazi party. You can imagine his commitment was a little stronger than others given his relation to
Adolf. But his last name couldn’t save him in the end. Heinz died in a Soviet prison camp in 1942.
Some outcome for the man reportedly said to be Adolf’s “favorite nephew”.
Once again a civilian, William settled down in the United States, marrying a woman named
Phyllis Jean-Jacques, who was actually born in Germany. Along with his mother Bridget,
the couple moved to Long Island, where William used the medical training he had
to open up his own business analyzing blood samples.
Likely, due to the privacy he wanted to keep, the business was conducted from his home.
Privacy was a bit of a problem for the Hitlers. Even after his death in 1945,
Hitler was still the most infamous name on the planet.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of pressure for William to change the family name.
I mean, how could you introduce yourself to people? Life would’ve been terrible.
Finally buckling, he changed his last name to Stuart-Houston in a desperate attempt to distance
himself from his family legacy. Unfortunately, his problems didn’t end there. Given the atrocities
Hitler committed, the burden of guilt couldn’t be stopped simply by changing your name. William
and his family would carry the weight of his half-uncle's crimes for the rest of their lives.
This reality was so extreme that Williams' four sons, all boys, did not grow up to have children
of their own. None whatsoever. This was to break Hitler’s lineage. While rumors have
circulated that they actually signed a pact, these have been dispelled in recent years.
Instead of a written document, they simply just talked it out
and decided not having kids was the best course of action. It’s an oath they still honor to this day.
Keep in mind, his son Alexander has made contrary claims. He’s said that there really was no type
of oath taken by the four brothers to destroy their great Uncle’s bloodline. Instead, they all
happened to not have any kids. Sounds a little too good to be true given their family history.
William Stuart-Houston died on July 14, 1987 in the town of Patchogue (patch-awg) on Long Island.
He was 76 years old. His wife Phyllis died in 2004.
As for his sons, all are still alive except for his third oldest, Special Agent
Howard R. Stuart-Houston, who was involved in a fatal car accident in 1989.
Working for the IRS, he was investigating a money laundering scam when the crash took place.
While simply being related to Adolf Hitler is enough for people to be polarized, William clearly
did the right thing by joining up and fighting the evil his relative unleashed upon Europe.
Have we sparked your curiosity, viewers?
Let’s keep the conversation going with a couple more videos on historical figures, shall we?
Check out The Mysterious Disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
You should also watch 17 Amazing Facts You Didn’t Know About Ancient Egypt.
Go ahead, click one. Or better yet, watch both, and learn more fascinating facts about history.
What’s your favorite WWII fact? Let us know in the comments below!