Did Hitler Have a Secret Son with a French Teenager?

Jean-Marie Loret strove to find out if it was true that his father was Adolf Hitler. New evidence supports the story

New evidence from France and Germany supports the story of Jean-Marie Loret, a man who believed Adolf Hitler was his father. Loret’s mother, Charlotte Lobjoie, is said to have had an affair with the future dictator in 1917, when she was 16.

Loret died in 1985. Four years earlier, he had written a memoir called Your Father’s Name Was Hitler, in which he recounts the revelation about who his father was. He was told his mother met Hitler while he was on leave from fighting the French. They began an affair, even though they could hardly speak each other’s language. According to the book, when the couple went for walks in the countryside during Hitler’s rare visits, their “talks” were frequently him long-form ranting in German.

Lobjoie kept from Loret his father’s identity until just before her death in the early 1950s. While Hitler never recognized Loret as his, he sent Lobjoie money. In an ironic twist, Loret fought the Germans in 1939 and joined the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation, having no idea his alleged father was the enemy’s leader.

(MORE: Adolf Hitler’s ‘Wolf Lair’ Is Now Up for Rent)

After he learned his father was potentially the Nazi leader, Loret struggled with the news and eventually hired a slew of experts, including a historian, a geneticist and a handwriting analyst, to verify his mother’s claim. Indeed, he and Hitler had the same blood type and similar handwriting. The two of them also look strikingly similar.

And now, recent evidence reported by Le Point magazine has given Loret’s story even more credence. These include official military documents that show cash deliveries to Lobjoie during the German occupation of France. Paintings found in Lobjoie’s attic bear Hitler’s signature. A picture of a woman whom Hitler painted looks just like Lobjoie.

As the official record goes, Hitler never had children. But if he really did father Loret, his lineage now survives through Loret’s children. Loret’s lawyer has pointed out that the children might be eligible to receive royalties on Hitler’s book Mein Kampf — but how much would anyone want to benefit from being related to Hitler?