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Hal Bastin writes from Lancaster, Kentucky on July 5, 2002 about his research into the New York next of kin of Adolf Hitler
The Hitler family treeBACK in the Spring [2002] I saw a British journalist talking about the Hitler family in New York. Of course everyone knows that William Patrick Hitler was a nephew of Adolf Hitler. I remember reading John Toland on William Patrick and looked it up again. I always wondered what happened to him. He vanished after 1946, except for the footnote of Toland. I called Toland (an old man about 85-88) in Connecticut, but he would not tell anything. Nothing.
So I re-read the book, The Memoirs of Bridget Hitler, by Michael Unger. A lot of fiction! Adolf never visited England! However, it gave me many clues to finding this family that had vanished. Especially since William Patrick had a son by the name of Adolf.
I first started with the maiden name of Bridget. It was Dowling. As you know, they came from Ireland. It is common knowledge that William and his mother came to the USA during and after the Second War. Toland said that they lived in the NY metro area. So I started with Roman Catholic churches and cemeteries. Queens, Brooklyn, etc. I even put my children to work on it.
Finally, we came across a cemetery in Long Island that had a Bridget Dowling in it. This should be it. It was. Many phone calls later I found that William Patrick had taken on a new name. Changed from Hitler to Stewart-Houston. That's right. But Why? If you are going to change your name, why go to Houston Stewart Chamberlain? You and I both know that his position on everything would match that of Hitler.
William Patrick Stewart-Houston died in 1987. He did well in the USA. He raised a nice family, paid his dues in the service (Navy) and was wounded in action! However, when he got out of the service, he changed his name and married a German girl. She and three of her boys are alive now. One has died. All very nice people. None of the three boys is married or has any children that we know of.
Again, I don't know if you are interested in this sort of thing. The high school yearbooks in their home town have pictures of the boys in their progress through high school.
I have taken the liberty to copy a family tree of the Hitler family.
Other than these three boys (Howard died without children) I do not believe that there are and relatives of Hitler alive except on the line of the half-sister, Elfriede Raubal (Friedle) who was Geli Raubal's younger sister.
One of Elfriede's great-grandfathers was Hitler's father. The same as with the three Stewart-Houston boys. This daughter of Angela and Leo Raubal is now deceased, but has a daughter that lives in small Austrian village not far from Braunau. She does not like the idea of an interview any more that the three "Hitler" children in New York.
It is amazing how many interviews I have collected considering the fact that I am not a writer. I will see you in Cincinnati in September. I always enjoy these meetings.
Hal Bastin
Mr Bastin subsequently spoke on the Young Hitler and his family at our Real History 2002 convention in Cincinnati.
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David
Irving replies:
THE ONLY one of this family whom I met was Leo Raubal, brother of Hitler's ill-fated niece Geli Raubal. I knocked on his door in Linz, Austria, one evening thirty years ago: To my astonishment Adolf Hitler himself opened the door, or so it seemed at first sight. Leo, Adolf's nephew, wore the same moustache, had the same black forelock and had the same oval face, haunted eyes, and hollow cheeks as his famous uncle. He had spent many years in Soviet captivity, as a proper penalty for being a blood relative of the Führer. He told me what he knew of his sister's life and death (years later, he sold Geli's letters by auction through the Hermann Historica company in Munich, including several between her and Hitler). My note on the interview is in the Irving Collection at the Institut für Zeitgeschichte.
Hal Bastin's correspondence continues:
August 2, 2002I am looking forward to speaking on Hitler's early years and surviving next of kin. In fact, I have contacted the William Patrick Hitler family in Long Island, NY . I hope to have news of a meeting with them.
You met Leo Raubal. This is the son of Leo and Angela Raubal [Hitler's half-sister].
Leo Raubal Sr was born in 1880, a civil servant. He married Angela in 1903. He died at the age of 31 in 1911. They had three children. Leo Raubal Jr was the one you talked to and interviewed. Is he alive today? Do you have any pictures? Most important, did he have any children? If so, my premise that William Patrick Hitler is the closest relative to Adolf might be wrong. Especially if Leo Jr had a male child.
There are two other sources of Hitler family that come to mind. The Schmidt family in Spital were close since his aunt married Anton Schmidt. They had children that Adolf played with on his summer vacations. This family was resettled in Upper Austria in 1940 when Dollersheim was used for gunnery practice. I have not been able to trace this family.
On the other hand, Geli's younger sister Friedi had a daughter who is alive and well in a tiny Austrian hamlet close to Braunau, Ron Rosenbaum knows her name and where she lives. Most of my talk will center on William Patrick (1) before 1938, (2) between 1938 and 1946 and(3) since 1946, the three boys that live on Long Island and how they have blended into American life, etc. Too, I will point out the flaws and good points of The Memoirs of Bridget Hitler.
It is almost silly. However, the boys say that it was made up and does not purport to be true. It does have interesting information.
A video record of Hal Bastin's presentation at Cincinnati , 2002, is available from Focal Point Publications.
David Irving