Documentary Claims Hitler’s DNA Sequenced: Researchers Report PROK2 Mutation and Elevated Psychiatric Polygenic Scores — Experts Urge Caution

Researchers report DNA from Hitler’s bunker sequenced; documentary explores medical and genetic findings

A team led by geneticist Turi King of the University of Bath says it verified and sequenced DNA recovered from a small swatch of bloodstained fabric reportedly cut from a sofa in Adolf Hitler’s 1945 Berlin bunker. The findings are presented in the Channel 4 documentary "Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator."

According to the researchers, the fabric—traced in the film to US Army Col. Roswell P. Rosengren, who reportedly removed the swatch in 1945 and whose family later auctioned it in 2014—was confirmed as containing Hitler’s blood by matching the recovered DNA to a confirmed male-line relative.

The team reports a mutation in the PROK2 gene. Variants in PROK2 are associated with Kallmann syndrome and congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, conditions that can delay puberty and cause undescended testicles in boys; in roughly 5% of cases small penile size (micropenis) has been reported. The researchers say this genetic finding aligns with a 1923 medical note suggesting right-side cryptorchidism.

The study also generated polygenic risk scores (PRS) for psychiatric conditions. The researchers report that, by their metric, Hitler’s PRS for schizophrenia, autism and bipolar disorder would rank higher than about 99% of a 30,000-person Danish comparison sample. The team and outside experts emphasize that PRS are research tools and are not diagnostic at the individual level.

"We are at great, great pain not to stigmatize people with these conditions," King says in the film, stressing that genetics is only a small part of historical explanation and that Hitler acted within a larger political network.

The team also reports a Y-chromosome match with a male-line relative and argues this finding makes paternal Jewish ancestry unlikely. However, independent scientists who were not involved in the project caution that the documentary’s claims cannot be fully evaluated because the analyses have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal and the raw genomic data, quality metrics and detailed methods have not been publicly released.

Experts quoted in the documentary and in follow-up commentary include historian Alex Kay, archaeologist Nicholas F. Bellantoni, and psychiatric geneticist Ditte Demontis. Outside voices such as Pontus Skoglund and Tom Booth at the Francis Crick Institute urge restraint: they say historical DNA can be informative, but only when data, methods and ethical justification are transparent. Skoglund warned that publicising headline genetic claims before full scientific scrutiny risks misinterpretation and potential stigmatization.

What to take away

The documentary presents intriguing genetic evidence that could help explain certain medical observations in Hitler’s history, but the results remain provisional until the team’s methods and data undergo peer review and broader scientific scrutiny. Until then, experts emphasize the limits of genetic inference—especially for complex behaviors and historical interpretation.

Note: The documentary premieres on Channel 4 in the UK. The research team says it has submitted its analysis to a "high-profile" journal and hopes for publication soon.