Hitler’s shocking DNA discovery – The Sunday Story
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 November 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For the first time, scientists have successfully sequenced Adolf Hitler’s DNA, taken from a bloodstain in the bunker where he spent his final days. It's one of the most remarkable scientific studies in modern history, and the results are astonishing. They reveal a previously unknown medical condition, which finally uncovers the truth behind that famous wartime song, and resolve long-standing questions: Is Hitler of Jewish ancestry? Was he a schizophrenic? And what does his DNA tell us about evil?
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Guest: Jack Blackburn, history correspondent, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
Clips: Times Radio, NBC, Channel 4/Blink Films UK.
Read more:
- Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
- Sunken port may provide clue to Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s lost tomb
Photo: Shaun Parkinson/Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story on Sunday. |
| 0:07.8 | I'm Manvina. |
| 0:08.7 | I'm Manvina. It's not often we get to play this on the podcast. |
| 0:23.8 | It's normally quite hard to find an excuse. |
| 0:27.1 | But this week, it's making headlines. |
| 0:34.9 | As a new piece of scientific research set out in a channel full documentary |
| 0:39.4 | proves that the old song was probably right. |
| 0:50.0 | Hitler has only got one ball. |
| 0:55.6 | This is very famous. |
| 0:59.0 | As it turns out, surprisingly accurate as well. |
| 1:03.2 | There's some debate about whether it was understood or whether one simply did not exist. |
| 1:06.5 | But at the very least, he did only have one ball. |
| 1:09.8 | And the finding of Kalman syndrome reinforces that. |
| 1:20.5 | The story on Sunday. The Secrets of Hitler's DNA. My name is Jack Blackburn, and I'm the history correspondent for The Times. |
| 1:34.2 | And what exactly does a history correspondent do? |
| 1:37.7 | It's a very fun job. |
| 1:39.3 | You get to cover all sorts of new archaeological discoveries. |
| 1:43.3 | You get to cover major military anniversaries and things like that. |
| 1:47.5 | You get to meet veterans. You get to meet fascinating historians. You've got new theories about Henry the 8th or Elizabeth I. |
| 1:54.5 | And then every now and then, you get a new piece of research. And sometimes that is a sort of, |
| 2:01.4 | hmm, that's quite interesting. |
| 2:03.4 | And other times, it stops you in your tracks immediately, |
... |
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