(JTA) — A German historian has discovered medical records confirming that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had only one testicle.
The records originated during from a medical exam of the future Nazi leader following the unsuccessful Munich Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, which diagnosed him as having right-side cryptorchidism, or an undescended right testicle, the Guardian reported over the weekend. The condition is linked to infertility. Hitler died childless.
The medical notes, which identified Hitler as an “artist, recently writer,” were written by Dr. Josef Steiner Brin, the medical officer at Landsberg prison. The notes were discovered at an auction in Bavaria in 2010, and were confiscated by the German state’s government. They recently were studied by Peter Fleischmann, a professor at Erlangen-Nuremberg University, according to the Guardian.
The diagnosis, which occurs in childhood, contradicts rumors that Hitler lost a testicle to shrapnel during a battle in World War I.
British media have noted that the discovery renders more realistic a humorous song poking fun at the genitalia of the Nazi leadership.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
