1. Hitler's Nephew
Though the Hitler family history is complex to say the least, one would be forgiven for assuming that all of Hitler's relatives were Germanic, at least. However, what many do not realise, is that Hitler infact had an English born nephew. Alois Hitler Jr, Hitler's half-brother left Germany in the late 19th century and found himself in Ireland. In 1909 he met Bridget Dowling and the pair were married in London a year later. They settled in Liverpool and Dowling gave birth to William Patrick Hitler in 1911. Hitler's nephew would become quite an irritant in his uncle's eyes. In 1933, as the Nazi regime had taken control of Germany, William Patrick travelled to Germany with the intention of blackmailing his uncle in order to attain financial benefits. Hitler had little choice but to accommodate his troublesome nephew by providing him with excellent jobs, notably in a bank and as part of Opel automobile manufacturers. Yet this failed to satisfy Hitler's nephew, who continued to threaten his uncle, claiming that he would leak embarrassing family stories to the media. One such story that William claimed he would tell concerned alleged Jewish ancestors in the Furher's family. A revelation of this kind would have derailed Hitler's diabolical attempt to destroy the Jewish race, and undermined his leadership more broadly. However, William Patrick began to believe that Hitler was scheming to eradicate him, as he tired of his nephew's threats. So, the Englishman fled Germany in early 1939 to the USA, where he joined the US Navy in 1944, fighting against his uncle's forces. Equally notably, William Patrick Hitler also published an article for a British magazine titled 'Why I Hate My Uncle' in 1938. After the war, the latter changed his surname to Stuart-Houston, and lived out his life in New York in relative anonymity, having four sons in the process. While William Hitler's impact on the war was minimal, his anti-Nazi actions symbolised the fact that even those who should have been close to the Furher were not always mesmerised by his charisma, or infact Nazi ideology.