Heinrich "Heinz" Hitler (14 March 1920 – 21 February 1942) was a German soldier who was the half-nephew of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the younger half brother of William Stuart-Houston. Heinrich Hitler was born on 14 March 1920 in Magdeburg, Germany. He was the son of Alois Hitler Jr. and his second wife Hedwig Heidemann, whom he had married bigamously. He has an adopted sister. He was the younger half-brother of William Stuart-Houston who was from his father's previous marriage. Unlike his brother William, Heinz was a strong supporter of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and Adolf Hitler reportedly called him his favorite nephew. He attended the National Political Institutes of Education (Napola) at Ballenstedt from 1935 to 1939.Maser (1971), pp.60, 447 After obtaining his '' Abitur'', he joined the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' aspiring to become an officer. Heinz became a '' Unteroffizier'' with the 23rd Potsdamer Artillery Regiment in 1941 and participated in

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, serving on the Eastern Front as a radio operator for Army Group Centre. Allegedly, Heinz had insisted on serving on the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an Military, armed force's Military personnel, personnel and Military technology, equipment, usually referring to ...

against the wishes of his uncle Hitler. On 10 January 1942, after a retreat by the ''Wehrmacht'', Heinz was ordered to recover radio equipment from an abandoned post. He was captured by Red Army forces during the mission and was taken to the Butyrka military prison in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On 21 February 1942, at the age of 21, Heinz died at the prison from unknown causes and his remains were lost.

References

Notes Bibliography * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hitler, Heinz 1920 births 1942 deaths

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

German Army soldiers of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union German people who died in Soviet detention Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class Military personnel from Magdeburg Inmates of Butyrka prison

See also

References