Leo Raubal Jr.

Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr. (2 October 1906 – 18 August 1977) was an Austrian engineer and teacher. He was the half-nephew of Adolf Hitler who served in the German Luftwaffe during World War II.

Life

Leo Raubal Jr. was born in Linz, Austria-Hungary on 2 October 1906. He was the son of Leo Raubal Sr. and his wife Angela, Adolf's half-sister. Raubal Jr. worked as an engineer and became a manager of the Linz Steelworks. He visited his mother sporadically while she was living in Berchtesgaden. Like his younger cousin Heinz Hitler but unlike cousin William Patrick Hitler, Leo Raubal was a "favorite nephew of the leader", and Hitler liked to spend his time with him. However, according to William, Leo did not like his uncle Adolf and blamed the latter for the death of his sister Geli. This cannot be confirmed, with Leo saying in 1967 that Hitler was "absolutely innocent" of Geli's death, according to historian Werner Maser.

World War II and detention in Moscow

In October 1939, he was drafted into the Luftwaffe and was a lieutenant in the engineering corps. He looked similar to Adolf Hitler and sometimes served as Hitler's double during the war.

He was injured in January 1943 during the Battle of Stalingrad, and Friedrich Paulus asked Hitler for a plane to evacuate Raubal to Germany. Hitler refused and Raubal was captured by the Soviets on 31 January 1943. Hitler gave orders to examine the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the Soviets for Stalin's son Yakov Dzhugashvili, who had been captured by the Germans on 16 July 1941. Stalin refused to exchange him either for Raubal or for Friedrich Paulus, and said "war is war". Raubal was detained in Moscow's jails and was released by the Soviets on 28 September 1955, and returned to Austria.

Post-detention career

He lived and worked in Salzburg as a teacher of chemistry. He died during a vacation in Spain. He was buried on 7 September 1977 in Linz.Joachimsthaler... Leo Raubal Jr. had a son Peter (born 1931) who along with Elfriede Raubal's son, Heiner Hochegger (born 1945), and William Patrick Hitler's three surviving sons Alexander Adolf (born 1949), Louis (born 1951), and Brian William (born 1965) are the closest living relatives to Adolf Hitler. However, unlike Raubal, William Patrick, who fought with the United States during World War II and even changed his last name to Stuart-Houston, was not on good terms with Adolf Hitler, even publicly denouncing him by 1938. William Patrick's sons, who have no children, would also bear the last name Stuart-Houston. Peter Raubal, who never married or had children, is a retired engineer who lives in Linz, Austria.

See also

*Hitler family

References

Sources

* Werner Maser: ''Adolf Hitler. Mythos, Legende, Wirklichkeit'', Bechtle, Munich 2001¹⁸;
* Werner Maser: ''Fälschung, Dichtung und Wahrheit über Hitler und Stalin'', Olzog, 2004, , page 272
*
* Walter Mayr
SERIE - TEIL 10 HITLERS FRÜHE JAHRE - DER FÜHRER, MEIN ONKEL
Der Spiegel Nr. 28/2001 - 9 July 2001, page 142
* Marc Vermeeren: ''De jeugd van Adolf Hitler 1889–1907 en zijn familie en voorouders'', Uitgeverij Aspekt, Soesterberg 2007,
* Oliver Halmburger, Thomas Staehler: ''Familie Hitler. Im Schatten des Diktators'', Oliver Halmburger Loopfilm GmbH, Munich, and ZDF-History, Mainz 2005 (film), DVD, ASIN B000U6SOKW
*
* Personal information from prof. Dr. Werner Maser (via German Wikipedia)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raubal, Leo Rudolf Jr.
Hitler family
1906 births
1977 deaths
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union
Military personnel from Linz
Austrian schoolteachers
Luftwaffe personnel of World War II