Hitler Jewish? DNA Tests Show Dictator May Have 'Had Jewish And African Roots'

DNA tests apparently show that the Nazi dictator may have had Jewish and African ancestry.

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph says that saliva samples were collected from 39 Hitler relatives:

A chromosome called Haplogroup E1b1b1 which showed up in their samples is rare in Western Europe and is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews ...

Haplogroup E1b1b1, which accounts for approximately 18 to 20 per cent of Ashkenazi and 8.6 per cent to 30 per cent of Sephardic Y-chromosomes, appears to be one of the major founding lineages of the Jewish population.

Why is that relevant?  "Hitler would not have been happy," said Professor Ronny Decorte in a Google translation of the Knack's web-version of the story. Decorte, a genetics expert from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (a Flemish research university), says that Hitler apparently wasn't "Aryan" -- what the Nazi would have considered "pure."

But even more than that, it is relevant because it shows that we all have more in common than we have differences.  So next time one group spouts hate or fear towards another, ask yourself how you would feel if the targeted group was related to you.

It also highlights yet again, the dangers of fear and hate based politics.  While Hitler may be one of the most extreme examples, the politics of fear and hate have no winners.