Hitler’s nephew was once a Sunnyside resident
In conjunction with the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society, TimesLedger
Newspapers presents
noteworthy events in the
borough’s history.
Born William Patrick
Hitler on March 12, 1911,
in Liverpool, England, the
onetime Queens resident
was the nephew of German
Fuhrer Adolf Hitler. He came
to New York City in 1939 with
his Irish mother, Bridget
Dowling, and served in the
United States Navy during
World War II.
Following the war, Hitler
changed his name to Stuart-
Houston, married and settled
on Long Island. When he
passed away on Long Island
in 1987, his four sons were the
only remaining descendants
of the German dictator on the
paternal side of his family.
The Hitler who became
a decorated sailor in the US
Navy was the son of Alois
Hitler, Jr., the Furher’s halfbrother.
His parents met
when the elder Hitler was
living in Dublin, Ireland,
but his father abandoned
the family when he could
not return from a trip to
Germany with the outbreak
of World War I.
Alois remarried
bigamously in Germany,
and had another son, Heinz
Hitler, who became a devoted
Nazi soldier killed on the
COLUMNS
Eastern Front in 1942.
Incidentally, the family’s flat
in Liverpool was destroyed
in a devastating German air
raid in the same year.
In 1933, Willy, as he was
known, himself went to
Germany in at attempt to
benefit from his uncle’s rise
to power.
While the dictator found
his British nephew a series
of jobs, Willy threatened
to blackmail his uncle if
he didn’t receive a more
prestigious position, saying
he would tell the newspapers
that Adolf’s grandfather
was Jewish. Returning to
London disappointed, he
wrote an article for Look
magazine titled “Why I Hate
My Uncle.”
After briefly returning
to Germany, Hitler and his
mother came to the United
States in 1939 on a lecture
tour at the invitation of
publisher William Randolph
Hearst. Stranded in America
at the outbreak of hostilities
the same year, Willy and
his mother settled in
Sunnyside, Queens.
With America entering
the war two years later, the
German dictator’s nephew
petitioned none other than
President Roosevelt for
clearance to join the Navy
despite his infamous name.
“All my relatives
and friends soon will be
marching for freedom and
decency under the Stars and
Stripes,” he wrote. … “I am
respectfully submitting this
petition to you to enquire
as to whether I may be
allowed to join them in their
struggle against tyranny and
oppression?”
Cleared for service, Hitler
served as a Pharmacist’s
Mate in the US Navy from
1944 to 1947, and earned a
Purple Heart for wounds
suffered in combat. Following
the War, Hitler married
another German immigrant
and changed his last name
to Stuart-Houston. He settled
in Patchogue on Long Island
and had four sons, none of
whom had children. The
nephew of the disgraced
Third Reich leader ran a
small business testing blood
samples for hospitals out of
his modest home before his
death in 1987.
Years after his passing,
neighbors in the community
shared their impressions of
William Stuart-Houston with
the news media. There were
whispers of a resemblance
to Adolf Hitler, and local
children occasionally mocked
his speech, a unique accent
stemming from early years
in England and Germany.
After learning of Stuart-
Houston’s identity, another
neighbor recalled that the
family were “…excellent
people. … You can’t be blamed
for your relatives.”
For more information,
contact the Greater Astoria
Historical Society at (718)
278-0700 or visit www.
astorialic.org.
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