About this episode

This episode explores the life of Bridget Hitler, Adolf Hitler's Irish sister-in-law, and the myths surrounding her connection to the Hitler family.

A video version of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/irish-history-podcast/id363368392 On the day Hitler invaded Poland, another Hitler was making headlines in Britain. It was not the dictator, but his Irish sister-in-law, Bridget Hitler, who had been hauled before the courts in London over a mundane, unpaid electricity bill. This episode explores the life of this woman and the strange reality of the "Irish Hitlers." For eight decades, the story of Bridget and her son has been muddied by sensational claims: that she hosted a young Adolf Hitler in her Liverpool flat, that she helped shape his infamous physical appearance, and that she enjoyed intimate access to his private mountain retreat. But how much of this narrative is grounded in reality, and how much is the product of post-war myth-making? In this episode, I reconstruct the documented history of this Irish woman’s connection to the Hitler family. We follow the journey from when Hitler’s brother, Alois, arrived in Dublin and married Bridget, through to how she reacted when her brother-in-law became the most notorious figure in history. I also reveal how much of what has been…

People in this episode

Host: Fin Dwyer

Topics covered

• Irish history
• Hitler family
• Bridget Hitler
• historical myths
• World War II
• family connections

Keywords

• Bridget Hitler
• Adolf Hitler
• Irish history
• historical myths
• Alois Hitler
• World War II
• family connections

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Apple Podcasts, Acast, Kate Dunlea

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