The Irish Hitler: the strange tale of Bridget Hitler and the Nazi leader

Irish sister-in-law of Hitler and her son Patrick escaped to the US

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Bridget Dowling, a.k.a. Mrs. Alois Hitler, seated at table offering British war relief information, facing front; similiar posters on wall behind her

Photo by World-Telegram photo by Al Aumuller.

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In 1941, when America joined the war effort Patrick enlisted to fight against his uncle and served in the Medical Corps where he saw action and received an honorable discharge.

After the war Patrick set up in business as a laboratory technician. He and wife  Phyllis shared a big house on the property, while Bridget had a small cottage in the grounds.

Patrick and Phyllis had four sons, Alex, Louis and Brian, and one who died soon after birth. Neighbors say the family kept to themselves and did not welcome visitors.

Bridget Dowling Hitler died in 1969 at the age of 78 and is buried in a small Catholic graveyard in Coram. Her gravestone reads`Rest in Peace, Bridget Elizabeth, 7 - 3 - 91'. Her son Patrick William is buried beside her, after dying suddenly in 1987.

Thus ended the story of the Irish Hitlers a strange footnote to the rise of the Naziis and an insight into the family of the madman who led them.

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