A man claiming to be the last living relative of Adolf Hitler has been convicted of paedophilia after he was found to have kissed a 13-year-old girl.
Romano-Lukas Hitler is reportedly the only person alive bearing the surname of the evil Nazi leader, while he also claims to be related to the dictator through the Nazi leader’s father, Alois.
Romano-Lukas lives in the east German city of Goerlitz, and says Adolf’s father, Alois, had a younger brother, whose grandson fled to Slovakia after the war. That grandson, Romano-Lukas believes, is his own father.
69-year-old Romano-Lukas doesn’t seem to mind his surname. As the tattoo on his head may also suggest, he’s not averse to things which make him stand out from the crowd. He apparently uses the name on his passport, his German ID card, bank account and rental contract for his home. Though he does admit the name has hindered him when it comes to finding work, describing it as a ‘cross to bear’ and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Although, the 69-year-old reportedly has a picture of Adolf in his home, so it seems he’s not too burdened down by it…
And, as you might expect from someone with such a surname, Romano-Lukas’ life so far hasn’t been without a certain amount of controversy.
The 69-year-old was recently convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl, after a complaint by the girl’s father was taken to court.
According to reports, the girl’s father was selling a garage, which Romano-Lukas said he was interested in. However, when he arrived to inspect the garage, he was only interested in the 13-year-old girl.
The dad said:
I had put a garage up for sale and Hitler answered the advert. But when he turned up he didn’t seem to have much interest in the garage, only in [redacted]. He lured her to his flat with sweets, brought her clothes and plastic flowers and even offered to marry her.
According to the father, his daughter told him Romano-Lukas has kissed her. When he found out, the dad banned her from seeing him and filed a complaint with police.
Romano-Lukas, however, tried to defend himself, saying ‘I’m innocent’ and the kiss was only the usual greeting that is common in Germany.
Judge Ulrich Schettgen, however, rejected Romano-Lukas’ claims, and found the 69-year-old guilty of kissing the girl ‘against her will on both the neck and cheek’. He was ordered to pay a 800 Euro fine, Bild reports.
Romano-Lukas claims he ended up in a monastery after his parents died, before being adopted by a Polish family. He then says he moved to Germany as an adult to train as a ships helmsman. The 69-year-old says he will appeal the conviction.
The Hitler family tree has long been disputed by historians. Johann Georg was considered the paternal grandfather of Adolf, though it is unknown whether he was biologically. In 1842, Georg reportedly became stepfather to Alois who, Romano-Lukas believes, was Adolf’s father. Alois is believed to have had two brothers, though their existence was never officially documented due to the family’s poor status. As a result, the biological family tree of Hitler and his family is still disputed.
It has been suggested Hitler had Georg added to Alois’ birth certificate to ‘prove’ his ‘Aryan’ heritage, despite them not being biologically related.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.