Jean-Marie Loret (R) claimed to be the illegitimate child of Adolf Hitler and Charlotte Lobjoie, the result of a brief relationship after they met in Fournes-en-Weppes near Wavrin, France. (File photo)
The claim that Hitler had a child with a French farm worker whilst on leave from the German army in World War I is backed up by new evidence from the University of Heidelberg.
Jean-Marie Loret claimed to be the illegitimate child of Adolf Hitler and Charlotte Lobjoie, the result of a brief relationship after they met in Fournes-en-Weppes near Wavrin, France. According to Loret’s mother, she was making hay with other women when they saw a young German officer at the edge of the field. He had a sketch pad, and they were curious as to what he was drawing. Lobjoie, no more than 16 or 17 at the time, was designated to address the young officer.
At the time Fournes-en-Weppes was in German-occupied France, very close to the Western Front that demarcated the line between German and Allied forces. Apparently the relationship lasted anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Lobjoie told her son how she and the future dictator would go for walks in the countryside when he was infrequently on leave. Although unable to speak French, Hitler would talk at Lobjoie at length in German, often becoming distant and orating angrily as if to an imaginary audience. Through her limited understanding of Germany, Charlotte understood he was talking of the history of Prussia, Bavaria and Austria, and would not react for fear of angering him further.
Jean-Marie was born in March 1918, and immediately was cast as a “son of a Boche”, the name for illegitimate children of German soldiers. Bullied at school and unpleasantly regarded by his grandparents, with whom he lived, Jean-Marie was given the name of his mother’s husband, lithographer Clement Loret, on their marriage in 1922. He was adopted by the Frizon family who owned a wealthy contruction empire in Saint Quentin. He went to nearby Catholic boarding schools, and from 1936 served in the military, eventually reaching the position of staff sergeant.
Shortly before her death Charlotte revealed to Jean-Marie that Hitler was in fact his father. She told him details of their relationship which he later documented in his autobiography ‘Your Father’s Name was Hitler’. Of the revelation, Mr. Loret said in the book, "In order not to get depressed, I worked non-stop, never took a holiday, and had no hobbies. For twenty years I didn't even go to the cinema."
In the mid-1970s Loret approached a historian and well-known biographer of Hitler, Werner Maser, for assistance in finding proof to back up his claim. Recent analysis by the University of Heidelberg of both Hitler and Loret prove they share the same blood type and have similar handwriting, although the claim remains controversial. Prominent historians including Anthon Joachimsthaler and Ian Kershaw believe Hitler’s paternity is impossible or high unlikely.
Jean-Marie Loret died in 1985 in Saint Quentin. With the new evidence, it is possible his children could attempt to claim royalties from ‘Mein Kampf’, first published between 1925 and 1926. The new research also coincides with a new edition of ‘Your Father’s Name was Hitler’, that documents more new evidence to suggest Loret is in fact Hitler’s illegitimate, and only ever, child.