Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1906-10-02)2 October 1906 |
| Died | 18 August 1977(1977-08-18) (aged 70) |
| Cause of death | Tuberculosis |
| Buried | Linz |
| Allegiance |  Germany |
| Branch | Luftwaffe |
| Years of service | 1939–1943 |
| Rank | Leutnant |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Relations | Angela Hitler (mother)Adolf Hitler (half-uncle) |
Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr. (2 October 1906 – 18 August 1977) was an Austrian engineer and teacher. He was the half-nephew ofAdolf Hitler, and served in the GermanLuftwaffe duringWorld War II.
Leo Raubal Jr. was born inLinz,Austria-Hungary on 2 October 1906. He was the son of Leo Raubal Sr. and his wifeAngela, Adolf's half-sister. In August 1910, when he was only 3 years old, he lost his father totuberculosis. Raubal Jr. worked as an engineer and became a manager of the Linz Steelworks. He visited his mother sporadically while she was living inBerchtesgaden. Like his younger cousinHeinz Hitler but unlike his other younger cousinWilliam Patrick Hitler, Leo Raubal was a "favorite nephew of the leader", and Hitler liked to spend his time with him.[1] However, according to William, Leo did not like his uncle Adolf and blamed him for the death of his sisterGeli. This cannot be confirmed, with Leo saying in 1967 that Hitler was "absolutely innocent" of Geli's death, according to historianWerner Maser.[2]
In October 1939, he was drafted into theLuftwaffe and was a lieutenant in the engineering corps. He looked similar to Adolf Hitler and sometimes served as Hitler's double during the war.[3]
He was injured in January 1943 during theBattle of Stalingrad,[4] andFriedrich Paulus asked Hitler for a plane to evacuate Raubal to Germany.[5] Hitler refused and Raubal was captured by the Soviets on 31 January 1943. Hitler gave orders to examine the possibility of a prisoner exchange with the Soviets for Stalin's sonYakov Dzhugashvili, who had been captured by the Germans on 16 July 1941.[6] Stalin refused to exchange him either for Raubal or for Friedrich Paulus,[7][8] and said "war is war".[9] Raubal was detained inMoscow's jails and was released by the Soviets on 28 September 1955, and returned toAustria.
He lived and worked inSalzburg as a teacher of chemistry. He died oftuberculosis during a vacation in Spain. He was buried on 7 September 1977 in Linz.[10] Leo Raubal Jr. had a son Peter (born 1931)[11] who along with Elfriede Raubal's son, Heiner Hochegger (born 1945), andWilliam Patrick Hitler's had four sons and only three of them surviving, Alexander Adolf (born 1949), Louis (born 1951), Howard Ronald (1957–1989), and Brian William (born 1965) are the closest living relatives to Adolf Hitler. However, unlike Raubal, William Patrick, who fought with the United States during World War II and even changed his last name to Stuart-Houston, was not on good terms with Adolf Hitler, even publicly denouncing him by 1938.[12][11] William Patrick's sons, who have no children, would also bear the last name Stuart-Houston.[12][11] Peter Raubal, who never married or had children,[12] is a retired engineer who lives in Linz, Austria.[11]
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