They would need a family member to compare similarity with; does such exist?

I believe Hitler's relatives made an oath to let the family die out, not having any children - but presumably there are remains to be dug up if you really want to put the case to death (pun intended).

Additionally, surely there must be objects with excellent provenance containing Hitler's DNA?

Why would they do that assuming it's true? That's a bit fucked up to be honest but I guess the feeling of guilt can be overpowering. And I can't really imagine a better reason for feeling guilty than being related to Hitler (even if it's irrational, considering at least some of his family members barely had any contact with him)

> Why would they do that assuming it's true? That's a bit fucked up to be honest but I guess the feeling of guilt can be overpowering.

This kind of agreement is incredibly common in families with histories of mental illness, drug abuse, criminality, and other major issues. I know dozens of people who have all agreed to never have children for this and various other reasons, and half of them are in long-term, committed relationships or married.

In at least one instance, I’ve seen the DNA analysis and the family tree. This particular family has a known gene for heightened intelligence (related to Scandinavian heritage, it’s well known, you can look it up), and their family has an uncanny predilection towards careers involving mathematics stretching back over a century. I’ve seen this ability with my own eyes. It’s uncanny and bordering on savantism.

The problem is, in as much as their genetics gives them a head start towards math, it is also heavily weighted towards certain forms of sociopathy/psychopathy and criminality; their family tree is heavy with addictive disorders, extreme religiosity, murder, substance abuse, and mental illness. The youngest member of their family is currently in prison as a recidivist. He’s only 27.

I don’t see it as "fucked up" at all for these people to stop having children; they are trying to be socially responsible for their progeny, some of which may have a genetic predisposition towards bad behavior. The philosophy of movements like antinatalism and childfree are rooted in these ideas and seek to make the world better with less humans.

This sounds awfully like eugenics to me, would you agree?

I agree. It's also eugenics when pregnant women choose to abort a fetus with Down syndrome.

There aren't good arguments against this kind of "voluntary eugenics" that don't appeal to religion or prescribe a transcendant value to human life.

I would not. Antinatalism and childfree movements aren’t based solely on genetic arguments. Corinne Maier, for example, outlines 39 non-genetic arguments. One of these arguments is based on genetics alone.

They are free to do whatever, but unless they had some data to suggest a genetic component, Hitler was just the right (wrong?) person at the wrong time.

He had a half-brother, Alois Hitler, that has living descendants.

I seem to recall DNA analysis on Hitler's skull (in Russia?) showed the skull belonged to a woman.

https://phys.org/news/2009-09-hitler-skull-woman-scientists....