Republic of the Philippines

Northwest Samar State University

Rueda St., Calbayog City 6710
Website: http//www.nwssu.edu.ph
Email: main@nwssu.edu.ph
Telefax: (055) 2093657
ISO 9001:2015Certified
DISCUSSANT: HAZEL B. ARRIEGA
COURSE: BTLED 2A - ICT

INSTRUCTOR: MYRNA B. ALAMIN Ph.D. (Associate Professor)

SUBJECT DESCRIPTION: THE LIFE AND WORKS OF RIZAL
BOOK: RIZAL
AUTHOR: EMILIANO C. DE CATALINA

MODULE 13
(Rizal as Hitler’s/Father: History or Fiction?)

Contents
Introduction
Some facts about Adolf Hitler
Some facts about Jose Rizal
History or Fiction?
Exercise/Activity

INTRODUCTION
One time I had a conversation with a friend of mine, a former classmate in college, who is now teaching in
Camote’s island. Our topic was Rizal .It turned out that my friend also heard of rumor that Rizal is the
father of Adolf Hitler. I told him that I also head it but paid no attention to it .During this conversation, I
began to take interest in this rumor, especially that I was writing a book on Rizal.

I told him that I would be going to dig this up and possibly include this topic in my book. I consulted the
encyclopedia, the internet and some book. And I was then surprise by the fact that some writers such as
Manuel L. Quezon and Ambeth Ocampo already treated the said rumor several years ago also some of my
co-teachers talked about this issue. My interest in this funny topic grew even more.

This module then is intended to present the facts about Adolf Hitler and Jose Rizal, as well as the analysis
of some of the facts. These comprise the main contents of this present module.

SOME FACTS ABOUT ADOLF HITLER

Birth date: April 20, 1889 was Hitler Birthday

Conception: Hitler was conceived sometime in july 1888 (the month of August as the start of
Counting, so that april 1889 would be the 9 months)
Birthplace: Hitler birth place was Braunau in, Austria, a village near the border of Germany and
Austria
Hometown: Linz in Austria, was always considered by Hitler as "my hometown of Linz on the
 danube
Rank: Hitler was the fourth of six children
Adolf: In old High German, the name Adolf means “noble Wolf” (Adel=nobility + wolf). a
Hitler: The name Hitler is either originated from the German word Hittler “one who lives in
a Hut ” ,“shepherd” or from the Slavic word Hidlar and Hinlanek
School: He took up his high school studies (Realschule) in Linz.
Classmate: In the Realschule, Hitler was a classmate of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the great
philosophers of the 20th century
Party: Hitler was a leader of the National Socialist Party (Nazi)
Leadership: Hitler became dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945
Writing: Hitler wrote the Mein Kamf in which he expressed his hatred of the Jews and his
Denunciation of his democratic government.
Alliance: Hitler’s Nazi party made Japan one of the three-Axis
Of the powers during World War II
Death: Hitler died through suicide when he was confronting his defeat in 1945.

Klara Polzl

Klara was born on August 12, 1860 in the village of Spital, Austria Bradley F. Smith described Klara as ‘a
fairly large girl almost as tall as her husband, with dark brown hair and even features”
Her adult life was devoted to keeping house and raising children.
Klara had six children. But only two of them, Adolf and Paula, survived childhood .she was devout Roman
Catholic and went to church regularly.
Klara died a particularly painful death from breast cancer at the age of 47 in Linz .Austria on December 21,
1907. Her teenage children Adolf and Paula were at her side during her last minutes on earth.
Klara must have conceived her son Adolf sometime in july of 1888 so much so that 9 months later she gave
birth to Adolf on April 20,1889 .when she was 27 years old.
“Klara, a kind and gentle woman, tended to spoil her son. She was keen for her son to do well at school”
Moreover, Klara Polzl is said to be once a maid in Vienna

SOME FACTS ABOUT RIZAL

Rizal Whereabouts (and Activities) Sometime in 1888

Where was Rizal in the months of June until October of the year 1888? It is important to know Rizal’s
whereabouts during this time because, if and if it is true that Rizal was Hitler’s father , as the rumor goes
,and if and if Adolf Hitler’s was actually born on APRIL 20 1889 ,as book show, then Rizal must have had
an affair with Hitler’s mother sometime in July of 1888. Here are important whereabouts of Rizal during
this time.

RIZAL IN LONDON
June 2, 1888:
Dr.Reinhold and family tendered in their house a tea party in Rizal’s honor. Rizal
Saw in the Rost’s house a good Filipina library. (Dr.Reinhold Rost, a book lover
librarian of the Minister of the foreign Relations of England and famous
Malayalogist, had especial predilections for Rizal whom he used to call Hambre
Perla)
June 23, 1888:
He thought of publishing the second edition of the Noli Me Tangere with the illustration of Juan Luna and
with the slight changes. He wanted to correct to correct the typographical errors and the erroneous citation
of Shakespeare which should that of Schiller.

June 27, 1888:

In a letter, he requested Marian Ponce to send more Copies of the Noli Me Tangere to the Philippines. He
told Ponce that the question of writing with more or less literature is just secondary; what is essential is to
think and to feel rightly, to work for an object and the pen will take charge of transmitting the ideas.

July 9, 1888
Rizal ask Prof. Blumentritt for advice whether or not answer Senator Vida who denounced him (Rizal) in
the Senate in Madrid as an intimate friend of Prince Bismarch ,and his novel as anti-Catholic, preaching
protestant and socialist.

June 12, 1888:

The Hiapano-Filipino association was recognized by the Filipino in Madrid and by the Spaniards
sympathizing the cause of the Filipino, headed by Sr .Morayta

June 26, 1888

It was decided to write in the press an article which would teach Senator Vida courtesy and honesty. Earlier,
he had written a letter to the Senator in Madrid whose answer he was waiting for.

July 27, 1888:

Rizal wrote a letter to Mariano Ponce (Naning) telling the letter of his experience in his travel in Manila via
Hong kong , Japan and North America, and the people he met in Hong Kong, who said are enthusiastic
about the Noli and are studios and patriots.

August 16, 1888:

Rizal was admitted to the reading room of the British Museum of London.

August 1888:
He was busy with Morga’s book. He thought of copying the whole book and annotating it for publication as
his gift to the Filipino. Dr. Antonio Regidor, one the exiles of the 1872 event, promised to be his capitalist.
Along with Morga’s book, he wanted also to publish Blumentritt’s “Tribes of Mindanao” including some
new documents, which he found he found in the British Museum.

August 18, 1888:

With the intention of writing the continuation of his first novel, Rizal asked Mariano Ponce in a letter to
send him two or more copies of the Noli. Rizal planned to have a picture taken: one copy to be sent to
Ponce and the other to be included in the publication of the second novel.

RIZAL IN PARIS
September 4, 1888:
Rizal arrived at Paris and boarded at the Hotel de Restaurant de Rome. Because of the bad news he
received from home, he thought of proceeding to Spain. However, the plan was not realized.

September 9, 1888:
With other invited Filipino he took his lunch in Luna’s house on the occasion of the anniversary of the
painter’s son. They ate Filipino food.

September 10, 1888:

He left Paris for London to continue copying the book of Morga in the British Museum.

RIZAL BACK IN LONDON

September 19, 1888:
Rizal finished copying the whole book of Morga

September 30, 1888:

In a letter, he requested Mariano Ponce to forward to Hong Kong the box of Noli so that Jose Maria Basa
could send yhem to the Philippines where the Filipinos needed them.

October 12, 1888:

He was admitted to study in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities in the British Museum of
London.

October 13, 1888:

At seven thirty at the evening, he received a telegram from Hong Kong with the information that Manuel
Hidalgo, husband of his sister, Saturnina, was deported to Bohol without informed of the cause.

October 1888:
He was busy reading all the old source of the Philippine history. He wanted to read them all before leaving
London. He had already copied all parts of Pigafetta, likewise a summary of chirino.

RIZAL’S VISIT AUSTRIA

“On May 11, 1887, Rizal began his Grand Tour of Europe. He went to Dresden, Teschen (now Decin in the
former Czechoslovakia), Prague, and then Brunn (where he lost his diamond stickpin), and Vienna (where
he got back his stickpin, which was found by a maid in the Hotel he stayed in Brunn) in Austria.

“On May 24, 1887, he left Vienna by riverboat to see sights on the Danube River (on the boat he saw paper
napkins for the first time). His voyage ended at Linz.

“From Linz he went to Munich (where Hitler attempted a putsch in 1923) and Nuremberg (site of the Nazi
Party rallies and the War Crime trials), and other German cities.
“Rizal was in the German Empire, sometimes past the German Austrian border, from Febuary 1886 until he
went to Switzerland in early June, 1887”.

Furthermore in May 1887, Rizal visited Austria, and according to Maximo Viola, Rizal traveling
companion,

did spend at night with an unknown Austria woman, Viola remembers that they were billeted in the Hotel
Metropole , Vienna and Rizal ‘…encountered the figure of a temptress in the form of Viennese woman, of
the family of the Camelliasor Maragarite of extraordinary beauty and irresistible attraction, who seemingly
had been expressly invited to offer for a moment the cup of mundane pleasure to the apostle of the
Philippine freedom who until then and had enjoyed among his intimates the fame worthy of his glorious
namesake, St. Joseph. With the exception of this case I knew of no other slip of Rizal during his more than
six months of our living together.
Rizal’s Lost- and-Found Stickpin
As slightly cited above, in his grand tour of Europe, Rizal was stayed in a hotel in Brunn. And it was in
Brunn that he lost his diamond stickpin. He left the hotel without his stickpin
It is said that a maid in the hotel in Brunn found Rizal’s stickpin. And it is also said that the said maid
turned the stickpin over to Ferdinand Blumentritt met Rizal in Vienna, he turned the stickpin over to the
latter
ANALYSIS
Rizal, Stickpin, and the Maid
The first question to be raised is about the stickpin .How is it that Rizal lost his diamond stickpin? These
are possible answer to this question. It could be that Rizal missed to fix it in his necktie. Or it could be that
Rizal misplaced it in the room of the hotel and did not find it when he was about to fix it. Or it could be that
somebody in the room happened to find it after Rizal left the hotel. Or it could be that the stickpin was
loosely fixed and thus fell on the floor while Rizal was walking on the hallway going out of the hotel.
The other question (that is being sked) is about the person of the maid. Who was that maid who found
Rizal’s lost stickpin during his stay in hotel in Brunn? There are also possible answers to this question. The
name of the maid who found Rizal’s stickpin is not known. Her place of origin is not also known. His age
during that time is not known too.

And why did the maid found it? It could be that she was the maid who fixed the room of the hotel after
Rizal’s stay, and while fixing she found the stickpin. Or it could be that she happened to find the stickpin
somewhere in the halls of the hotel, if and if it really had happened to fall without Rizal knowing it. Or it
could be that that the maid was to deliver something to Rizal in his room in the hotel…

But one thing seems to be certain here, that is, that the maid knew the person of Rizal, so that she knew to
whom the stickpin she had found be returned. This is corroborated by the fact that the maid gave the
stickpin to Blumentritt .She must have known that Blumentritt was Rizal’s very close friends or that
Blumentritt had a very close friend name Rizal.

But do these speculation corroborate the possibility that Rizal and the maid might have an affair during his
stay in the hotel in Brunn? Suppose there was an affair between Rizal and the maid. It follows that the girl
must have conceived in May of 1887. And granted that the girl really conceived and that she had no
miscarriage, then she must have given birth to the baby sometime in Febuary of 1888.

Now in addition does the lost stickpin incident point to the possibility that the said maid was Klara Polz,
who is said to be once a maid? Granted that that said maid was Klara Polz , that Rizal had an affair with her
, that she conceived and then gave birth to a son, and that the son was no other than Adolf , then her son’s
birth must have been in Febuary 1888. But Adolf Hitler’s birth date, as accepted worldwide, was April 20,
1889.

Here is the inconsistency of such speculation. It is not possible that Adolf Hitler was conceived sometime
in May 1887 and was born on April 20, 1889. In that case, Adolf Hitler would have been in his mother’s
womb for 23 months. These speculation remain inconsistent unless the birth date of Adolf Hitler be
changed to Febuary 1888.

Furthermore, the same argument holds true in the case of what Maximo Viola said about the so-called only
“slip” of Rizal in his more than six months stay in Europe at the time who was that irresistibility attractive
temptress in the form of a Vienna woman who, according to Viola, was offering the “cup of mundane
pleasure to the apostle of Philippine freedom?
If suppose that said temptress was Klara Polzl that she conceived of a son, then she must have given birth
to the baby sometime in February of 1888. Again it is, inconsistent with the accepted birth date of Adolf
Hitler, April 20, 1889. Thus it also makes such speculation improbable.

RIZAL’S WHEREABOUTS IN JULY-SEPTEMBER 1888

It said that Rizal was in London ,busy in his work on Antonio Morgas’s Sucesos de las Islas Filpipinas
,from july 9, 1888 to August 18, 1888 .Then from September 4, 1888 , Rizal was in Paris, France. In
September 10, 1888, he left Paris for London to continue his work. These dates are important for the
analysis of facts.

Now if the Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, then he must be conceived sometime in July of 1888.
Nine months later, Adolf must be given birth by Klara Polzl, thus,if and if Jose Rizal was really Adolf
Hitler’s father , then Rizal must have had an affair with Klara Polzl sometime in July of 1888.

The question now is that whether it was possible for Rizal and Klara to have an affair. The answer of course
is yes. For London and Austria are, as they were then, just separated by France.

In the words of Manuel L. Quezon III, Adolf Hitler must have been “conceived in August, 1888, when
Rizal was supposedly in London. Or perhaps in September 1888, when Rizal went to Paris for a week (to
have rendezvous with Klara?). Maybe when in Paris in 1889 it was so he could communicate more easily
with the now-expecting Klara? Klara Polzl’s affair with Rizal may have centered around Linz…”’

Moreover, if Adolf Hitler was exactly nine months old when he was given birth by her mother Klara Polzl,
then he must be conceived sometime in July 1888. If suppose he was only eight months old when he was
born, then he must have been conceived sometime in August 1888. And again, if suppose he was only
seven months old when he was born, then he must have been conceived sometime in September 1888. Did
it happen historically? The answer is yes for Adolf Hitler was a historical person. But was it Rizal who
made it happen in the womb Klara Polzl? If and if it did happen, did it take place in July, August, or
September 1888? Well, this is but only a probable speculation, for there is no historical evidence that would
support it.

HISTORY OR FICTION
Historical Rumor. Is the rumor that Rizal was Adolf Hitler’s father history or fiction?

First, on the basis of the lost stickpin, as well as the said Rizal-Viennese woman affair, the rumor
That Rizal was Adolf Hitler’s father, for which case Adolf should have been named Adolf Rizal, is
improbable. It is because of the inconsistency of facts. And this remains improbable unless the historical
facts about Adolf Hitler and Jose Rizal be proves wrong and supplanted by new historical facts.

Secondly, Rizal whereabouts in July-September 1888, however, seem to give hints to the possibility of
Rizal-Hitler connection. But this is merely possible speculation. And it remains to be mere speculation
unless the connection will be historically established. The fact that Rizal was in London, or in Europe, in
1888 is not a historical proof that he was the one who impregnated the woman named Klara Polzl, making
him the father of Adolf Hitler.

Klara Polzl’s Husband. Now, it would be better to add some more facts about Klara Polzl: her marriage.
Who was her husband, the man considered by the world as Adolf Hitler’s true father?

“Klara Polzl was married to Alois Hitler, a senior customs official, in 11885. The couple had six children
but only Adolf and a younger sister, Paula, survived to become adults” And “Alois married three times. His
third wife, Klara Polzl Hitler, was 23 years old his junior.”

“Alois Hitler was born [on June 7, 1837] in the tiny rustic village of Strones in the Waldviertel, a hilly
forested are in northwest Lower Austria just north of Vienna, to a 42 year-old unmarried peasant, Maria
Anna Schicklgruber, whose family had lived in the area for generation. The day he was born, after Hitler
was baptized at the nearby village of Dollersheim, the space for his father’s name on the baptismal
certificate was left blank and the priest wrote “illegitimate”. Hitler was cared for by his mother in a house
she shared at Strones with her elderly father Johannes Schicklgruber.

“While his professional duties involved strict attention to (and application of) set rules, his private life
seems to have flouted society’s norms. In the late 1860s, he fathered an illegitimate child with a woman
named Thelka (or perhaps Thekla) whom he did not marry and whose family name is lost to history. Alois
Hitler was 36 when he married for the first time in 1873, and it may have been for mony. Anna Glassi was a
well-to-do, 50-year-old daughter of an official. Glassi was sick when Hitler married her and was either an
invalid or become one shortly afterwards.”

RIZAL AS HITLER’S FATHER: HISTORY OR FICTION?

“Alois Hitler, who was fifty-one when Adolf was born, was extremely keen for his son to do dwell in life.
Alois did have another son by an earlier marriage but he had been a big disappointment to him and
eventually ended up in prison for theft. Aloi was a strict father and savagely beat his son if he did not do as
he was told.

“His death [on January 3, 1903] did not cause the family financial hardships. The Hitler family owned their
own home and they also received a lump sum and a generous civil service pension.”

Furthermore, it might also be that Klara had an affair with another man, since her husband Alois Hitler was
already fifty-one years old when Adolf was born. From the point of view of the biological make up of man,
fifty-one years old would likely be very less able or unable in sexual act (unless Viagra existed then). Plus
the fact that Klara was still twenty-seven years old when he gave birth to her son Adolf.

But even these facts still do not give us a historical proof that Jose Rizal was Klara Polzl’s another man. On
the contrary, if it is true that Klara was a “devout Roman Catholic and went to Church regularly,” it would
seem very unlikely for Klara to be unfaithful to her husband. For a truly devout Roman Catholic is indeed
faithful to God, as well as to one’s spouse. Back to the question, “Was Rizal the father of Adolf Hitler?” I
believe that if Jose Rizal were to rise from his grave and to hear such rumors, he would certainly protest for
being made the father of the man whom the world considers as the second anti-Christ.

Moreover, there is a striking difference between Rizal and Hitler. It is said that “the most striking fact about
Hitler’s adolescence is that it lasted until his death. There was in him no capacity for intellectual,
emotional, artistic, or sexual development.” But Rizal showed his genius even in his early age: his
intellectual, emotional, and artistic abilities.

And “although there is no resemblance between the two,” Ambeth Ocampo said, “it is argued that unlike
the tall, blond and blue-eyed Germans, Hitler wanted to propagate into the ‘master race’, Hitler himself was
small in stature, had dark hair and dark eyes. I would counter this argument by explaining that, contrary to
popular belief, Hitler was Austrian not a German.

The rumors that Rizal is the father of Hitler is a fictional history. Such history is nothing but fiction for it is
merely an invention of the human mind. It is the concoction of the creative mindas of some Filipinos,
especially the anti-Rizal ones.

This indeed makes it funny. “Here is the craziest thing I’ve heard,” Manuel L. Quezon III once said, “(and
I’ve heard it more than once, at parties”: Adolf Hitler was really the illegitimate son of Jose Rizal,” And,
“this is absolutely absurd,” Ambeth Ocampo also said, “but since some fairly educated people actually want
to believe it, I write this column.”