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Biography
Heinrich Hitler (14 March 1920 – 21 February 1942), known as Heinz Hitler, was the son of Alois Hitler, Jr. and his second wife Hedwig Heidemann and the nephew of Adolf Hitler. When World War II began, he joined the Wehrmacht and served on the Eastern Front, where he was captured and died in prison in 1942.
Heinz attended an elite military academy, the National Political Institutes of Education (Napola) in Ballenstedt/Saxony-Anhalt. Aspiring to be an officer, Heinz joined the Wehrmacht as a signals subofficer with the 23rd Potsdamer Artillery Regiment in 1941, and he participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. On 10 January 1942, he was ordered to collect radio equipment from an army post. He was captured by Soviet forces and was tortured to death at the Butyrka military prison in Moscow, aged 21.
Former classmate Hans-Wolf Werner describes how he benefitted from his family connection with Adolf Hitler:
"One of the lads had a car. They tore through Magdeburg without a license. The police stopped them and he showed his ID "Heinz Hitler" [and] the police just saluted and let them drive on (laughs)."