In 1977, German historian Werner Maser wrote in Zeitgeschichte Magazine about Loret, a retired railway worker who claimed to be
Adolf Hitler's son. Loret's aunt confirmed that her nephew was fathered by a German soldier stationed in France during World War I, yet denied that he was Hitler. That statement is bolstered by Balthasar Brandmayer, who served with Hitler. He noted in his memoirs that Hitler would reproach comrades who intended on taking up with French girls as having "no German sense of honor". In 2008,
Jean-Paul Mulders obtained DNA samples from Loret's and Hitler's living relatives, and concluded Hitler was not Loret's father.
Anton Joachimsthaler,
Timothy Ryback, and
Ian Kershaw have also stated that, given the inconsistencies in Maser's account (for example, Maser claimed Loret's then-17 year old mother was allowed to follow Hitler from town to town, something Hitler's superiors would never have allowed) Hitler's paternity of Loret is impossible.