Russia doubles down on Hitler's 'Jewish blood' comments despite anger

Israel has been accused of supporting neo-Nazism in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned Sergey Lavrov's comments about Nazism and anti-Semitism, accusing him of putting 'the blame on the Jewish people for Nazi crimes'. AFP

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Russia has doubled down on claims that Adolf Hitler may have had "Jewish blood", accused Israel of backing Neo-Nazis and said its foreign minister was "anti-historical" in his condemnation of Moscow's comments.

The comments sparked outrage around the world, especially in Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday condemned his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for making an "unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error" and summoned Moscow's ambassador for "clarifications".

"Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust," he said. "The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism.

A woman rescues some of her belongings from her house in Irpin, near Kyiv, which was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing in late March. AP

A driver helps a woman board a bus at a reception centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. AP

People fleeing Mariupol's Azovstal plant arrive on buses at a registration and processing area for internally displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AFP

A woman stands next to her home in Irpin, near Kyiv, after it was nearly completely destroyed by Russian bombing. AP

People hold banners and shout slogans during a demonstration in support of Mariupol defenders in Kyiv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A woman stands near her house that was destroyed by shelling in Sloboda, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

A mother and child in Lviv, Ukraine, wait to board transport destined for Przemysl, Poland. Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claps as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses the Ukrainian Parliament in Kyiv via videolink. Reuters

Firefighters work to extinguish flames after a Russian bombardment at a park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

The television tower is illuminated in the national colors of the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity with the country at the Olympic Park in Munich, southern Germany. AFP

Flooded gardens and fields are shown in Demydiv, Ukraine. To keep Russian armoured columns at bay, Ukrainian forces released water from a nearby hydroelectric dam to intentionally flood Demydiv, a village north of Kyiv. The decision was effective, but efforts to drain the area are complicated. Getty Images

A damaged Orthodox icon is seen in the corner of local resident Yurii's heavily damaged house in Fenevychi, Ukraine. Getty Images

Valentyna, 71, stands by her cat, who was injured in the fighting, in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Yurii, 53, stands in his heavily damaged house in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Evacuees from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman, which has suffered heavy shelling, ride on a bus in Raihorodok. AFP

A man delivers loaves of bread to a woman in the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP

Nazar, right, boards a bulletproof bus to evacuate with his family from the eastern Ukraine city of Lyman. AFP

A dog chases a hare by the wall of a burnt house in Fenevychi. Getty Images

Nine-year-old Galina, right, and Nazar, 8, arrive with their families in Raihorodok. AFP

Natalia Pototska, 43, cries as her grandson Matviy looks on in Zaporizhzhia. AP

Hryhorii, a member of the Ukrainian military meets his wife Oksana, who fled from the Russian-occupied Novomykhailivka village, at the evacuation point in Zaporizhzhia. EPA

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes Denmark's Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeppe Kofod to Kyiv. Reuters

Buildings destroyed by Russian shelling in Borodianka, in Ukraine's Kyiv region. Reuters

Volunteers carry an elderly woman in a blanket during the evacuation of a frontline village retaken by Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv. Reuters

A Ukrainian man walks past the turret of a Russian tank next to a destroyed petrol station in the village of Skybyn, north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Andrii Fedorov hugs his son Makar as they are reunited in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, after the boy and his mother fled besieged Mariupol. AP

Volunteers at the Help Ukraine Center in Lublin, south-eastern Poland. More than 3 million Ukrainian refugees are now in Poland. EPA

Police officers deliver loaves of bread to residents in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, which is being heavily shelled. AFP

Savelii, 10, mourns at the grave of his father, who died protecting his city as a member of the Territorial Defence, in Irpin, Ukraine. EPA

Ukrainian soliders ride on a truck to a resting place after fighting in the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP

A shopkeeper clears shelves before closing up in Sviatohirsk, eastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion. AFP

Civilians who left the area near Azovstal steel plant as part of an evacuation of Mariupol arrive at temporary accommodation in Bezimenne, Donetsk region. Reuters

Azovstal steel plant employee Valeria, who was part of an evacuation of Mariupol, hugs her son Matvey, who had earlier left the city with his relatives, as they meet again in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters

A pro-Russian troop stands guard in Bezimenne, Donetsk. Reuters

A picture taken during a visit to Mariupol organised by the Russian military shows Russian serviceman on patrol outside the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Enerhodar, south-eastern Ukraine. EPA

A woman is assisted during the UN-led evacuation of the Azovstal steel plant, after nearly two months of siege warfare on Mariupol by Russia. Reuters

Civilians gather for humanitarian aid, distributed by the Donetsk People Republic Emergency Situations Ministry in Berdyansk, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. AP

Ukrainian servicemen are seen near a T-80 tank captured from Russian troops in Kharkiv region. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier takes a break from the conflict and tries to pet a stork in Barvinkove, Kharkiv region. Reuters

A satellite image shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

"The Ukrainians aren't Nazis. Only the Nazis were Nazis and only they dealt with the systematic destruction of the Jewish people," Mr Lapid told the YNet news website.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also denounced Mr Lavrov's "lies" that he said effectively "accuse the Jews themselves of the most awful crimes in history", perpetrated against themselves.

Russia hit back on Tuesday.

"We have paid attention to Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's anti-historical remarks, which largely explain the current government's decision to support the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Mr Lavrov, speaking to Italian outlet Mediaset's Rete 4 channel, had claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "puts forward an argument of what kind of Nazism can they have if he himself is Jewish".

"The Jewish origins of the president [Zelenskyy] is not a guarantee of protection against rampant neo-Nazism in the country.

"History, unfortunately, knows tragic examples of co-operation between Jews and Nazis."

Mr Lavrov, according to a transcript posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website, then added: "I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood."

One of the justifications offered by Moscow for its February "special military operation" was to "de-Nazify Ukraine".

Mr Zelenskyy used his nightly address on Monday to condemn Mr Lavrov's comments.

“Such an anti-Semitic attack by their minister means that Russian authorities have forgotten all the lessons of the Second World War, or maybe they never learnt those lessons.”

He accused the Russian minister of deliberately trying to tie Ukraine’s Jews, such as himself, with Nazism.

“All of this is not accidental. The words of the Russian foreign minister, a ‘great connoisseur of Hitlerism’, are not random,” he said.

He asked if Israel would keep its ambassador in Moscow given the clear position it was taking.

Israel has expressed support for Ukraine since the invasion in February. However, Israel initially avoided direct criticism of Moscow and has not enforced formal sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

However, ties have grown more strained, with Mr Lapid last month accusing Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Several Western officials have also denounced Mr Lavrov's comments.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi called the his comments obscene, while Canada's Justin Trudeau voiced his disbelief.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Mr Lavrov’s comments were “the lowest form of racism ... the lowest form of propaganda”.

Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, said the Russian minister was spreading "an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory with no basis in fact".

Hitler's 'Jewish' blood: an old conspiracy theory

The identity of one of Hitler's grandfathers is not known but there has been some speculation, never backed up by any evidence, that he might have been a Jew.

Austrian historian Roman Sandgruber told AFP that the rumour of Hitler’s Jewish ancestry began circulating in the 1920s and was encouraged by his political rivals as he started rising to power.

Then after the Second World War, the memoirs of Nazi war criminal Hans Frank, who governed occupied Poland during the war, revived the story.

He claimed that Hitler had asked him to investigate the identity of his unknown paternal grandfather.

While Frank claimed Hitler’s grandmother had worked as a cook for a Jewish family in the Austrian city of Graz, where she was then paid maintenance until Hitler’s father was 14, Mr Sandgruber says there is no solid evidence to the story.

For example, he points out that Jews were not allowed to live in Graz at the time.

“So, who was Hitler's grandfather? "This is a question without an answer," historian Ofer Aderet wrote in Israel's Haaretz newspaper on Monday.

"Other reports claimed that Hitler's persecution of the Jews resulted from feelings of shame about his partial Jewish ancestry.

"The bottom line, though, is that there is no historical proof for any of this."