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Gabrielle Settles
By Gabrielle Settles December 6, 2022

Fake quote attributed to Hitler

If Your Time is short

  • Experts say there’s no evidence that Adolf Hitler said this.

  • The quote comes from an antisemitic documentary that promotes a conspiracy theory spread by the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement which claims that Black people, not Jewish people, are of Hebrew descent.

  • This false attribution wrongly presents Hitler, who led the genocide of 6 million Jewish people, as an authority on Jewish identity, and seeks to override history, an expert told us.

A quote falsely attributed to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler aims to show that he believed Black people are "true Hebrews." The quote is circulating on social media, but experts say there’s no evidence the German leader said it.

"America has stolen the Jews," read a Dec. 4 Instagram post that referenced Black people as "the Jewels of God. His Jewelry." It continued: "They are the TRUE HEBREWS. What a foolish move and a direct challenge to God. And they plan on moving these false white Jews into a state of Israel."

The bottom of the image is blurry, but it says that the quote is "believed to be said by Aldoph Hitler." It’s not.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The quote has been falsely peddled as Hitler’s words in the past, and has been debunked before. But it’s recirculating following a racially charged interview that Ye — the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — gave on Alex Jones’ "InfoWars."

The screenshot in the Instagram post comes from a 2018 film that the Anti-Defamation League said pushes the belief that Black people, not Jewish people, are the true descendants of Israel. This conspiracy theory is promoted by the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement. Some of the movement’s members have engaged in extremist behavior and hate speech, according to George Washington University experts who track extremism.

Featured Fact-check

An Anti-Defamation League fact sheet says that the quote in the documentary is fake, and cannot be attributed to Hitler, who led the state-sponsored genocide of 6 million European Jews between 1933 and 1945. 

The claim that Hitler said Black people are the true descendants of Israel has been circulating for years and has had harmful consequences, said Isabelle Williams, an analyst at the league's Center on Extremism. It wrongly presents Hitler as an authority on Jewish identity, and seeks to override history, Williams said. 

"Citing one of history’s most notorious antisemites as an authority on Jewish identity is inherently harmful," Williams said. "The quote is being used to reinforce the ideology that we see promoted by Black Hebrew Israelites, which, when promoted by certain extremists and antisemitic factions, is attempting to undermine Judaism and Jewish identity." 

Our ruling

An Instagram post claimed Hitler said Black people are the "true Hebrews."

Experts say the quote is fake and there is no evidence that Hitler said it. The claim comes from an antisemitic documentary that pushes the conspiracy theory that Black people, not Jewish people, are the true descendants of Israel. 

This claim is False. 

Our Sources

Instagram post, Dec. 4, 2022

The Guardian, Black people were Hitler’s victims too – that must not be forgotten, Jan. 27, 2022

PolitiFact, No, Hitler didn’t say this about World War III, April 18, 2022

Anti-Defamation League, Hebrews to Negroes: What You Need to Know, Nov. 3, 2022

PolitiFact, How Ye stirred up antisemitism among social media users, Oct. 25, 2022

Twitter post, Oct.31, 2022

AM New York, Black Hebrew Israelite group continues protest outside Nets game at Barclays Center, Nov. 20, 2022

Interview with Isabelle Willliams, analyst for the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, Dec. 6, 2022

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Fake quote attributed to Hitler

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