At 4 years old, a young Adolf Hitler, the boy who would grow into one of most the heinous characters in the history of mankind, was saved from drowning by a good Samaritan who grew up to be a priest, the British Tabloid the Daily Mail reported Thursday. Johann Kuehberger, a priest in Passau, Germany, reportedly jumped into the icy waters of a river when Hitler, playing with other children along the banks of the river, stumbled into the river and was caught in the current. According to the report, which itself is based on an archive cutout from a local Passau newspaper, in January 1894 a "young fellow fell through the thin ice of the river" near the River Inn. The left-wing Passau paper described a "determined comrade" who went into the water to save the boy. The determined comrade, also a boy at the time, turned out to be Johann Kuehberger. Before his death in 1980, Kuehberger told a colleague his story about saving the young boy. Hitler reportedly never made mention of the drowning, but the incident has popped up in several accounts of Hitler's life, notably in the book "Out of Passau - Leaving a City Hitler Called Home," by Anna Elisabeth Rosmus. The Daily Mail is the first to publish the archived article detailing the account. Kuehberger grew up to become a priest. And the boy he saved? One of mankind's most murderous dictators.
Report: 4-year-old Hitler was saved from near-drowning
According to a Daily Mail report, which itself is based on a cutout from a local German newspaper, in January 1894 a "young fellow fell through the thin ice of the river" near the River Inn.
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