Facts about Rizal It sounds absurd but there are people who are spreading statements that Adolf

Hitler of Germany and Mao Zedong of China were sons of Jose Rizal. This is absolutely a hoax. Monuments in honor of Jose Rizal were erected in various parts of the world like Madrid, Spain; Wilhelmsfeld, Germany; Jinjiang, Fujian, China; Chicago, Cherry Hill Township, San Diego, Seattle, U.S.A.; Mexico City, Mexico; Lima, Peru; Litomerice, Czech Republic; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Three animal species were named after Rizal; Draco rizali, a species of flying dragon, Rachophorous rizali, a species of toad and Apogonia rizali, a beetle species. Rizal's statue in Jinjiang, Fujian, China is enshrined in a 5-hectare park built and named in his honor. The monument made of the world-famous Jinjiang granite stones, stands 18.61 meters high, taller than the 12meter high Rizal statue in Luneta An exact replica of the Manila monument of the Philippines national hero Jose Rizal is built at the heart of this southern Chinese city, It also stands as a remembrance to his great, great grandfather, Domingo Lamco of Zhang-Guo province, who was once a resident and citizen of this great land. Construction of the monument began in 2002. Rizal Shrine was inaugurated on Jan. 23, 2003 in Siongque Village, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, China. The shrine was built to commemorate Dr. Rizals Chinese ancestral roots. It symbolizes the strong bond of friendship between the Philippines and China The national hero is the direct descendant of Chinese trader Cua Yi Lam, who immigrated from Siongque ("Zhang-Guo" in Mandarin Chinese) to the Philippines in the later part of the 17th century. Church records show that Cue Yi Lam was baptized as Domingo Lamco at the age of 35 in Manila in 1697 and that his birthplace was Siongque village in China. The monument, made of the world-famous Jinjiang granite stones, stands at 18.61 meters high, which is taller than the 12-meter high Rizal Monument in Manila. It was built on a five-hectare park named in Rizals honor, making it the biggest Rizal Shrine outside the Philippines. The park is also the site of Rizal museum and library. The success of the project can be attributed to the combined efforts of the Cua-Chua Family Association where Rizal drew his Chinese lineage, the KAISA Para sa Kaunlaran, which provided assistance in research and substance, PAL who headed the project committee working group, the Tulay Foundation, the Knights of Rizal, the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen, the Jinjiang village and the city association based in Manila that arranged funding for the project, the Fujian Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and the Quanzhou Municipal Government. Adolf Rizal (and his Half Brother, Rizal Zedong) Manuel L. Quezon III, Saturday, September 17, 1994 Here is the craziest thing Ive heard (and Ive heard it more than once, at parties): Adolf Hitler was really the illegitimate son of Jose Rizal. Here is the second craziest thing Ive heard: Mao Zedong was actually Rizals illegitimate son. Two variations, I suppose, on the idea that "Yes, the Filipino Can!" Sadly, I found the two theories so funny that I never thought of asking the people who told them to me to explain on what grounds they based their claim about Der Fuehrer and the Great Helmsman. A dentistry student friend from UE has also heard these fanciful theories, but it also did not occur to him to ask on what evidence these fanciful claims were based. So I did a little research to find out how people could make up such a story. The claim that Adolf Hitler was Rizals progeny must be based on the following facts: Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889 (that means he could have been conceived sometime in August 1888), in the little village of Braunau, near the German- Austrian border. He was born an Austrian and remained one until the 1930s.

 The name of Hitler mother was Klara Polz. At one time she was a maid in Vienna. Hitler always considers a town Linz, in Austria, as his hometown (in his Political Testament he referred to " my hometown of Linz on the Danube"). Hitler's oldest brother, Gustav born on May 17, 1885, and his sister Ida, born in 1886, both died before he was born. Bavaria was considered the "cradle" of Nazism. The Nazis made Japan one of the Axis powers. At one point they tried to prove that the Japanese were Aryans, to make the Japanese members of the "master race." Now combine the above information with the following, culled from the life of Rizal: On February 1, 1886, he left Paris for Germany. He went to Heidelberg, Wilhelmsfeld, Munich (in Bavaria), all somewhat near a GermanAustrian border; on August 9, 1886 he left for Leipzig ("visiting various German cities along the way," one book says), arriving there on August 14. In October he went to Dresden and then to Berlin. In Berlin he finished Noli Me Tangere. One of the books characters is named Maria Clara. On May 11, 1887, Rizal began his Grand Tour of Europe. He went to Dresden, Teschen (now Decin in the former Czechoslovakia), Prague, and then Brunn (where he lost a diamond stickpin), and Vienna (where he got back his diamond stickpin, which was found by maid in the hotel he stayed in Brunn) in Austria. On May 24, 1887, he left Vienna by riverboat to see sights on the Danube River (on the boat he saw paper napkins for the first time). His voyage ended at Linz. From Linz he went to Munich (where Hitler attempted a putsch in 1923) and Nuremberg (site of the Nazi Party rallies and the War Crimes trials), and other German cities. Rizal was in the German Empire, sometimes past the German-Austrian border, from February 1886 until he went to Switzerland in early June 1887. Rizal was again in Europe from May 24, 1888, until October 18, 1891. He was in London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Biarritz, Ghent. He was in Europe during the time Hitler was conceived and when he was born. Rizal in 1888 had an affair with a Japanese woman, Seiko Usui, when he visited Japan. She had an only daughter, Yuriko, by a foreign husband some years after her encounter with Rizal. Yuriko later married the son of a Japanese politician. Put all these information together and you may be able to conclude the following: Hitler was conceived either in 1887 when Rizal passed through Linz or other towns (such as Brunn - How do you think he lost the diamond stickpin? And who was the "maid" who found it later and gave it to Blumentritt who forwarded it to Vienna?) near the Austrian border. In which case Hitlers older siblings were fictitious, to cover up his mothers being pregnant with him. In other words, Hitler was actually born before 1889. Or he was conceived in August 1888, when Rizal was supposedly in London. Or perhaps in September 1888, when Rizal went to Paris for a week (to have a rendezvous with Klara?). Maybe he went to Paris in 1889 so he could communicate more easily with the now-expecting Klara? Klara Polzls affair with Rizal may have centered around Linz, which is why the Hitler family moved there later (so Mama Hitler could live where she had An affair to Remember), which would explain Hitlers fondness for the town.

Finally, Seiko Usuis only daughter was not really fathered by her husband, Alfred Charlton. He was simply a front. Yuriko, you see, was Rizals daughter! And Hitler knew she was his half-sister. She used her influence on her brother Adolf to persuade him to enter into an alliance with Japan (making it one of the Axis powers). Which is why Japan invaded the Philippines! Yuriko made it clear to Hirohito that Hitler would appreciate it if his ally were to take over his fathers homeland. And of course the reason why Hitler wanted to become dictator of Germany was because his natural father had spent some of the most interesting years of his life there! That, I think, is the rationale behind such a fantastic claim based on information that can be gathered from any high school textbook on Rizal and any good biography of Adolf Hitler. Naturally, this can only be done through selective use of the evidence, but it does make for an amusing piece of historical fiction. Now, as to the idea that Mao Zedong was also Rizals son. Unfortunately this claim cannot be supported by even the most spurious evidence. Mao Zedong was born in 1893, in Hunan Province, which you could say is kind of near Hong Kong. But at that time (1893), Rizal was in exile in Dapitan. Now it would have been possible for Rizal to scamper around Europe and get Klara pregnant without anybody noticing, but he couldnt possibly have jumped into a boat and rowed to Hongkong without being caught. He did pass through Hong Kong in 1888 and 1891 but he never seems to have visited other parts of China (unless you count Xiamen and Macao). So there are no details that can be manipulated. These exercises in foolishness prove how creative Filipinos can be. What other people would be able to make the bogus claim that one of their heroes fathered the man who almost turned Europe into a "howling wilderness" (to borrow from the instructions for the extermination of Samar by American forces at the turn of the century). That would have been poetic justice, I suppose. The brown man strikes back and all that sort of thing.